There are at least three AC power adapters from Apple Computer, Inc. which have come in for criticism by customers. The three AC power adapters of greatest concern for poor hardware stability were the original black rectangular transformer issued with the PowerBook G3 Series "Wall Street" computer, the updated rounded "yo-yo" transformer issued with the early model G3 iBooks and titanium G4 PowerBooks, and the white square transformer issued with later models of titanium and aluminium powerbooks.
The original black rectangular AC power adapter
This AC power adapter is notorious for heating too much during normal use (and in one instance a US customer has discovered how it can create a fire in his study room).
Another problem of this adapter relates to the wire used to transfer the power from the transformer to the computer — it is stiff and prone to metal fatigue when bent enough times. You should also remember that the solder joints for this wire into the power plug is small and weak and will break from its connection during normal use (approximately 9 to 12 months).
Apple Computer, Inc. did try to avoid liability for its bad design of this power adapter by claiming the customers are not looking after the equipment properly (or are using it too much).
FIXING THE PROBLEM
As far as the AC power plug is concerned, you are better off buying a brand new Apple-made transformer at Apple's usual inflated prices and help the Apple resellers make a profit. Given the specialised nature and design of the AC plug (ie. it contains a standard three-way 3.5mm stereo plug with an extra outer metal cylindrical negative plate to help grip onto the outer part of the AC socket inside the computer and so provide safety to computer users because it does deliver a solid 1.875 amps of current at 24 volts - three in the centre pin of the stereo plug of which only two of them are active for safety reasons and one active "negative" outer plate) and the way the plug and wire are permanently attached to the transformer, there is no way you can repair or replace the cable and plug using available standard plug and wire fittings from an electronic store. Unless you are prepared to do a custom job on the AC socket on the computer and get a standard variety of plug on the transformer, you will have to buy a brand new transformer.
We wish to take this opportunity to thank Apple for protecting our environment and in making it easy for normal people to repair it outside of the warranty period. Please visit your Apple dealer to get a replacement (it should be free-of-charge now that Apple has officially approved the decision to replace the original black transformer with the rounded plastic "transparent" iBook power adapter).
## SPECIAL UPDATE ##
February 2002
Apple Computer, Inc. has recently approved a free replacement program for the old black rectangular power adapters included with the Apple Power G3 Series computer in favour of what was believed to be a better rounded "transparent" power adapter known unofficially as the "yo-yo". The replacement was instigated because a US Government Department involved in the safety of products told Apple Computer, Inc. to resolve the overheating problems of the old adapter after a consumer complained of experiencing a fire in his study room as a direct result of the power adapter.
Despite the replacement for a newer rounded version, another problem has appeared as we will discuss next.
The rounded "yo-yo" transformer-style AC power adapter
Now here is another beauty from Apple which we hope other computer manufacturers will not emulate.
This time the poor quality AC cable connecting the rounded transformer to the power outlet in the wall breaks too easily through normal use (a particularly common problem for the older M7332 version), forcing consumers to pay at least A$50 for a new AC cable thanks to the unique design of the Apple plastic and rubber plug going into the transformer.
Why does it break? Apple has used a bunch of extremely thin and soft copper wires wrapped together in such a way as to provide just enough strength to survive normal use for up to 12 months. But because the wires are very flexible and thin, bending of this AC cable enough times through normal use (eg. when you have to carry the cable inside a backpack or briefcase) and straightening it out again when powering the laptops eventually causes the wires to suffer metal fatigue and eventually break. We have evidence to support this with two AC power cables collapsing after less than 12 months of use.
As for the thinner wire coming out of the rounded transformer and into the power plug for powering the Apple computer, this is not soldered properly to the plug and will require customers to pay A$150 or more to replace the entire transformer (including power plug and wire) roughly every 8 to 12 months of normal use. The problem is worse with the latest 65-Watt white-square power adapters (see below).
This is bizarre in the light of the knowledge that such problems are virtually non-existent among other computer manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM.
FIXING THE PROBLEM
The official solution suggested by Apple Computer, Inc. is to take out the extended 3-year AppleCare warranty at your cost of course and to the benefit of Apple and its resellers. Then you can have up to two or three power adapters replaced at no further cost to you. Any more than this and Apple Computer, Inc. and/or your local Apple resellers will probably start making a fuss about how you are abusing your power adapter without acknowledging the adapter's poor design. When getting a replacement, make sure the cable itself going into the power plug is of the thicker variety as it would appear Apple has designed another version of the power adapter. This thicker wire (if soldered properly to the power plug) should withstand the higher temperatures and normal wear and tear (eg. the natural twisting and bending considered normal use) much better than the thinner wire.
Unofficially, the AC cable can be repaired, but you will have to be very patient, have the right equipment, and have your wits about you. Here is what you will have to do:
- Get a thin-blade hacksaw (the kind you use to cut tight curves in a piece of wood) to break open the unique outer Apple-designed plastic plug. You'll need a clamp to hold the plug in position and cut around the edge of the plug. Don't cut all the way around the plug. Try to create a cut such that the plug looks like a clam-shell. The point at which the plug is not cut should be where the AC cable passes through the plug. When cutting the outer part of the plug with the hacksaw, make sure you only go down about half-way into the plastic because there is a secondary plastic plug at the centre of it.
- Prize open the outer rubbery skin of the plug and remove the extra layer of rubbery material filling up the plug inside.
- What is left inside the plug should be a hard plastic shell containing the metal pins where the electricity goes through into the wires of the AC cable. Take this internal hard plastic plug out and pull the whole thing in a direction such that more of the AC cable will go through the outer rubbery plug part you have just cut with your hacksaw.
- Cut off a reasonable length of the AC cable (about 10 centimetres). This should hopefully remove the damaged part of the wire.
- Remove the plastic cap and pull out the metal pins to free them.
- Use a soldering iron to remove the unwanted portion of the AC cable from the metal pins.
- Prepare the good end of the AC cable by stripping back the insulation in readiness for attaching to the metal pins.
- Solder the fresh AC cable to the metal pins. Reinsert the metal pins back into the plastic plug. Close it with the plastic cap.
- Put everything together inside the outer soft rubbery power plug part and drill a hole near the centre to hold everything together with a screw. When drilling a hole and putting in a screw, make sure the screw cannot touch the two conducting metal pins or you will get electrocuted
NOTE: This is not something the average consumer can do on his/her own without the correct equipment, patience and knowledge. If you don't feel comfortable, we recommend getting an electronics enthusiast to try it instead. Or better still, for your greatest safety, purchase a brand new power plug.
You will have to fix the plug on the left using the above steps and eventually the 3-pin power socket to the wall as shown here.
The latest square-shaped "brick" AC power adapter
There is a general feeling the square-shaped AC power adapters are lasting longer than earlier types. But it doesn't take too long before the latest 65W variety of square-shaped transformers used in the later titaniums and early model aluminium G4 PowerBooks from Apple show signs of failure in some aspect of the design.
The most common complaint from users has been the permanently attached (ie. unfixable by anyone except for Apple) cable coming out of the transformer and into the power plug for supplying power to the computer is not properly soldered into the power plug itself. Once again consumers have had to explain to Apple how the wire itself can break inside the power plug (the red light may not illuminate during charging indicating something is starting to go wrong). After a while, the green light may stay on and help to charge and power the computer, but after a few months, the plug collapses causing short-circuiting and eventually the transformer goes dead.
In other reports, the white wire coming out of the square transformer (to the power plug) could suffer a similar fate. A less important issue is how the rubber reinforcement around the wire entering into the power plug will eventually break. If this happens, the likelihood of the wire breaking inside the power plug will increase.
As one MacFixIt.com reader said:
'I've had two 15" Powerbook power adapters fail now with the same symptoms: there is no longer a red or green glow when plugged in to the computer, and it no longer charges the battery. Oddly, though, it WILL power the computer and prevent the battery from losing more power. So it partially works. I'm convinced this is a static discharge problem, as I work in a very dry environment and "shock" my computer several times a day when I touch the aluminum case. I think some circuit inside the adapter is getting a static zap and it gets partially fried.' (MacFixIt.com: Power adapter issues (#2): Using the extension cord to solve issues; eliminating sizzling noises; more. 3 February 2006.)
Apple has produced two versions of this white square transformer. When you open an early model version of this adapter, it will look like the following:
Everything looks neat inside except for the difficulty in breaking open the white plastic housing. We used the blade of a hack saw fitted between the groove and cut gently through the thin plastic below. However, despite its innocent internal appearance, there is a problem as we shall discuss below.
If we compare this to the newer white square transformer, we see that Apple has stopped people from trying to repair the adapter themselves for safety reasons by injecting a white insulating material around the transformer and throughout most of the electronic components:
We have scrapped off a fair bit of the insulating material to reveal more of the components. It should be noted that there are no resistors on the top of this newer circuit board to help solve a particular problem in the previous model. There may be some resistors underneath the circuit board, but they are non-serviceable:
The reason why this newer adapter was taken apart is because the white wire coming out of it through the circular rubber component was wearing down through normal wear and tear until the outer ground wire and inner active wire came together and short-circuited. On taking this adapter apart, we incorrectly used a screwdriver. As a result, we damaged the main capacitor as shown below:
causing the whole adapter to stop functioning.
In the earlier model, we found a problem whereby if the adapter is accidentally covered with a couple sheets of newspaper, the heat quickly builds up inside the adapter to the point where after about 2 hours, a spark could be heard, the smell of burning electrical components, and finally the unit went completely dead.
The problem can be seen below:
Here we can see a burnt resistor next to the main capacitor. Colour coded Orange-Orange-White with a gold band below, this resistor was overloaded with too much current under high heat and so collapsed by sending a couple of sparks to the nearest ground source (ie. metal plate). The resistor has a remarkably low resistance of approximately 0.3 ohms suggesting this acted more like a fuse to blow the circuit. However, because the adapter is not meant to be opened and repaired by anyone, Apple used a resistor rather than a fuse. So once the resistor blew, it would also permanently damage the power regular and main capacitor, effectively putting the circuit out-of-action.
You should be aware that there is no over-temperature protection system built-in. When combined with the very thin wire to the power plug, this is an extremely cheap and nasty power adapter. We can only wonder how much it had cost Apple to make one of these "easy-to-fail" adapters.
## SPECIAL UPDATE ##
9 September 2006
A similar no protection system exists in Apple's AirPort Express device. This is a device looking like a white square power adapter you plug into the wall except it is suppose to be designed to act as a wireless router. Do not be deceive by the expensive price tag of A$199 for one of these devices. The price is no indication of quality from Apple. Users have already complained long and hard of the problem with the device — namely it shows a flash of light then goes dead without warning or reason usually after the warranty period (around 16 months after purchase). (Galvin, Nick. AirPort queue up: The Sydney Morning Herald (Icon Supplement). 9-10 September 2006, p.08).
Apple Australia may officially state no replacement after the warranty but some users can get a replacement showing the policy is inconsistent or that some Apple Authorized Service personnel are aware of the problem and understand (with the right words from the customer about the Trade Practices Act that goods must be of "merchantable quality") that this is not a customer fault and therefore should be replaced.
Perhaps a further indication of the quality of Apple products?
Fixing the problem for American users
Some users have suggested a viable replacement for the 65-Watt Apple power adapter via http://rswww.com/. The part number is 311-9359. Or try a third-party adapter made by MacAlly or Kensington. Users have noted the solid construction of these adapters compared to the Apple variety. Only one drawback, you won't get the fancy amber and green lights on the power plug indicating charging and normal power. Perhaps there is something to learn from this: users can usually survive without the fancy features in favour of a solidly built product.
As one MacFixIt.com reader said:
'I gave up on Apple's adapters and purchased two third-party adapters made by MacAlly. On the plus side, they seem more solidly made, and they don't spark when inserted into an outlet. Cons are lack of a lighted amber/green ring to indicate charging, and lack of a protective cap for the pin that inserts into the Powerbook. Still, I'm happier with this [US]$34.00 replacement than spending another [US]$80.00 on a lousy Apple adapter.' (MacFixIt.com: Power adapter issues (#2): Using the extension cord to solve issues; eliminating sizzling noises; more. 3 February 2006.)
Fixing the problem for Australian users
There are a number of alternative power adapters on the market from Jaycar Electronics and Dick Smith Electronics. A good solidly constructed product with excellent built-in safety features worth exploring is Kerio Energy Knight III Universal Notebook AC Power Adapter.
You can purchase a 70W or 80W version. For powering an iBook, G3 Powerbooks (eg. "Wall Street", "Pismos" etc) and G4 PowerBooks (eg. titanium and PowerPC aluminium), the 70W unit is adequate. Kerio Energy Knight III has over current, short circuit and internal over temperature protection features, a thicker cable that enters the power adapter in a more sturdy fashion, and a light and compact 270g adapter with carry case. And best of all, you can use it to power PC laptops as well (IBM, Compaq, Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba and others including the Pentium M series and Centrino notebooks).
The product uses an output voltage adjustment device (ie. the fuses you would find in your car, except they are specifically designed for this power adapter, so don't try to use the car fuses under any circumstances). They are colour-coded to help you select the one which will tell the power adapter how much voltage to deliver to your laptop:
Purple (15V)
Blue (16V)
Red (18V)
Green (19V)
Black (20V)
Orange (24V)
and sends through a maximum of 3.7 amps from the power adapter once you have selected your coloured fuse device. For Apple laptops, use the orange device and plug it in like so (there is no special way to insert it):
And choose one of two power plugs for Apple laptops — the big one is for G3 PowerBooks, the smaller one is for everything else. For other power plugs, here is what you will get in the package:
Also don't be afraid to take it with you on overseas trips. It can handle input voltages as low as 100 volts. And after testing one of these adapters, we found that after 24 hours of being left on (under a couple of sheets of newspaper), it felt much cooler to the touch that an Apple power adapter.
As of May 2006, the Kerio Knight III Universal Adapter was selling for A$98 unless the salespeople were putting the wrong price tag on it.
The future?
We can only wonder what Apple will come up with next when the triangular or some other geometrically-shaped transformer appears on the market! Any chance users can have a solidly constructed power adapter? Thanks Apple Computer, Inc. for thinking about the consumers when selling cheaply made power adapters to the world market. We really appreciate the effort you've put into them.
## SPECIAL UPDATE ##
4 February 2006
Apple appears to have looked into the power adapter problem and has decided the real cause for all the headaches to consumers has been because people were pulling deliberately or accidentally the wire during normal use.
So what's the solution? Apple has built a new power adapter. This latest one uses a magnet to stick onto the casing of an Apple laptop before commencing charging and powering. The benefit of this approach is clear when we see there is no longer a "plug" to grip onto a "socket". If you pull the wire, the whole unit can easily break free from the magnetic field and slip off. An interesting concept and one that is likely to solve the dangerous problem of electrical sparks coming off the end of the pin and circular metal jacket of the plug.
Of course, you will need to buy the new Intel-based Macintosh laptops to benefit from this "latest technology". And you will have to buy the adapter from Apple as there are no third-party manufacturers at the present time capable of coming up with an alternative product that does the same job.
