65w and 45w ac adapters

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65w and 45w ac adapters

Hello

My 65w ac adapter seems to have stopped working on my powerbook 15" which I have had since Nov 2004, I have an ibook which has a 45w, can I use the 45w on the powerbook as the battery has run out just to charge it a bit. The 65w adapter seems to work on the ibook but not on the powerbook and the 45w works on both, so I am not sure what it could be, I was hoping it would be just the ac adapter.

We live in Kathmandu and I have to find competent technical support as Apple is fairly new here.

Many thanks
Antanya

powerbook G4 15" & ibook G4 12", Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 23, 2008 8:48 PM

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Answer 1

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eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Sep 24, 2008 7:19 AM in response to antanya

Hi, antanya. Yes, you can use the 45W adapter with your Powerbook, though you may find that it will only charge the battery when the Powerbook isn't being used. Its 45W output probably won't be enough to provide battery charging while the PB is in use, at least not when the processor and drives are drawing a lot of power. Some Tibook users have found that a 45W adapter will charge their batteries while they're using the machine as long as the use isn't very demanding. I wouldn't expect to be able to watch a DVD movie and charge the battery at the sqame time, for example. But the battery should charge when the Powerbook is asleep or turned off.

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Answer 2

antanya Author

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Sep 26, 2008 11:45 PM in response to eww

Many thanks for your helpful reply. Yes I have been charging it and then using it on battery. After discovering that I cannot get a replacement here in Nepal and speaking to a fellow apple owner she advised me to try again as this has happened to her and without any explanation I plugged it in and it is now working...

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Answer 3

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Sep 27, 2008 6:50 AM in response to antanya

Antanya: If you mean that the 65W adapter mysteriously began working again, that's actually not too surprising. An Apple adapter is designed to shut itself down if the power supply to which it's connected gets too "noisy", i.e. the voltage fluctuates too irregularly and wanders outside of safe parameters for the adapter. This protects the adapter and the Powerbook. The adapter then has to be reset by unplugging it for a minute or so and plugging it back in again. If it has shut itself down for the reason described, and the AC power supply has restabilized, the adapter will work normally again after resetting. You may have reset yours without realizing you were doing it. I don't know what the AC power supply is like in Nepal, but I'm prepared to believe it may not be totally stable and dependable. So if you notice at any time that the ringlight around your adapter's plug is not lit, it may indicate not a defective adapter, but one that is protecting itself against an unstable power supply and needs to be reset.

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Answer 4

NixG4

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Dec 8, 2008 8:11 AM in response to antanya

Do you know how to identify the adapter wattage? My G4 Battery Update does not work, saying "You must have a 65W power adapter plugged into a working power source during the update process." I think I may be using a 45 watt adapter by mistake, but I can't tell.

The wattage isn't printed on the adapter anywhere. Not that I can see anyway.

Thanks!

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