More on Power adapter issues

Dismantled adapter MacFixIt reader Dan Baggenstoss took apart his adapter after it failed, and gleaned some information that might be useful for keeping your adapter alive:

"Had this happen to one of the adapters at the office (Square White Adapter). It got so bad that the entire metal ring, plug, and small circuit board that are inside the end of the adapter which plugs into the iBook fell out. I could tell that both of the positive and negative wires had broken very near to where they are soldered to the circuit board. I decided to dismantle the rest of the plug to see what happened.

"It turns out there is plenty of strain relief where the wire leaves the plug. The problem lies with the part that fell out. The circuit board, metal ring and plug as well as the ring of light that indicates the charging status is all one unit. It is very loosely seated into the plastic housing of the plug. The only thing that really keeps it in place is the connection to the two wires which are molded into the rubber strain relief underneath the plastic housing.

"So, if your computer and your adapter plug have a nice snug fit, when removing the plug, it will essentially cause extra strain on the wires where they connect to the circuit board inside the plug.

"It seems the worst thing you can do is twist the plug. Since the plastic housing seems to grip the rubber cord strain relief better than it grips the plug unit, as the plastic housing and the rubber cord strain relief rotate, the plug unit grips the computer. All of the rotating force is absorbed by the two wire connections.... over time they'll break."

New adapters with unrelated repairs Some readers report that Apple is providing the newer 65-watt adapters (with thicker backing around the laptop-end cable connection) are being included with machines that are sent in for other repair issues.

John Stump writes "About the faulty powerbook adapters: I sent my 15" powerbook in to Apple over the Christmas holiday to fix the "white spots" problem. When the unit came back, it had the new adapter included, although my original was still fine."

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