Powerbook Power Supply Blues

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light.
The Rev wrote on :

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

So I went to the Apple site and it's going to cost me SIXTY POUNDS for a new power supply and its estimated delivery is NEXT MONTH.

I use my Powerbook every day! How will I cope with going a week or two without it? I'll have to get off up the sofa and walk to the iMac to do computer stuffs. Woe! Woe! Woe!

It's probably the universe's way of telling me I need a new MacBook, but the universe didn't win me the lottery yesterday, so the universe can bugger off.

(However, wedding list: added. Hope springs eternal and all that.)

Simon Higgs replied on :

The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

Same thing happened here a couple of months ago. I brought a replacement from Jigsaw next day. My local Cancom also had stock of an alternate PSU (MacAlly I believe), which might have been a bit cheaper.

Simon.

Martin replied on :

In article 4fv4j8F1jtlgnU1@redacted.invalid, The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

What's the problem - that's just normal operation isn't it?

Just wrap a bit of tape around the cable to hide the sparks and then rotate and lever it about in the socket until the charging light comes on.

All you need worry about is whether you've paid the premium on your household insurance policy. One of my old Powerbook cables managed to produce a small flame from the stress point at which the cable met the socket :-(

Regards

SteveH replied on :

The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

So I went to the Apple site and it's going to cost me SIXTY POUNDS for a new power supply and its estimated delivery is NEXT MONTH.

I use my Powerbook every day! How will I cope with going a week or two without it? I'll have to get off up the sofa and walk to the iMac to do computer stuffs. Woe! Woe! Woe!

It's probably the universe's way of telling me I need a new MacBook, but the universe didn't win me the lottery yesterday, so the universe can bugger off.

(However, wedding list: added. Hope springs eternal and all that.)

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/apple-powerbook-laptop_adapter-ac3.htm

Does that help?

J. J. Lodder replied on :

The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

Find break, use solder, tape up,

Jan

The Rev replied on :

SteveH wrote:

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/apple-powerbook-laptop_adapter-ac3.htm

Does that help?

Thanks, but despite Apple's predictions of delivery next month, they shipped the power supply yesterday and it was delivered earlier today.

The Rev replied on :

J. J. Lodder wrote:

The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

Find break, use solder, tape up,

Break's right where the cable meets the plug. I followed the sparks...

Not the best play to try and repair and I wouldn't trust myself with solder. I might bring it into the office and see if we can patch it together as an emergency spare, though.

J. J. Lodder replied on :

The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

J. J. Lodder wrote:

The Rev the_rev_yes_really@redacted.invalid wrote:

Woke up this morning, Powerbook said it was on battery. Power lead was plugged in, but no charging light. Played with the cable, cable shot sparks. Blue sparks that cracked the air. Ran for the wall and pulled the plug from the socket.

Find break, use solder, tape up,

Break's right where the cable meets the plug. I followed the sparks...

Not the best play to try and repair and I wouldn't trust myself with solder. I might bring it into the office and see if we can patch it together as an emergency spare, though.

Ah, add box cutter knife. Carefully cut away some of the plastic, untill you have freed enough copper for soldering.

If that fails, cut the plug off and substitute an ordinary audio mini-jack, and do without the protective ring,

Jan