US Mac Book Pro, Living in Ireland (Same UK Plugs)

The MagSafe is rated 110-240 volts and will work in any country with the appropriate lead/plug. I bought mine in the USA and use it mainly in Australia (110 vs 240 volts) and the MagSafe has worked fine. (Had to get Apple's World Adapter kit for the Aussie 'home' plug bit)

Try resetting resetting the PMU (Power Management Unit) and re-calibrate the battery

Hi there Michael, I also bought mine in the US and it works without a problem. The power adaptor is universal , you only need the plug converter thats all.

Try to take the battery out and then re-insert. Then use it on battery power only for a while then charge it again, observe the behaviour and report back.

Reading your post, you said you have an adaptor. Does it fit well or did you have to cram it on? The problem may well be the adaptor. The power brick is universal as everyone else has stated. Did you try the adaptor straight on the power brick or with the 3-prong plug?

Peter may be right. The US prongs may be a bit weak for the adapter.

Take the US plug off the power adapter (its the corner bit) and plug in a standard figure of 8 cable into it. It should work fine. You probably have one of these cables on something in the house - otherwise will probably cost you less than 5 euro.

Best of luck.

Just one of these - take the "corner plug" off the Apple adapter if you haven't already and this below will just push into the gap (you may already be using one of these)

http://svp.co.uk/products-solo.php?pid=476

If it is not charging and you've reset the PMU (remove battery, unplug machine and press the power button for 10 seconds) then the next step is a call to Apple. There is no reason it shouldn't work.

Best of luck.

>the orange light on the cable come on, it goes on for around ten minutes then stops ... ... then I put it back in after ten minutes and it recharges for another ten..

This is sounding like a thermal cutoff/overheat protection in the MagSafe and indicates a faulty unit I suspect.

Now you've confused me.

If what you have done is plugged the MacBook Pro power adapter (magsafe) into a converter that changes the 220v to 120v, then take it out - change the cable to the one I mentioned and plug it into the wall directly.

You want this
Wall socket<----figure of 8 cable---->apple power adapter (white one)--->computer.

NOT

Wall socket<----220 to 120v converter---->apple power adapter (white one)--->computer.

It is an autoswitching power adapter - plugs straight in.

http://www.universitycomputers.com/ePOS/thiscategory=67&store=210&itemnumber=510E-44-MA357&form=shared3/gm/detail.html&design=210

If you have the same problem then you have to call Apple. Could be the power adapter - could be the computer.

Hope this helps. Don't want to come across as patronising - just making sure we are clear about what we are talking about.

Hope it works out. Luckily Apple is based in Ireland if I remember correctly so you might get some good service.

Cheers

So you have two automatic convertors going on this? That is the problem. When I was in the Philippines (220v) my power brick was also hot but I never had a problem. I did make sure it was able to ventilate itself. I stood it upright on a hard surface.

I don't think you can run two convertors at the same time. Let the Apple brick do the converting and find a suitable adaptor for the plug.