My macbook power cord has been in steady decline for the past few weeks. It had a bad short and I would often lose power. Even though I hadn’t touched it for weeks, it was taped to my desk, it was still getting worse. I’m not quite sure how this happened; I imagine it is a similar process that wires go through when they get tangled without being touched. No one is sure how this happens. Must be gnomes.
Anyways, back to the power cord. I followed the instructions in this Flickr set. It involved cutting around the transformer case with a rotary tool and cutting away the bad section of cord. I then rewired it and taped the original case back on with gorgeous red duct tape. Check out the pictures below and click for the full size image.
To anyone who is having the same problem, I would highly recommend doing this yourself. For 15 minutes of work, you save yourself $85 and your Macbook’s power cord will now look battle hardened.
Yikes.
Hopefully there won’t be a next time, but if there is, you should opt for electrical tape instead!
That thing would have had a hammer to it within 45 seconds!! I like the white & red, makes me think Canadian..hehe
@ search engine panel: duct tape rules!
@ texan democrat: Oh Canada!
My cord melted at the connection point last night – I went to the apple store (Cherry Creek, Denver) and they immediately replaced it with no hassle even though my warranty expired (bought it in July 2006). This is a wide spread, escalating design flaw and the techs told me they are seeing more and more melted cords come through the door – if they give you grief on getting it replaced then site all of the postings, images and video on the net that document this problem. I hope that someone’s house doesn’t burn down before Apple actually issues a recall. My advice, don’t ever leave your cord charging unattended.
Mine melted from the rotary tool that I used to open it. It didn’t melt from a short circuit or anything like that.
Hey, glad to see my instructions were helpful, but again, I’d really suggest putting it inside a project box of some sort.
You do seem to have got it back together reasonably well, but I don’t think it’s a safe setup for long term use.
Regards,
Alex
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Really helpful!
Thanks a lot
It didn’t melt from a short circuit or anything like that.
Very nice
Thanks, very helpful
HAHA wow that is one sad power source. I love the duct tape, really made my day.
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Great Post…. Thanks