Best quality MacBook Pro MagSafe 2 generic chargers

[squirrel]

I bought a second hand Macbook with a MagSafe 1 charger and it worked there and then. Tried it a few days later and there's no power light turning on. Can it be repaired at all? Don't see any physical damage whatsoever.

 

[bwana]

I can see why due to how many people would just yank them off.

I think it's more to do with people having a strong preference for the cord orientation - either fore or aft - therefore the wear would be concentrated on one side of the cable, particularly when removing it.

 

[PostmanPot]

I think it's more to do with people having a strong preference for the cord orientation - either fore or aft - therefore the wear would be concentrated on one side of the cable, particularly when removing it.

Agreed, lots more wear if the bend is facing back.

 

[Grant]

Yup I didn't do anything unreasonable or abusive. My regular or even careful use still resulted in fraying. Now maybe it's standard for Apple stuff to wear out after about 2 years - who knows. If it is, shame on them. If it's not, they sold me a faulty cable.

Of course the control in this case was the Acer, Toshiba and so on. These did not fray. Haha, even my prev MagSafe I for my previous MBP 15 did not fray after a similar period of even tougher use.

there was a recall due to the fraying
however, it was "settlement" as a result of a class action lawsuit.
only us customers "qualified" in terms of the settlement - bad form on apple's part in my opinion given it was a design fault effecting global users

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204551

 

[Grant]

I bought a second hand Macbook with a MagSafe 1 charger and it worked there and then. Tried it a few days later and there's no power light turning on. Can it be repaired at all? Don't see any physical damage whatsoever.

the problem could be in a few areas.
try this:

disconnect magsafe from laptop
hold down power button for about 15 seconds
while holding down power button connect magsafe to laptop
keep holding power button down for a further 5 seconds
release power button then immediately press it again (do hot hold down) and release (as you would normally power on)

does the laptop start (fans running at full speed) ?

 

[squirrel]

the problem could be in a few areas.
try this:

disconnect magsafe from laptop
hold down power button for about 15 seconds
while holding down power button connect magsafe to laptop
keep holding power button down for a further 5 seconds
release power button then immediately press it again (do hot hold down) and release (as you would normally power on)

does the laptop start (fans running at full speed) ?

Nope, nothing at all Charger doesn't get warm at all either. Tried both the 2 prong and 3 prong

 

[andrieso]

Does anyone maybe have a broken charger? I really only need the power cord with 3-pronged SA plug. I work overseas where we use a different plug and being home in July and August, I will need to use an adapter for my non-SA plug. Clumsy. Ideally I want one cord that I can leave at home when travelling but I am not willing to fork out over 400.00 for a generic charger just so that I can get the cord and plug. Willing to pay reasonable amount and for shipping if outside of Pretoria/Johannesburg area.

 

[bwana]

Does anyone maybe have a broken charger? I really only need the power cord with 3-pronged SA plug. I work overseas where we use a different plug and being home in July and August, I will need to use an adapter for my non-SA plug. Clumsy. Ideally I want one cord that I can leave at home when travelling but I am not willing to fork out over 400.00 for a generic charger just so that I can get the cord and plug. Willing to pay reasonable amount and for shipping if outside of Pretoria/Johannesburg area.

You can always lop off the overseas plug and fit a SA three prong - and repeat the process on your return.

Of buy any figure 8 cable locally. It won't be earthed but that's not necessary. You could also use one of the duckbills that came with it and buy a small, inexpensive adapter in SA.

What kind of plug are you currently using?

 

[andrieso]

You can always lop off the overseas plug and fit a SA three prong - and repeat the process on your return.

Of buy any figure 8 cable locally. It won't be earthed but that's not necessary. You could also use one of the duckbills that came with it and buy a small, inexpensive adapter in SA.

What kind of plug are you currently using?

I use one of the larger three-prong plugs with flat spades. I think it is the same as those in the UK, but we use the same in the Gulf. Our plugs have 13 amp fuses. I don't really like the non-earthed option, even if the Mac charger has its own, horrible to use, two pronged duckbills. It feels really weird if you use a non-earthed connection. I don't like the funny feeling on the casing.

if no cable is available then I guess an adapter will have to do.

 

[bwana]

I bought a UK multiplug and just put a SA plug on the end. That way I can use multiple devices.

You can also buy one of these pretty easily.

 

[Grant]

Nope, nothing at all Charger doesn't get warm at all either. Tried both the 2 prong and 3 prong

the charger will not warm up until the laptop has "instructed" the charger to start powering.
from something i posted earlier:

The charger startup process
When the Magsafe connector is plugged into a Mac, a lot more happens than you might expect. I believe the following steps take place:
The charger provides a very low current (about 100 µA) 6 volt signal on the power pins (3 volts for Magsafe 2).
When the Magsafe connector is plugged into the Mac, the Mac applies a resistive load (e.g. 39.41KΩ), pulling the power input low to about 1.7 volts.
The charger detects the power input has been pulled low, but not too low. (A short or a significant load will not enable the charger.) After exactly one second, the charger switches to full voltage (14.85 to 20 volts depending on model and wattage). There's a 16-bit microprocessor inside the charger to control this and other charger functions.
The Mac detects the full voltage on the power input and reads the charger ID using the 1-Wire protocol.
If the Mac is happy with the charger ID, it switches the power input to the internal power conversion circuit and starts using the input power. The Mac switches on the appropriate LED on the connector using the 1-Wire protocol.
This process explains why there is a delay of a second after you connect the charger before the light turns on and the computer indicates the battery is charging. It also explains why if you measure the charger output with a voltmeter, you don't find much voltage.

http://www.righto.com/2013/06/teardown-and-exploration-of-magsafe.html



change my earlier suggestion:

disconnect magsafe from laptop
hold down power button for about 15 seconds
while holding down power button connect magsafe to laptop
**keep holding power button down for a further 5 seconds**
release power button then immediately press it again (do hot hold down) and release (as you would normally power on)

**try holding down for 10 seconds**


also check the pins on the magsafe adapter spring in and out when you apply a little pressure to them.
check the power cable between the power adapter and magsafe adapter is not frayed or has a bulge at either end.

try flip the the magsafe adapter around (it can connect in either of two directions), my one mbp is not interested in starting up if the adapter is facing "direction a", flip it over facing "direction b" and the mbp starts up without problem.


if all else fails, nip into an istore, they are open till late in the shopping centres - have them check it

 

[squirrel]

the charger will not warm up until the laptop has "instructed" the charger to start powering.
from something i posted earlier:


http://www.righto.com/2013/06/teardown-and-exploration-of-magsafe.html



change my earlier suggestion:

**try holding down for 10 seconds**


also check the pins on the magsafe adapter spring in and out when you apply a little pressure to them.
check the power cable between the power adapter and magsafe adapter is not frayed or has a bulge at either end.

try flip the the magsafe adapter around (it can connect in either of two directions), my one mbp is not interested in starting up if the adapter is facing "direction a", flip it over facing "direction b" and the mbp starts up without problem.


if all else fails, nip into an istore, they are open till late in the shopping centres - have them check it

After about 4 or 5 tries, somehow it turned back on and has been working fine since lol.. thanks! Now just need to get my Mini DVI to DVI cable working for a proper screen, sigh See other thread

 

[Grant]

After about 4 or 5 tries, somehow it turned back on and has been working fine since lol.. thanks! Now just need to get my Mini DVI to DVI cable working for a proper screen, sigh See other thread

hehe
sometime the timing gets tricky - hence me suggesting changing the length of time you held the buttons down