MagSafe adapter for MBA that actually lasts?

I've gone through 3 Apple power adapters for my MBA over the last 2 years. The original 45W adapter started having intermittent problems after 9 months and stopped charging altogether after a year. A replacement 45W unit lasted 6 months. I went with a 60W unit next because an Apple Store tech suggested they had less problems, but it started acting up in just 4 months and is now toast after 6. All 3 of the units still provide power, but won't charge the laptop. This is a long standing problem based on what I read in Apple support communities, and is backed up by hundreds of 1 star ratings on the Apple Store online. It seems my experience is not that unusual.

I've been trying to come up with alternatives, but this is all I got:
1. The physically larger 85W, which also has poor ratings on the Apple Store.
2. Clones. Apple drove the legit 3rd party alternatives out of the market with lawsuits, so all that's left are generic clones of unknown pedigree sold mostly on eBay. I suspect they are using recycled or grey-market Apple parts and thus wouldn't fare any better.

Does anybody know of any others?
I know there is an adapter available to use a MagSafe charge point to power a MagSafe 2 computer, but does the reverse exist?

I've been reading a bit about MagSafe and learned that there is a small microchip inside the connector which interfaces to the computer through the center pin to control charging and the LEDs. If this chip fails the adapter will still provide operating power but won't charge the laptop and the LEDs will be dark. I think that's the problem I and others have been experiencing, and I suspect it's due to the connector getting hot. Mine stays warm most of the time, but occasionally gets hot. Anybody else notice this?

 

Had mine since last year. No problems with the adapter at all. Is it the cable that's going bad or the brick itself?

 

Never had any failures with my MagSafe adapters. The only problem I have with them is that 85W is not enough power for a Sandy Bridge MBP with Radeon GPU.

In any case, where are you using the AC adapter most of the time? Is it plugged into a wall outlet at your house? Do you have it connected to a UPS or surge protector? Perhaps there are some voltage fluctuations somewhere that are causing problems.

 

Thanks for the responses.

I travel a lot so I use it everywhere: at home, on planes, airports, hotels, at other companies, etc. It's never plugged into a UPS, but it's often on a surge protector at home. All power sources are 240V except during occasional visits to the US or on the plane. The original adapter and the 3rd adapter started showing problems when at home. The 2nd adapter stopped working while I was in the UK.

I think the part that's failing is the charge control chip inside the MagSafe connector. There's no sign of cable loosening or fraying and the brick will happily power the computer even while gaming. It just won't charge the battery anymore. I have noticed that the MagSafe connector sometimes gets hot when I'm using the computer while it's charging. But it's not consistent and doesn't seem to correlate with how hard I'm using the computer. Do you ever notice it getting hot?

FWIW, tons of other people with the same problem here:

Customer Reviews: Apple 60W MagSafe Power Adapter (f

 

There needs to be a counterfeit/chinese copy of magsafe chargers somewhere

I would buy those instead

 

I normally would advise against going this route, but since you're having so much trouble, it certainly won't hurt at this point to at least try. They're all over fleBay.

 

I paid a visit to the Genius Bar yesterday just to see what they'd say. The guy feigned ignorance of any power adapter problems until I referred him to the Apple discussion forums and Apple store online reviews. Then he looked at me sheepishly and said something like "Yeah, I know. I know we're haven't been so good with the power electronics, have we?" Anyway, he gave my laptop a clean bill of health and confirmed my adapter wasn't working.

EDIT: One good piece of advice he gave me was to periodically clean the contacts with a deoxidizer. He suspected dirty contacts might have been why I noticed the connector heating up.

The clones on FleaBay are reportedly no more reliable, so I decided to give the 85W a try this time. Cable fraying is the most common failure with the 85W, which is at least different than the 45W and 60W adapters. I wish they had a MagSafe 2 to MagSafe 1 adapter so I could try one of the newer adapters.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

What a great idea. Just make sure to buy one of these with the money you save.

 

The big square thing is supposed to get warm (mine gets really warm sometimes...) because it is a AC to DC step down transformer compared to what we have in PCs.

You said that the problem started at around 9 months, so why didn't you go to the Apple store right away? Perhaps it is an australian thing, but here the store would have gladly switched the whole thing for a new one. Granted that I use my PC daily compared to my Mac that is used couple times a week, but this is the first I have heard of it. I use two macs and never have had any issues. The only thing that is different is the 120 V vs your 240 V but I think the connector should be able to take it if Lenovos could do it.

 

The Apple Store did give me the first replacement for free. But not the second (since I didn't purchase it, I was not offered a free replacement). The third was purchased in the UK and the warranty isn't honored here. So I've had to buy 2 out of 3 replacements so far.

By the way, I'm not concerned about the brick getting warm. I'm curious to know if others have noticed the MagSafe connector getting warm/hot.

 

No, I don't think that this is normal. If you touch the leads inside then they might be slightly warm, but it isn't noticeable compared to the brick.

 

they do warm up a bit especially if you are using your system heavily. I will have to agree that they could be built better, I wrap my cord and travel alot and tend to kill off one per system atleast every 8-14 mos and was a bit vocal in the Apple forums about it as well. atleast I found they tend to give you a free one for the first replacement here in Canada

 

not in brazil, going for the 3rd charger here, and I do keep thing very tidy

 

as we have discussed before, your support can vary by country or even region