Third Party Charger Question

[Sylnox]

Hi,

The power converter for my 2009 MBP finally broke the other day, and I ended up buying this one because it had reasonably good ratings, wasn't $80, and wasn't somebody trying to pass off their third-party charger as a genuine Apple one, which seemed to be the case for most if not all of the other chargers in that price range. It charges my laptop just fine, but it doesn't seem to stop charging when the battery is full (I don't have OS X on this computer, but the Windows 7 battery indicator says "100% available (plugged in, charging)"). The light on the charger also never turns green. I am concerned that this will damage my battery or even be a fire hazard. If someone in the know could tell me whether or not this is a problem, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[simonsi]

If the battery management isn't working then I personally wouldn't use it, it could overcharge and/or overheat something inside if it is just pumping full charge into the machine 24/7.

 

[Sylnox]

It finally stopped charging, so I'm hoping it will be okay now. I have a sneaking suspicion that my (also new and third party) battery isn't reporting its charge correctly - it's been getting stuck at 99%, still charging while at 100% (as mentioned above), and completely died twice at around 50%. I got the charger I have because I didn't want to pay $80 for the (low-rated) Apple one. For the battery, though, I don't think I even had any choice but to chance it on a third-party one since Apple doesn't appear to make them anymore. All I want is to be able to use my computer and have like an hour of battery life for temporary power outages, moving plugs, etc., so fingers crossed that these new components work for that.

 

[T5BRICK]

The charger doesn't "push" current into the computer. The computer "pulls" it.

That being said, I still wouldn't use a 3rd party charger OR battery.

 

[maflynn]

Maybe I've been "conditioned" by Apple, but personally, I'd spend the little extra and get an apple charger (or battery as the case may be), and not deal with potential issues.

 

[robvas]

Teardown of a real vs fake charger

http://www.righto.com/2016/03/counterfeit-macbook-charger-teardown.html

You can feel the weight of it in your hand that something just isn't right. No thanks, not risking burning my house down.