First off, I know this topic is so way out of what the general subject of this blog, but I felt that I needed to post this for those who might have encountered or will encounter the same thing I had.
I’ve had my Powerbook G4 since 2005. I bought it from a friend who had it since October of 2004. A few days ago, while using it to browse and answer e-mails, I suddenly smelled something burning, and when I looked, it was my power adapter’s cable sparking and plastic white cover melting. Its basically similar to what happened to this guy.
I called up a local Apple Store to see if it can be fixed, but they will always recommend you buy a replacement. A new one costs about $79 US. Here around 6,500 in Philippine peso. And from what I’ve read, there’s no guarantee that the new one I get won’t do the same. So what’s a guy to do in this situation?
I searched the ‘net, and found one blogger who had the same thing happened to him (twice!) and he graciously posted how he fixed his. So following his example, I will post my own version of repairing this defective adapter.
Repairing the AC Adapter
First off, let me tell you that I’m no electrician. I don’t know the first thing about wires and stuff. All the things I did are taken from experience, so do your research before attempting this.
You’ll need some basic tools. Here is a list:
- A slim chisel or a flathead screwdriver (I used the chisel)
- A pair of pliers (to be used like a hammer) or a hammer
- A pair of needle-nose pliers, a pair of scissors or an X-acto knife (which ever you prefer) for cutting the wires and stripping off the insulation
- A soldering iron and solder
- Electrical tape
6 Comments for this entry
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afterdark » Blog Archive » iBook PSU
May 6th, 2007 on 7:20 pm[...] Como abrir a fonte, não necessariamente da melhor forma, mas funciona [...]
July 15th, 2008 on 1:29 pm
Thanks man. This worked great. Took me only 30 minutes. Hardest part was separating the plastic adapter piece apart. After I got that, the rest was pretty easy. Thanks again.
January 16th, 2009 on 7:47 am
Hey there! Thanks for the awesome how-to. I attempted to crack my charger housing open the other night, got frustrated, and gave up. Your tutorial gave me a new motivation to get back at it, and after some cracks and snaps, some white electrical tape, and a half an hour, I now have an operational charger again.
January 23rd, 2009 on 10:06 pm
Acabo de ahorrar 8o$ con esta reparación casera.Funciona, muchas gracias!
March 14th, 2009 on 8:33 pm
This is the first time I commented here and I must say you provide us genuine, and quality information for bloggers! Good job.
p.s. You have an awesome template . Where have you got it from?
July 21st, 2009 on 7:27 pm
This happened to me too, only I was stupid enough to buy a replacement, but it was another brand replacement, it cost me about $35 at MacSales.
But I’ll try to fix it now using this method, since I still have the damaged one here!
January 4th, 2010 on 7:11 am
There’s no way that’s true, right? Apple never used to be quite that. I am veteran enough to remember the very first one that had pointer recognition AND two clicker buttons, never mind all this new stuff they have.