My battery will only charge when computer is off, charger fades on and off when on

[ThatHappened]

Hi there,

This is my first post . My MacBook is from 2011 I believe. The MagSafe charger will only charge when the computer is off. When it is on, the charger lights up green, orange, then fades off, and does this over and over again. As that happens the battery reads that it's connected but not charging then it's not connected and shows the battery percentage. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks all!

 

[GGJstudios]

This is my first post

Welcome to the MacRumors Forum!

My MacBook is from 2011 I believe. The MagSafe charger will only charge when the computer is off. When it is on, the charger lights up green, orange, then fades off, and does this over and over again. As that happens the battery reads that it's connected but not charging then it's not connected and shows the battery percentage. Is there anything I can do?

It sounds like there may be a faulty connection or a faulty MagSafe adapter. This may help:

Apple Portables: Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters

Also, try another MagSafe adapter, if you have one or can borrow one. If not, you can take your Mac to the Apple store and try one of theirs.

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions, including tips for maximizing battery performance. If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[joe-h2o]

Sounds to me like the charger is tripping out and popping the internal fuse due to overcurrent.

When you're just charging the battery, it's under the limit and works fine, but when you try to charge and also run the computer it might be drawing too much current and thus causing it to reset.

Obviously it should be able to charge and operate the computer at the same time so it could indicate that your charger is faulty.

What happens if you try to use your computer with the power adapter when the battery is full?

You can rule out problems with the DC-in board on your laptop by trying it with a different charger (likely at the Apple store unless you know someone who has one).