Macbook Air - Intermittently Charging , Now not at all

I'm having the same problem... tried smc update... didn't try the hair dryer, switch power adapter from my mbp.... tried different power outlets... search everywhere else on the internet for a solution.

frustrated and silly as it may sound, i just simply wiggled the mag plug around while connected and miraculously the green light came on, followed by the amber light for charging. If i had to guess... perhaps the mag plug seat on the mba itself is bad, creating a poor connectivity? I was able to replicate, unplug, plug, no light, wiggle for about 5-10 seconds, then eventually the green light would come on... i tested moving the mba around while connected and so far so good... still connected, still charging.

Wow, I thought I was going nuts! I spilled some coffee on my adaptor point and then plugged it straight back onto the macbook air before realising it, milky coffee on both points...dahhhh. So I thought this problem that occurred soon after was the result of that, entirely my fault, despite having lovingly cleaned the two ends. I do all sorts of things to get it to work again a lot of which are described above, I live and travel in very hot climates so never the warming up bizzo, but most of the others and frequently speaking to it and begging pathetically seems to work as well!!! It always eventually comes on but it is not reliable and I can not have an unreliable travel laptop which is why I went and bought the newest MBA yesterday. I am now doing the whole wiggle thing to keep the migration from the old to the new going for the length of time required. I decided to investigate if anyone else has the problem before handing down the laptop to my son. Heaven forbid it starts on this new one!! A word from Apple would be gratefully appreciated as I am an Apple junky circa 1989 with a home filled with a Monster new 27" iMac dual HD etc, 21" iMac, now two MBA's, a series of each generation of iPad including new iPad mini distributed to all family members along with several iPhones, Apple tv's and on and on and on. You do not get much more loyal then I and I probably know more than most of the young things on the Genius bars instore (there was no Apple support bods in the early days so you had to be your own). I will wait to see Apples reply on this forum before calling and making my own investigations now I know this is a common fault and needs to be rectified or in the very least respectfully acknowledged. In the mean time any new revelations on how to keep it going by other users would be gratefully received!

OK, add me to the list. I've been using an old charger downstairs for a 15 months, and it's worked flawlessly. I;ve been saving my new charger upstairs, and I almost never use it. Today I needed it and it didn't work. I did all the swtiching and cross-checking of entension cords and slide plugs. And then I came here and read this thread.

Thus it was that I put the new charger on the bed underneath the old one, which was warm from charging since I had finally gone downstairs and brought it up. And—wait for it!—it's charging! A little heat did it.

Now, it's below zero outside here in Canada, so it's not like it was warm to start with. But hey, I was working up here all afternoon, so it wasn't that cold!

BTW, one more note. My MBA (11") came supplied with a smaller charger than the one that came with my old white MacBook. Thus the old one charges my MBA but the new one does not charge my old MacBook. I'm told that's normal. But I wonder if Apple just got caught supplying a too-small charger, and they should go back to the old one. If memory serves it's 85W versus 65W distinction. Just one new peice of information.

I have had this problem on and off over the last 3 months too (since winter arrived really). SMC reset not working, tried different plugs etc.

Luckily i found this thread, but even so I sceptically tried warming up the power block on a radiator.

Bingo..it works again 🙂

I found this thread while trying to figure out the no charging issue on my 7 month old 11" MBA. I tried warming the brick part for 2 mins in front of a space heater, but still showing no charging and 0 wattage, so it's not even powering the laptop :-( Tried the SMC reset too. < 4 hrs of battery power left, so had to shut it down. Since it's under warranty, I made a genius appt for tomorrow. From this thread, sounds like it'll miraculously work in the store :-/

I wish the warming trick worked for today at least. I'll let you know what they say.

Disappointing.

I have the same issue. MBA 13 in', bought early 2012. I lodged my issue before my warranty expires so I am still covered by it.

Weather condition: Summer.

At first when its charging, the light will turn orange but just for a few minutes (enough to trick the genius into believing its actually charging and thinking that maybe you might be insane), then it will stop charging and stays green. I made my genius stay with me and it did turn green after a few minutes.

I have met the geniuses for about 4 times now. Problem still unresolved. Geniuses were friendly if that helps. 🙂

They tested on the charger, it passed. Still not charging.

Reset SMC & RAM. Still not charging.

Reseat battery. Still not charging.

MRI did not passed battery test. Amperage is too low (-197) in every single test they run in front of me (Perhaps they should consider raising the am? I am a noob in stuff like this so not sure if that's possible).

Replaced power adapter, replaced board, I/O yesterday. Still not charging.

Should replace battery by now but genius is 100% problem is solved because of the solution above. It did not. I doubt it will solve the problem as some of you have changed the battery and its still not working.

Going to the genius bar like right after this and show them this thread and see what they are going to say. It sounds like a problem with MBA year 2011/2012?

Well, I cancelled my trip to the genius bar. When I got home, the adapter didn't power my 13" MBA either, so I switched adapters and the 11" got power. I swore I tried that adapter over the weekend and had trouble. But, it appears OK today (but then again it's unseasonably warm out yesterday and today!)

Thank you o' wise poster of the hair dryer trick! It works! Love ya! Mean it!

Thanks, and glad it worked!

Same for me. Charging started to go intermitent sometime around 15 months after purchase. Now it's completely dead. Big deception with this first Apple's experience. I paid a premium price for what I expected to be a premium product, but with that situation 18 months later and no more warranty, I looks to me like a weak investment.

We miss Steve I guess.

Crap!

Simon A.,

Montreal

What a joke. My first Apple computer a MBA and I can't charge it. I can't believe a company like Apple with all there money has not fixed this. I read all the posts and I warmed up the charger in my hands for a few minutes and I can't believe thats what it took to get it charging. So I have to pull out my night stand and unplug it, then warm it up to get it to work. What year is this? I cant believe how much I paid for this and I have to warm up the charger. I had already gone into the store, they were zero help, but very nice, but had nothing for me. And I find the problem on an apple disscusion board. But maybe with Spring approaching we will have some warmer weather and I'll be set till next winter. Apple fix it NOW.

I've been having this same problem with the cord light not coming on when connected, for no apparent reson. Totally randomly. I'm in Arizona, so it's not THAT cold here. Probably mid 70s. Anyhow, I couldn't get it to work because I accidentally unplugged it. Which caused it to lose its "sweet spot." While reading the boards, I took the white block and held it in my hands. After about a minute it just randomly came on. Orange light pops back on. So warming up the block corrects the issue. However, give me a break. How did no one at Apple ever catch this? I'm assuming they're just going to ignore this and move on to the next model like it never happened. This cord is so awkward and fussy that it was the only negative from day one. I'm hoping they ditch this design completely and come up with something worthy of the brand.

I tried charging again today with no luck. My house is 70 degrees inside. So I held the charger in my hand for about 30 seconds while breathing hot air on it 4 times, plugged it in and its now charging. I don't remember seeing those instructions in the manual. So it just needs a jump start every time like an old car. Thanks Apple.

UPDATE:

After a few weeks with the new battery and IO board my MBA is now charging correctly and consistently. It took about 2.5 weeks and now it seems to charge correctly everytime on the first shot. I have tested this with 4 different charges and I am seeing great results everytime.

Also, I have done some testing in the basement @ 55 degrees leaving two of the charges down in the cold and they have both been charging 1st time. I cannot explain why you need to warm up the charges because I did as well but as I noted in an earlier post I have been doing my tesitng with 4 seperate chargers and i was able to duplicate the issue before my battery and IO board swap out and had the same results as everyone else.

I dont know the ins/outs of the MAC but perhaps IO Board is sensing a false full charge or something.

If someone else is under warranty go into the Mac Store and demand a new battery and IO board and see if you are seeing better results, I didnt for the first week so I dont know if there was an update or something released but I am having expected results at this time and I have the same power supplies as before.

GOOD LUCK.

Thank you for your post. I will go in and demand that they replace something. My MBA charged fine for 2 or 3 months. Then for the last month I noticed it wasnt always charging but did not think much about it untill this last several days when it stopped altogether. Then reading these posts I found that warming it a little would get it to work. I think there is a problem with the charger that gets worse over time. I will go in Monday to Apple and post what they do about it.