Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Power cord broke

Chocklit

Chocklit

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2009
4
0
British Columbia, Canada
I have a MacBook which I purchased in Feb 2007. It gets light daily use.

Over Christmas holidays in Dec 08, while attending a weeklong family reunion, the laptop was in use almost constantly by various family members. On the drive home, our daughter had the MacBook plugged into the power source in our minivan so she could watch a DVD. She noticed a scorching smell, and realized the plug at the computer end was smoking! That's when we noticed a series of small holes or tears around the plastic coating of the power cord where it attaches to the plug (just below the thicker sheath). The wires inside were twisted together and had shorted out.

We went to an Apple store and purchased a new cord. It cost $120!!!

While my MacBook is no longer on warranty and I do not have AppleCare, I want to contacting Apple about this. I am wondering if other people have encountered this problem. I notice that the new power cord has a longer plastic sheath between the plug and the cord; it is twice as long as the one on my old cord.
 
I got a free Magsafe adaptor from Apple out of warranty. All I did was take a copy of this support article with me to show the genius.

Of course if you've already paid for a replacement I'm not sure what you can do...
 
Try and get your money back. That is extremely hazardous, and Apple should replace it, in or out of warranty.
 
Happened twice to me.

Yes, that same issue has happened twice to me. In the future, when winding up the cord around the charger, place a small little loop before winding it (see picture). Doing that will help prevent the stress on that area.
 

Attachments

  • Photo 19.jpg
    Photo 19.jpg
    78.6 KB · Views: 60
Chocklit said:
We went to an Apple store and purchased a new cord. It cost $120!!!

While my MacBook is no longer on warranty and I do not have AppleCare, I want to contacting Apple about this. I am wondering if other people have encountered this problem. I notice that the new power cord has a longer plastic sheath between the plug and the cord; it is twice as long as the one on my old cord.
Click to expand...

Yes it's a known issue and it's covered even your computer is out of warranty.
 
If you can not get your money back, and if you still have your damaged unit, maybe you can go again and get another one for free in exchange for the damaged one?

I currently have two complete sets and would enjoy having a third one, maybe you could enjoy the added flexibility.
 
I've got 3 magsafe's for my macbook.

Sounds a little OTT but it's really nice knowing that the main places I use it I will never be without power (power cuts permitting of course)
 
Olivier L. said:
If you can not get your money back, and if you still have your damaged unit, maybe you can go again and get another one for free in exchange for the damaged one?
Click to expand...

Just push for the refund. Be sure to bring your original box with the new one your bought along with the broken one.
 
If was recent and not like 3 weeks ago, I would definitely try to get a refund from the Apple Store or call up AppleCare and speak to CSR. If the problem is safety related, those are almost always covered with or without warranty. Something as small as a MagSafe adaptor shouldn't be that difficult to get replaced, it's not like you're asking for a new computer or something.
 
Definitely try to get another replacement. They should replace it warranty or no, especially if it is a well-documented, repeated issue like it seems to be.

If the one you bought can still be returned, do that, but if not, you will have to either hang on to it, or you could always sell it to someone else...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back