Fix Your Stuff Community Store

Mid 2012 model, A1278 / 2.5 GHz i5 or 2.9 GHz i7 processor.

1624 Questions View all

Options

MBP can't turn on, dim Magsafe charger

Hi all, I can't seem to turn on my MBP and the Magsafe charger shows a very dim yellow light when plugged for charging. It has never happen before. The laptop has been well taken care of, smoke-free environment, zero drops or any liquid damage.

After reading on here and taking it apart. I've tried PRAM, SMC, unplugging the battery, swapping the DC-In circuit from another working MBP. I've also tried swapping Magsafe chargers but no luck.

All I did before was turn it off, plugged in the charger, Magsafe lights up as per usual and a minute later, it dimmed and I can't turn on the laptop.

Help please! Thank you in advance.

EDIT: Should I apply thermal paste to the GPU/CPU? Would that work? Also, I'm considering dropping in the logic board from a late 2011 13" model. Would it fit?

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Yes No
Score 0
Add a comment

2 Answers

Filter by:
Most Helpful Newest Oldest
Chosen Solution

Options

Sadly, your logic board needs repairs. What has happened is the power control logic MOSFETs have failed. This often occurs when a knockoff MagSafe charger was used when the battery was in need of replacing.

There is nothing you can do here your self unless you have the skills to troubleshoot the logic board and have access to the needed tools and parts.

Do you have a local Mac repair shop? If not you may want to look at getting a replacement logic board. You will also need a new battery and a real Apple MagSafe charger (directly from Apple only).

Was this answer helpful?

Yes No
Score 1

1 Comment:

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the swift response. That's weird because I have never used a 3rd party Magsafe charger or take out the battery until now. The battery also didn't have any issues. Maybe it's just bad luck that the board decides to die.

I doubt there's a decent Mac repair shop that'll look at it. Will probably go for a new board or simply just retire the Mac itself. Thanks again.

by

Add a comment

Options

some knock off chargers are bad, but very few. the ones that look like apple chargers, ive never had a problem with them.

Was this answer helpful?

Yes No
Score 0

6 Comments:

@niko521mac - How many systems have you repaired by charger damage? I would estimate a third of the 2010 to 2015 systems I’ve seen have had damage from them in one form or another. I wouldn’t trust them! And one company had to payout a good 2 mill for damage from one that set a hotel on fire!

The newer USB-C standards helped! Apple just leveraged the standard within its newer MagSafe interface.

by

ill take your word on it, but ill stick to what I said by my experience, the ones that look like apple chargers, but without the logo (they take the same plug) ive probably purchased anywhere from 150-200 of them over quite some time, havnt heard of one of them causing a problem. having taken them apart, the apple ones have an extra shield that doesn't exist in the cheaper ones. so for educational purposes, what exactly happens that causes damage? you can be specific ill understand you

by

@niko521mac Give this a view Cheap and Dangerous Fake Apple MacBook Pro MagSafe Charger There’s a ton of others!

These knockoff chargers damage the logic inside your system and can over charge the battery.

Lithium Ion batts need to me monitored as they charge, both voltage and temp. If the battery is very low the lack of temp monitoring can cause the battery to explode and when the Lithium hits the air it can ignite! I’m sure if you review my answers you’ll find the story of a cheap knockoff costing the engineering firm I was working for over 2 mill in damages! Just because someone forgot their charger and found one locally only to burn their room and cause the whole floor to be evacuated! For a few days as the hotel needed to clean things up.

We then went though all of the chargers marking the good ones (real Apple) and destroying the fakes. I was surprised how many we found and afterwards the number of charging logic repairs dropped off! I learned a lot by that event.

by

no offense, but you sent me a long video of someones opinion. These are the exact chargers im telling you about, and they are fine. I HIGHLY doubt one of THOSE chargers fried anyones computer. when I get computers in with power issues, WATER is the common denominator, NOT poor chargers. Are there poor chargers out there?? some that can be dangerous? yes probably. But the one in that video, those chargers are fine. also to take chargers apart, you need to apply heat to both sides, I use a heat plate, about 80C 10 min each side, then a reverse pliers will pull them apart. One charger in the background is an OLD charger, it is NOT the same charger as what we saw in the foreground. also another fallacy, "it's made in china" . everything is made in china. good chargers are made in china too. this video is playing people.

To be clear, I respect and agree with a lot of what you're saying. Im just saying those chargers, are fine. and im saying that video is based on nothing but one persons opinion. the chargers are NOT the same. No worries, we agree to disagree, but I respect your opinion on the matter.

by

@niko521mac - I’m saddened you feel this way. Did you note the differences between the two units? Or did you not watch the full vid?

Let’s put this a different way your car has brakes on all its wheels. So what if three fail and you are only going 10 MPH that one brake will stop your car no problem! Now what happens when you are going faster? The less effective that one brake is, and the distance you need to stop increases! Did you enjoy the new hood ornament now plastered across your visor? Cutting corners is not wise! And as I stated we didn’t realize how many knockoffs we had in service and only after we took them out did we noted a sizable drop of charger and battery repairs.

Most swollen batteries which are under 1k of cycles are likely due to a bad charger! Even after getting the correct one the charging logic is damaged!

I hope anyone else reading this does the right thing! Flat earth thinking is not what we do here.

by

Show 1 more comment

Add a comment

Add your answer

Mark will be eternally grateful.
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 0

Past 7 Days: 4

Past 30 Days: 5

All Time: 96