[Capella]

So I have a MacBook (late 2009, model identifier 6,1) that's been wonky with charging...well, honestly, since I got it last year. It has had two replacements of the power adapter, including one in mid-May of 2011. Now it's suddenly not charging/intermittently charging again. I can't tell if the new charger has suddenly blown up, or if it's the power board inside the machine. (is there a more technical term for that?)

In mid-May, my second charger began to display power fail issues. It would get incredibly hot to the touch and stop charging. Borrowing someone else's power adapter would charge the machine, and the original charger would work again once it cooled down, but that could take up to a half-hour. Took it into an Apple store, the guy plugged it in, felt it grow really hot, and replaced it.

Last night, my laptop had been plugged into the wall and was running on power. I unplugged the laptop, took it into my room, plugged it back in, and it wouldn't charge. The adapter was cool to the touch and not overheating, but System Profiler refused to acknowledge the AC charger, claiming that there was not one connected and that the machine wasn't charging. I tried all the steps I could at home- I used 2 other known-good power outlets, I changed the wall-part from the duckhead prong to the ground prong and back, I restarted, and last I reset the SMC, all while flailing around doing a backup. Nothing made the machine acknowledge the adapter. I noticed that the adapter has no physical damage, but the power port has a small black marking on it which I could have sworn was not there before. This made me suspicious. But I was stymied and had tried everything I could think of, so I turned off the comp with barely 40% battery left and made a Genius Bar appt for Friday.

I realized just now I forgot to back up something, so I turned it back on. Out of habit I plugged in the power and- suddenly it worked. I'm wondering if I should still take it in for inspection, because last night I spent over 2 hours fiddling with the machine and it was very distinctly not working. Also, the fact that I was having charging issues in May, and this is a new adapter, makes me worry that the May issue wasn't my charger, it was instead something weird with the machine's power port, and that it's happening again. The little black mark also seems suspicious. Here is a pic, apologies for the quality, it was taken with an iPhone; it's faint, but you can see it there. It has not responded to cleaning, and it's not something stuck in there, it's definitely directly on the plastic, so I'm worried it's a scorch mark or something. Is this still worth taking to the Genius Bar, or will the intermittentness will make the Genius Bar shrug and not take me seriously? Is there anything else I can do to try to verify that there isn't something mucked up with the internal part that handles charging?

[chucker]

Black mark looks burnt to me.

I'd definitely take it in.

[Brad]

Those black marks in that picture just look dirty to me. I just took a quick survey of the MBPs sitting around me (at work currently) and they all have dirty black scuffs in the port despite all being under a year old and none of them having power issues (to the best of my knowledge).

That said, I'd still recommend taking it in for a checkup. Even if it's not exhibiting the issue while you're there, if you go with as much detail as you gave us, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Capella]

I fished up my camera and used macro mode to get a port closeup. I think you're right, Brad, that some of it is dirt (which is irritating, I cleaned it out last night), but there's one spot that worries me here. The dark spot right to the right of the pins is the sketchy bit.

I've documented everything I've tried on it and will bring in a copy for the Genius Bar techs. I can't think of anything else I can try at home to diagnostic it. I'm just going to count my blessings that I made a backup. And then I'm going to go spend forever in hospital waiting rooms for the next two days without a laptop. *gripe*

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Capella And then I'm going to go spend forever in hospital waiting rooms for the next two days without a laptop. *gripe*

I'd lend you my iPad if I could.

But mebbe you'll get some writing done, and then mebbe you'll win that HP Mini from Lulu!

[dmegatool]

Something similar happened to me. Same symptoms and all (but no dark spot). Everything looked fine but my power adapter would only last like 4-5 months. After replacing 3 adapter, they finally decided to replaced the whole I/O (Power, Usb and Fw) and it solved my problem... Don't remember how much it cost me though