So last Sunday my PSU died. I don’t know if it’s something about luck or what but in all my years (to many to count) of using computers the only component I’ve never lost (touches wood, bit late though now) a PSU. Not in a desktop, laptop or server. Might seem like slim odds of that happening but it’s true. I’ve built a lot of machines over the years and have owned a lot of machines as well. Never had a PSU die, ever.
So last Sunday morning was a bit of a surprise. I’d used the laptop in the morning and then had put it on to charge late in the evening, I haven’t really liked leaving this charging overnight as it gets really hot. So I must have taken it off charge around midnight, unplugged the charger from the laptop and the wall socket and went to bed. 8am I plug it all back in, nothing. No green light and no orange charging indicator. Tried an SMC reset, nothing. Cleaned both the port on the laptop and the connector on the charger, nothing. Tried all the solutions you’ll find online. I visited a local store to try another charger but two large stores I visited had no 85w MagSafe 2 chargers in stock (loads of every other Apple charger though strangely). The last store let me try the display charger and all was well.
So the charger is definitely dead. It’s just turned 2 years old. I have a PSU for my 1992 Amiga 1200 that sat in my parents garage for 20 years, unused, that powered up the first time I tried. So why has the most looked after and perfect condition PSU fail whilst it wasn’t even powered? Bit odd. There were no sparks or smells yet no juice. Oh well.
From reading around the web it seems (if the messages are even remotely accurate) that some people go through multiple Apple chargers. I’ve personally seen so many with electrical tape wrapped around various bits of them you have to wonder if people either don’t care enough or there is a desgn issue.
So last Sunday my PSU died. I don’t know if it’s something about luck or what but in all my years (to many to count) of using computers the only component I’ve never lost (touches wood, bit late though now) a PSU. Not in a desktop, laptop or server. Might seem like slim odds of that happening but it’s true. I’ve built a lot of machines over the years and have owned a lot of machines as well. Never had a PSU die, ever.
So last Sunday morning was a bit of a surprise. I’d used the laptop in the morning and then had put it on to charge late in the evening, I haven’t really liked leaving this charging overnight as it gets really hot. So I must have taken it off charge around midnight, unplugged the charger from the laptop and the wall socket and went to bed. 8am I plug it all back in, nothing. No green light and no orange charging indicator. Tried an SMC reset, nothing. Cleaned both the port on the laptop and the connector on the charger, nothing. Tried all the solutions you’ll find online. I visited a local store to try another charger but two large stores I visited had no 85w MagSafe 2 chargers in stock (loads of every other Apple charger though strangely). The last store let me try the display charger and all was well.
So the charger is definitely dead. It’s just turned 2 years old. I have a PSU for my 1992 Amiga 1200 that sat in my parents garage for 20 years, unused, that powered up the first time I tried. So why has the most looked after and perfect condition PSU fail whilst it wasn’t even powered? Bit odd. There were no sparks or smells yet no juice. Oh well.
From reading around the web it seems (if the messages are even remotely accurate) that some people go through multiple Apple chargers. I’ve personally seen so many with electrical tape wrapped around various bits of them you have to wonder if people either don’t care enough or there is a desgn issue.