Magsafe just wants to be held

[njdevil]

I'm using a late 2008 MBP, and for the past few months I've had problems charging it. I plug in the charger and the batter icon on the menubar changes to a little plug symbol, indicating (I assume) it's on AC power but not charging (usually has a little lightning bolt symbol). The light on the magsafe stays dark or glows very very faintly green. Additionally, while it's plugged in, the screen very faintly flickers in brightness every now and then.

I had figured this was an issue with the battery - I replaced the battery about 2 or 3 years ago, could well be time for a new one. However today I noticed that if I put just a tiny bit of pressure underneath the cable just behind the magsafe connecter to push it upwards, the light on the magsafe turns on, the battery indictor switches to the charging symbol and the screen stops flickering.

So I'm wondering - is this just a sign of a worn down magsafe? Or is there good way of cleaning the gold pins of the magsafe and the magsafe port on the macbook so they make better contact without needing to be held there?

 

[Intell]

Your Magsafe's cable is starting to short. I would recommend that you discontinue use of it and replace it as soon as you can. It is a fire hazard in it's current state.

 

[Nabooly]

Same thing happened to me. My charger stopped responding to being plugged in every once in a while. Started happening more frequently, no light would come on and the macbook would show a plug in icon on the menu bar. One day I was using my mbp and I accidently left the brick on my bed between the sheets....which I only realized when the macbook stopped charging. The brick was extremely hot, hotter than it had ever been. It stopped working ever since. I just bought a new magsafe.

My battery is dying also but I never really use my mbp without it being plugged in so it's not a big deal. The original charger lasted me 4 years. I honestly never thought this late 2008 macbook would last me through 2013 (knock on wood)!! Still feels and runs like new!