I plugged in my charger and the light won't come on. The macbook does not recognize it as charging and it charges extremely slowly. I already tried resetting the SMC like 5 times and it hasn't fixed it. Do I need to take it in?
MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 13-inch, aluminum, late 2008
MJJABR wrote:
I plugged in my charger and the light won't come on. The macbook does not recognize it as charging and it charges extremely slowly. I already tried resetting the SMC like 5 times and it hasn't fixed it. Do I need to take it in?
Just a few things that might help to understand how it works. It's not technically a charger although I know it's commonly called that. It's a DC power supply, but Apple calls it a "power adapter". The "charger" is inside the computer. That's what's controlling the light on the MagSafe head, although if it doesn't light up there's a chance that the LED is malfunctioning or that the adapter has an issue.
Do you have another power adapter? I've got two, so I'm equipped to rule out a bad adapter if I had a problem similar to yours. Maybe you know someone else with a MagSafe adapter? It doesn't even need to be the same power rating since they all should work to some degree. I might have suggested going to an Apple Store, but at this point I'm not sure they have any available behind the counter (although some MagSafe 1 machines are still technically supported). I do remember having an appointment for a battery issue once, and they had a MagSafe adapter right under the counter, and plugged it in before diagnosing with an iPod through USB.
Did you check System Report under Hardware>Power? You might also try installing coconutBattery.
Is it connected through a surge protector or straight into the wall? All I know is that sometimes if cables are not Apple certified, it can cause major errors.
Also, charge becomes slow if you have multiple USB ports plugged in to the same device the slower the charge is.
post.user_wrote.label:
The system report and coconut battery say that it is not charging, however, it is charging extremely slow still.
Sounds like you can rule out a bad MagSafe adapter since you tried using another one. Could be a bad battery, a bad DC-in board, or perhaps the charging circuits are malfunctioning. I don't know if Apple would be willing to repair a model as old as yours. They probably don't have the parts any more.
If you knew someone with the exact same model (and yours had a limited production) you might try a battery swap. I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying a new battery just to experiment, but that's an option. Aftermarket A1342 battery kits are pretty cheap these days, although they may not have the highest quality batteries.
I have already tried a new MagSafe adapter and the light turned on and seemed to work, but then when I unplugged it and tried again, it repeated the action before. I will try to run the System Report.
The system report and coconut battery say that it is not charging, however, it is charging extremely slow still.
Charger won't light up when plugged in
