silveroak

Q: macbook air won't charge & no light on charger

I charged 2011 Macbook Air yesterday and it was fine last night and again this morning. Then, when it was running low on battery today I plugged in the wall charger (which is a new one I got in July) and suddenly my screen went black and the charge light wouldn't come on. So, I unplugged the charger and then my screen came back. Plugged in charger again and screen went black again. I restarted my computer and still same problem. I even shut down and rebooted but same problem. Of course I didn't back up my files so I scrambled to transfer some to our portable hard drive but I was on reserve power and the transfer did not complete. So, now I have a dead computer. I even just tried the charger of a friend with a MB Air but her charger didn't work for me either. So, now I have just plugged my charger in with the hope that it will mysteriously start working again -still no light showing.


And ideas? I live in southern Mexico and closest Apple Store is in Mexico City...not very close to me :-(

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Dec 20, 2012 1:02 PM

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Q: macbook air won't charge & no light on charger

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  • by HelpMeSomeonePlease,

    HelpMeSomeonePlease HelpMeSomeonePlease Sep 25, 2013 5:31 PM in response to silveroak
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2013 5:31 PM in response to silveroak

    hello

    i have had my macbook air for about 2 years now

    yesterday before i went to bed i checked my email

    it was then that i noticed that my charger did not have the orange light that meant it was charging

    i checked to make sure it was plugged in

    it was

    i then checked to see if my computer socket was dirty

    i tried plugging it in to all of the sockets in my house

    it still did not work

    i then found this page

    it said to heat it up

    that did not work

    it said reset Smc

    still did not work

    i cleaned it and did tons of other stuff people said would work

    geuss what still did not work

    please help me

    i only have 30% left

    thank you

  • by Challenger180,

    Challenger180 Challenger180 Oct 21, 2013 12:00 PM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2013 12:00 PM in response to JohnnyCotia

    Wow.  Heat was the answer!  I tried the previous suggestions repeatedly, and no luck.  While sitting at my desk, I  took the power adapter unit and put it under my leg - basically like trying to hatch an egg....  Within 1 minute, the charge light finally came on!  Wierd, but it worked.  Thanks JohnnyCotia!  Voodoo was my next recourse.....

     

    Message was edited by: Challenger180

  • by ksnyders26,

    ksnyders26 ksnyders26 Nov 1, 2013 7:38 PM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 1, 2013 7:38 PM in response to JohnnyCotia

    Seriously?!  This is such a high tech computer but it won't charge when the charger is cold???  I believe this also fixed my issue.  I noticed it would not charge when I was downstairs where the cord is on the cold floor between the sofas but did charge upstairs where the power strip in my office is on the floor in front of the heat vent.  I was sitting down here on the couch and trying all different things to get the light to come on - it seemed to be a connection issue.  I even tried downloading and installing a software update - which of couse used more power.  I took it upstairs and plugged it in, came back down here and read this tip on my husband's pc.  When I went back upstairs, the heat was blowing out of the heat vent onto the power cord and the charging light was on!  Unbelievable!!

  • by elayton1,

    elayton1 elayton1 Nov 14, 2013 7:47 PM in response to silveroak
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2013 7:47 PM in response to silveroak

    JohnnyCotia is a GENIUS!!  Good find on heating up the power adapter.  Who'd a thunk it.  I sat on my wife's for about 5 minutes while I was eating my ice cream and it worked great!!!  Apple needs to seriously rework their power cables and adapters.

  • by Aquaimage,

    Aquaimage Aquaimage Nov 14, 2013 9:34 PM in response to elayton1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2013 9:34 PM in response to elayton1

    I've been having the same problem with my Macbook Air recently. The laptop is about two years old. After finding this thread, I heated up my charger for about two minutes with a blow drier and it started charging. Or at least the light came on - however I just noticed now even though the light is on, it is not taking a charge!

  • by KhanMongo,

    KhanMongo KhanMongo Nov 15, 2013 8:24 PM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 8:24 PM in response to JohnnyCotia

    I am not sure but I think JohnnyCotia's solution may have worked for me too.  I left my mac book air off the charger for about two months, battery went to absolute zero.  When I tried to plug it in and turn it on nothing happened.  The light on the charger was not green or orange it was not any color, it was off.  I plugged it into several different sockets nothing happened.  I plugged it in and put the entire adapter under my hoodie next to my skin, waited for about 5 minutes and sure enough the light came on and it started charging, and the macbook air turned on and tried to restore my last internet session.  I think it probably would have eventually turned on by itself but who knows. 

  • by doctorleelee,

    doctorleelee doctorleelee Nov 16, 2013 12:20 PM in response to silveroak
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2013 12:20 PM in response to silveroak

    Oh my gosh. I worked on this problem for the last 4 hours and got no results. So I figured, what have I got to lose. So I sat on my charger!

     

    Thank you, Johnro.

    http://www.johnro.net/2012/12/28/help-my-macbook-airpro-wont-charge/

     

    Did it work? You bet your bippee!

  • by jonpaulw,

    jonpaulw jonpaulw Dec 11, 2013 7:58 PM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2013 7:58 PM in response to JohnnyCotia

    Brilliant.  Put the power block under my armpit for 10 minutes and now it's working.  Wife thinks I'm a mad scientist ... thanks!

  • by Aquaimage,

    Aquaimage Aquaimage Dec 12, 2013 4:09 AM in response to silveroak
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 4:09 AM in response to silveroak

    After heating the charger a couple of times, I finally called Apple since I have the extended warranty and they replaced it. The new charger works fine.

  • by yahoo1066,

    yahoo1066 yahoo1066 Dec 30, 2013 2:38 PM in response to Aquaimage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2013 2:38 PM in response to Aquaimage

    Well second time in 2 years that after a week of not charging my Macbook Air when I plug it in no sign of life from the amber / green charge light. A broken MacBook or charger I start thinking.

     

    Plug in / unplug, cleaned it etc....... sat on it for 5 mins and its started working again ***??

     

    Apple, surely you can do better than this?

  • by Gaeseric,

    Gaeseric Gaeseric Jan 10, 2014 4:39 AM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 10, 2014 4:39 AM in response to JohnnyCotia

    Thank you!

    Warming up the power brick  fixed my problem as well!

  • by prawnk1ng,

    prawnk1ng prawnk1ng Jan 10, 2014 7:01 AM in response to silveroak
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 10, 2014 7:01 AM in response to silveroak

    Does anyone know if apple are replacing for fixing this issue for macbook just out of warratty customers?

    mine is 2 years old.

    theres a bit about uk cosmner law on apples website that products should be fit for purpose for 5 or 6 years etc.

     

    any know if they will replace / fix under this consumer law?

  • by madmax92104,

    madmax92104 madmax92104 Jan 30, 2014 2:54 PM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 2:54 PM in response to JohnnyCotia

    Absolutely unbelievable...I have had this problem for 2 years. Every now and again my MBA wouldn't charge and I'd live with it because it always started working again after a day or two. I paniced this time because I'm going on a business trip and power may not be available. I bought a new battery out of desperation and still nothing.

     

    Then I found this post, read how people where sitting on their chargers and thought that it was crazy. However, i had nothing to lose so I sat on it feeling a little dumb and sure enough it started charging!!!

     

    So dont be like me and buy a new battery just sit on your charger!! ... crazy!

  • by The Skorp,

    The Skorp The Skorp Apr 28, 2014 10:47 AM in response to JohnnyCotia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 28, 2014 10:47 AM in response to JohnnyCotia

    No freaking way! This actually worked for me!! Thank you!!!!! <3333

     

    Well, here is my story to help support this method reviews and others out there.

     

    Recently, my Mac would stop charging when I wanted and would charge randomly. Last night, it would not charge at all. Woke up this morning and still, nothing. Was pretty frustrated as I had to write a 6 page paper due this week and had no time for this ********. After cleaning the input and taking it apart looking for anything wrong, it came back clear my Mac was good and not damaged.

     

    The charger I currently have was a third party charger from China, as my original one from Apple, the wire broke off to the point of the coils being exposed and it wouldn't charge anymore. I assumed that since it was a cheap $15 charger, I expected that I needed a new one after 6 months. So, I looked for chargers, but at the same time looked for answers. I first came across this topic and looked through. I tried all the methods and it didn't work.

     

    Then, Johnny's post with that article about heating it up caught my attention. I read that you had to sit on it... That seemed to good to be true, but it was my LAST option before I went and bought another charger. So, I sat on the charger like a fool and waited laughing at myself, oh yeah this will work. After sitting and moving my *** on the charger for about 3 minutes, I was going to give up, and as I got up, the orange light came on. I flipped out in excitement! It's been charging since then. Couldn't believe it.

     

    Hope this story helped someone else. It dumbfounded me at how this works. It also is not only for the chargers by Apple, but even the cheaper ones from China this method worked. Thank you so much once again. You helped me save a lot of frustration!!!

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 28, 2014 12:19 PM in response to prawnk1ng
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 28, 2014 12:19 PM in response to prawnk1ng

    Take it to an Apple Store and ask.

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