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

Repairing power adapter cord?

MACDRIVE

MACDRIVE

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Has anyone tried to do that? The wire that goes into the plug that goes into the port is about ready to snap off. I assume it's caused by putting too much of a right angle strain on the cord. Any tips?
 
Tried it. Didn't work. Bought a replacement on eBay. Didn't work. Bought one from Apple. Worked like a charm. Post office lost cable on way back to eBay seller. Still waiting on them to pay up.

The only way I could get it to work was to bend the wire in a certain direction and tape it in place. The fact that it's a sealed unit makes changing the cable difficult without doing damage.

I reckon it was done by wrapping the cable too tightly around the clips at the end of the adaptor unit. Now I don't wrap it round them at all, I just throw the whole thing in a pocket in my bag.
 
Yeah, if I could take the plug apart, I could cut the broken section off and re-solder it, but I'm thinking the plug doesn't come apart. It looks like I'm having to buy a new one. I'm hoping Comp USA has them because there's no Apple store in this town.
 
What laptop? The older it is, the easier these are to find (to some degree) as people have them lying around after the machines have died. I picked up one from a member here for my iBook G3 for $5.
 
I think we've learnt that electrical tape is not the best idea.

How old is it? You could always take it to an Apple store and play dumb - maybe they'll help you out.
Otherwise, i'd try the second-hand route as WildCowboy suggested.

Edit: ok, sorry, no Apple store (i should read better).
 
2tallyAwesome said:
Is it a magsafe, or a G4 adapter?

If it's a G4 you can always order a macally adapter, they are about half the price.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure which one it is, but it's a M8482 45W adapter for a Ti-Book G4. If anyone has a used one that would be great, since the lowest price I've found so far is $47 at mac-pro.com 😱
 
I've fixed a broken adapter

I've broken two of these things. I got tired of buying new ones and started poking about trying to repair one. It's bit tricky, but you can extend the life for quite a while. Having a bit of skill with a soldering iron and nimble fingers is needed.

You need to cut back the strain relief all the way back to the rounded part of the plug. Don't cut the wires. You'll probably have about a quarter inch of wire left over. Separate the two bundles, strip back the insulation on the incoming wire a bit and solder the two wires together. You'll want to do the middle wire first, wrap it in an inch of electrical tape or so, then do the second one. The wrap the whole thing in another 6 inches of electrical tape (rubber tape if you can find it would work better) and cover the whole thing with a bit of heat shrink tubing. It's all good for another year or so. The electrical tape may move around a bit and you might have to re-do that part of it, but it will work.

If you end up breaking the wires too close to the base you can also break open the end piece. Place a knife or something sharp in the seam between the white part and the clear part. You'll have to cut the little magnet that reduced radio interference out, but with a good application of electrical tape and solder you should have a working adapter.

I take no responsibility for you messing this up and burning down your house. 😀
 
maxp1 said:
I've broken two of these things. I got tired of buying new ones and started poking about trying to repair one. It's bit tricky, but you can extend the life for quite a while. Having a bit of skill with a soldering iron and nimble fingers is needed.

You need to cut back the strain relief all the way back to the rounded part of the plug. Don't cut the wires. You'll probably have about a quarter inch of wire left over. Separate the two bundles, strip back the insulation on the incoming wire a bit and solder the two wires together. You'll want to do the middle wire first, wrap it in an inch of electrical tape or so, then do the second one. The wrap the whole thing in another 6 inches of electrical tape (rubber tape if you can find it would work better) and cover the whole thing with a bit of heat shrink tubing. It's all good for another year or so. The electrical tape may move around a bit and you might have to re-do that part of it, but it will work.

If you end up breaking the wires too close to the base you can also break open the end piece. Place a knife or something sharp in the seam between the white part and the clear part. You'll have to cut the little magnet that reduced radio interference out, but with a good application of electrical tape and solder you should have a working adapter.

I take no responsibility for you messing this up and burning down your house. 😀
Click to expand...

Well I have a broken 12" G4 PowerBook one (45w) and if anyone wants to try this fix on it, you can have it if you send me the cost of posting it (from Ireland). I sold my PowerBook a while back and have no need for it.

Eddit: PS it's only the charging unit. I'm using the part that connects to the power outlet.
 
I appreciate all the replies. I'm determined to repair this power cord even though I'll be getting a replacement. I'm one of those people that can't stand to throw something away that can be fixed.

The one thing that has struck me as being odd, is the small wire that goes to the computer; it's some kind of stranded coaxial wire. I've been all over Google trying to figure out what kind of wire it is. Yeah, when I get curious about something, I really get into it.

The plug is some kind of RCA type male plug. It kind of has its own mystery going on too. What I'd like to do, is go all the way back to the transformer section and replace the wire from there. It's just a matter of finding out what kind of wire it is, and what kind of plug it is. I shall keep at it until I solve the mystery. 🙂
 
MACDRIVE said:
The plug is some kind of RCA type male plug. It kind of has its own mystery going on too. What I'd like to do, is go all the way back to the transformer section and replace the wire from there. It's just a matter of finding out what kind of wire it is, and what kind of plug it is. I shall keep at it until I solve the mystery. 🙂
Click to expand...

There's actually a little disk with a bunch of electronics in the plug. I think it's just to make the plug light up, but it may have some vital function.

You can crack the plug open and not damamge anything just by putting knife in between the white plastic and the clear plastic that lights up. Just wedge it around a bit and it slides out. Inside there's a circuit board and a white peice of plastic that is the strain relief. That plastic is molded around a magnet that the cords wind through (to prevent magnetic interference), so you can't pull the wire through the strain relief.

You can fix these things. Don't be afraid to totally mess it up, next time you'll know exactly what to do.
 
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