Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Hi everybody. Today when I plugged in the MacBook Air power charger to the wall in my room I saw and heard sparks for the first time and the I noticed that the connecter ends of the charger have burnt a little (I see small black dents) but the charger is working normally. Shall I stop using the charger and buy a new one? I mean does this have any effect on the Macbook?
MacBook Air
Yes, it can burn out the IO board
sounds like the board or one of the 2 capacitors on the charger internally may be failing. Verify with another charger.
what country are you in? Possible grounding issue, use the extension cord your mac came with to ground the charge (yes this works).
😊
Hi thanks for answering, I'm in the United States. Shall I stop using it? I'm afraid it may hurt the computer. I don't have another charger. This spark doesn't usually happen when I connect the charger in another room.
then you indicate a grounding issue on a certain socket in your house.
You mentioned "connecter ends of the charger"
lets make sure, youre referring to the magsafe end that connects to the MAC, or to the 2 prong wall connector
which is it?
post a pic of the "small black dents"
otherwise use a regulated power strip in the location which has the faulty wall outlet you indicate.
Thanks PlotinusVeritas for your quick replies; here is a picture of the dents (I tried my best to make them visible): you see the black marks at the tip?
Ahh, when you said "connecter ends of the charger", one presumes you mean the end where you dont want it to ever happen, at the magsafe connecter.
thats just spark gap causing pitting to the chrome plating on the outlet plug, no worries, however if its gaping that bad, you can blow out the board inside the charger rapidly
use a power regulated power strip if you MUST use that defective wall outlet you mentioned.
Thanks again PlotinusVeritasfor your reply. Does the extension cord that came with the power adaptor offer the power regulation/grounding you mentioned? Have a nice day.
Hi everybody. Since those sparks that I mentioned happened, I notice a decrease in my battery life ( the computer is not staying powered for as long as it used to be when on battery and unplugged to the wall.) I ran the hardware diagnostics tool and it said there were no problems found. What shall I do? Any help would be appreciated.
sparks when connecting MacBook Air charger to the wall
