Fix a broken power adapter tip yourself

Those pesky power adapters. If the cord isn't coming out of the casing, the little tip that plugs into your laptop is snapping off. What are you supposed to do at $90US a pop? Get a new one? Heck, no. Fix it yourself!

Leander at the Cult of Mac blog figured out, after much trial and error, how to fix the broken tip issue. When the tip of his adapter broke off inside the thing, he wasn't sure what to do. After finding this article at Macintouch, he was inspired. By placing a small amount of crazy glue to a thin object like a toothpick or a Q-tip, he could grab and pull the broken piece out. However, it did not go as planned:

"It didn't work, despite several close calls, and all I managed was to make myself purple with rage and gum up the power port with dried super glue." As a final, desperate attempt he shaped a paperclip into a hook and managed to get it underneath the small pin and pop it back up into place. Now everything is working fine and Leander saved himself $90. Plus, he learned a valuable lesson: "At first I was ginger, but after half-an-hour, I just started pulling and yanking at it. This worked -- amazing what you achieve when you don't give a #@!*.

Truer words have never been spoken.

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Source: http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=1…

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Hardware Portables Tips and tricks

Those pesky power adapters. If the cord isn't coming out of the casing, the little tip that plugs into your laptop is snapping off. What...

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bracken

I successfully removed a tip in just a few minutes using a common needle threader loop (picture here: http://www.alteredsky.net/pics/thumbnails/IMG_1987.jpg). Hold the laptop vertically with the power port down, so gravity can help. Use the end of a paper clip to depress the gold contact. This will allow the tip to drop closer to freedom. Now pass the needle threader loop past the tip. Try to catch the end of the tip as you pull the needle threader back out. It'll likely take a number of tries before you catch it. Good luck!

November 17 2005 at 10:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jason

If it jams, force it. If it breaks, it needs replacing anyway...

October 30 2005 at 12:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Brad

Im with post number 4... How do you fix the broken adapter?

October 28 2005 at 2:29 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jason Coleman

This post supports the first rule of repair: If it is broke, the worst case is you'll only break it more. The best case is that you might actually fix something. Therefore you have nothing to loose by taking your tools to a broken gadget.

October 28 2005 at 10:01 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

peter honeyman

if i could say two words to steve jobs, they would be STRAIN RELIEF

October 28 2005 at 1:21 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

neil m

mcetech sells OEM quality ibook and pb chargers for $40. I have used them and am more than satisfied.

October 27 2005 at 9:50 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

motorzen

I know I'm a little slow, but I was expecting to find a way to actually fix the broken adapter (which is really what I need to do). Instead I'm reading how to retrieve the tip from inside the PowerBook. Did I miss something?

October 27 2005 at 8:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jan

Hey guys, I'm with you on the crappiness of the design of the adapter (I'm now on no. 3), but you should check out the comments on the post on the Cult of Mac site. Apparently there's a less painless way that doesn't involve superglue and a Q-tip!

October 27 2005 at 7:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

John Laur

Redesign? Hell all they need to do is switch to a STANDARD type of DC barrel plug rather than reinventing all of their power cords. The mac mini is the pinnacle of ridiculous apple power cable design.

October 27 2005 at 4:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Graham Forden

i HATE the charger for my powerbook. It is the most poorly designed Apple product ever. In one-and-a-half years i have gone through 3 (i use my laptop alot... but i do NOT mistreat it). There is currenly something crazy going on inside my computer where the inside eats the little part that supplies the power, and it gets stuck inside. No one knows what is going on, but i guess i just have to wait till winter break to get it fixed.... They fray, they overheat, and get stuck... a redesign is neccessary!

October 27 2005 at 4:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply