USB C Charger Flickering/Flashing On and Off

Ciellchan wrote:

1. Hi! I just got myself a new MacBook Pro to replace my old one, I have been using it for a few days now and the usb c charger started acting weirdly.

I left my usb c charger plugged to the wall, side by side to the Magsafe of my old MBP 2012 as I unplugged both computers and went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning to start working and plugged the MBP I found the charging icon, and the sounds that goes along with it, started flickering/flashing on and off.

The flickering problem happens on my partner Macbook too but his USBC charger works flawlessly on both computers and so does the old Magsafe on the other Macbook, so it seems to be a problem solely with the new USB C charger.

I left it to rest 24hs and the flickering/flashing went from 30secs to less than 1sec, it seems like a police siren going on and off. Left it to rest 12 more hours, plug it again, the police-siren effect started, I moved a bit the cable and it stopped. It's charging now BUT:

If I connect the charger to the left side of my Mac my Wacom Intuos stops working. I have to plug it on the right, next to the usb where the Wacom is connected. This issue happens only with this new charger, I don't have the same problem with my partner charger.

2. I wasn't able to find any documentation about the flickering error but an article about noise on the electric line that may have the charger acting weird or not charging at all.

3. The moment the error occurred I had many devices connected on the electric line (High consumption like the AC) could that be the reason? Extra power consumption affected the charger? Maybe it created noise on the line? I don't know.

The charger is now 'working' but I'm afraid it may be damaging since it's malfunctioning.

I would absolutely love to know if any of you may have had a similar problem and what can I do to fix it?

Intermittent problems of this sort are hard to diagnosis or resolve—best you can do is keep an eye on the situation.

For battery management you can Try resetting the SMC https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Ciellchan wrote:

Can it be the SMC on both Macs? The Macbook 16' charger works flawlessly but the MBP 18 is failing on both.

Really sorry to ask, I'm so lost, never had this kind on issue before. I will reset the SMC, I hope it fix the issue 🙏🏻

If your issue continues—take it in—In or out of warranty you can get a free over the counter 'Apple Service Diagnostics' test /assessment

Make an appointment for a hardware issie—

https://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

https://checkcoverage.apple.com/

https://support.apple.com/my-support

https://support.apple.com/en-lamr/aasp-program

From iOS online Genius Bar appointment: 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-support/id1130498044?mt=8

Ciellchan wrote:

Unfortunately I live abroad and there is no Genius Bar or Apple Store here

Apple Authorized Service Provider Program

https://support.apple.com/en-lamr/aasp-program

Apple - Find Locations - Apple Authorized Service Provider

https://locate.apple.com/country

Ciellchan wrote:

After many trials of different kind I found the problem.

The USB C cable that came with my charger is malfunctioning. I switch the usb cable of my partner's Macbook charger with mine and the charger works flawlessly.

So far the problem was that one. I guess I'm taking this to any place that has Apple coverage as the Charger has been used less than a week.

Good computing Ciellchan !