Chosen Solution
MacBook stopped charging the battery and will not work with AC power adapter only. MacBook notices the connected power adapter, but reports battery not charging. Adapter light stays green even when battery needs recharging. MacBook runs fine on battery power. Installed battery update 1.4. Checked the battery (Cycles 66, Condition: good; does charge on onther MacBook). Checked the AC adapter (works fine on other MacBook). Logic board failure? Any other thoughts? Update got no applecare for this MacBook. read somewhere a faulty connector could be covered by legal product warranty (production fault)
Since it works with the battery and not the adapter probably the magsafe board is bad. I’m including the url’s for the repair and the part. Ralph MacBook Core 2 Duo Magsafe Board Replacement MacBook MagSafe DC-In Board
Power flows from the AC adapter, to the DC-in board, through the logic board and battery connector, then finally to the battery. There obviously isn’t anything wrong with the battery or the AC adapter because they work on a known good machine. Therefore, it is something internal. I would suggest opening the computer and checking the battery connector first. There have been a quite a few computers I have worked on and there was some corrosion in between the battery connector and the logic board. If there is then you need to replace the logic board and then battery connector. Hopefully there isn’t any corrosion and you can just replace the DC-in board. Goodluck!
follow up: re Jethro:
- is the DC-in board (only) a connector, or does it contain electronics ?
- visual inspection of the battery connector shows no corrosion. re Ralph:
- if the DC-in board is a connector only, I find it hard to believe this can malfunction.
- if so, can a claim for repair be covered by an (extended) applecare warranty ? MacRuud
