Dangerous Apple Power Adapters?

An anonymous reader writes "Even with all these exploding Dell notebooks and other notebook safety problems, Apple has seemed relatively immune. Every once in a while, some odd thing came along, but it seemed like relatively calm waters. Not anymore — Apple's notebook power adapters appear to be the source of some serious safety concerns. Every iBook and PowerBook user should read this and keep a close eye on their adapter — the adapters suffer from very poor design including wires that seem prone to short out and burn and zero short circuit protection."

Comments

Not poor design

[Timesprout]

Its low quality electricity causing the problems

Re:Not poor design

[Ant P.]

Which is why these little things called "fuses" were invented.

Re:Not poor design

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

I couldn't agree with your post more!11!!!!11!!

The thought that one of Apple's many chinese hardware subcontractors could possibly have made a boo boo in a small batch is utterly inconcievable!11!!!!

I say anyone who questions the quality of Apple's hardware is an M$ shill.

Re:Not poor design

[thelost]

This is closer to the truth then you could start to believe! I have recently seen pieces of heavy electricity literally falling off power lines. I can quite imagine that too much heavy electricity could easily crush an Apple power adapter and cause serious danger.

Re:Not poor design

[Nicholas Evans]

So then, as somebody named Whiney Mac Fanboy, I understand very well that you know who is a shill and who is not a shill. However, the author states:

I spent time closely inspecting the original adapter that came with my PowerBook and caused the problem, comparing it to the model Apple sent me as a replacement and another Apple branded power adapter I purchased new from a local computer store. They were all identical. The reinforcing rubber "bootie" was the same. The cable appeared to be the exact same gauge. They even all exhibited the same lack of proper short protection and proved able to arc endlessly without tripping any breakers, fuses or GFCI outlets.

I am definitely not a manufacturer or an engineer or any physical products, nor am I a Microsoft and/or Apple fanboy (but I did order a MacBook Pro on Friday, hooah!), but from the information available it would seem as if Apple does have a potential safety issue.

Re:Not poor design

[anagama]

Maybe a problem, likely not. Mac users tend to go nuts about manufacturing errors more so than others. Anyway, I got a macbook a couple weeks ago -- has the magsafe connector. I recall not too long ago tons of news about the magsafe burning up at the computer side. I noticed that when I pull the connector straight out from the computer, it stresses the joint where the wire and plug meet. Thing about a magnetic connection is that it is hard to pull the two sides straight apart, but easy to break if attacked from an angle. So now I just push on one side of the connector and it breaks away without difficulty or wire stress.

I know everyone always claims to be gentle on their machines, but when I look at other people's laptops -- I suspect the truth is much rougher. Anyway, don't yank the adapter around by its cord and I bet it'll fine.

Re:Not poor design

[igny]

That reminded me of a story about an instructor of parachuting who said that if you are landing on a power line then try not to touch the bottom of the line. When confused listeners asked him why, he said that heavier electricity flows on the bottom of the wires and that is why you don't see birds sitting on the wire electrocuting themselves.

Missing last line...

[talkingpaperclip]

"Is this the end for Apple?"

Re:Missing last line...

[Dlugar]

And the corresponding story tags:

yes, no, fud, notfud

Dlugar

Re:Missing last line...

[mobby_6kl]

And the corresponding story tags:

yes, no, fud, notfud

Damn, this pisses me off. The correct tag is "!fud", RTFM.

Re:Missing last line...

[jdbartlett]

It wasn't a serious comment, but I for one find !fud easier to read than notfud.

Then again, I'm using Mac and Linux machines where "antialiasing" means something other than "blur" (and where "power adapter" means "timebomb" apparently).

Re:Missing last line...

[3dr]

I'm partial to double-plus unfud.

Apple G3 power adapter recall

[Animats]

Apple had a power adapter safety recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission back in the G3 era, and a battery recall last year. Is this a new problem?

Re:Apple G3 power adapter recall

[StikyPad]

Is this a new problem?

No. As you may recall, Apple had a power adapter safety recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission back in the G3 era, and a battery recall last year.

No facts

[wackymacs]

OK, so he cites that he himself had a problem with his adapter, and someone else. If this has not even happened to more than 5 people, I can't see how its dangerous by design. These seem like one-off individual problems, nothing wide-scale that would require a recall. I've had a PowerBook G4 since 2003, and the same adapter for 3 years, 0 problems.

Re:No facts

[CastrTroy]

No, to steal a quote from Fight Club, this is how a recall is done:

Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field (A) multiply it by the probable rate of failure (B) then multiply the result by the average out of court settlement (C). A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of the recall, we don't do one.

However, with computers, there's usually no out of court settlements, as they can usually just replace the part, with no harm done to the user. Therefore, it's very rare that you will ever see a recall on computer equipment. It's almost always cheaper to fix the ones that come back with defects, and leave the rest in the field.

How many is "many"?

[truthsearch]

I'm always curious to know exactly how many people are reporting issues when someone claims there's a major widespread problem. If a few dozen people complain of a problem it may sound like a lot. But if it's only a small percent of all customers it could be specific to only one lot of adapters or one specific subcontractor. He claims there's a design flaw but many thousands of people have been using these adapters for years with relatively few complaints.

What's Dell got to do, got to do with it?

[Anonymous Coward]

In other words, the words you wanted to say...

Dell and other PC notebooks suck and blow, but mostly Dell, cause that Dell guy said something bad about Apple, which makes them the worst. So we all know that Dells exploding and killing puppies and children is just another Tuesday.

Of course Apple has always been perfect. Many people even actually sit around wondering just how it is they stay so perfect. I know because I'm in a club. That's why it just boggles they mind that somehow something isn't perfect with the power adapter. Probably because they got it from Dell. So just know it's less than absolutely perfect and keep an eye on it.

Not exactly new

[pvera]

Anyone that has owned powerbooks or ibooks knows about the crappy power adapters. I have personally lost three, of which only one was covered under warranty. The two biggest weak points:

1. the connector that plugs into the laptop did not have enough ribbing material, so it frayed easily.
2. the thin cable that runs from the laptop into the brick had zero ribbing, it just simply ran into a hole. Frayed easily, I even had one catch fire.

After three Apple laptops I even started noticing how Apple tried to attack these problems. If you look at the last power supply shipped before the magnetic connectors came out, you will see that the "thin" cable is almost twice as thick as the one that shipped with iBook G3s and Titanium Powerbooks. You will also notice much thicker ribbing at both ends of that cable.

The worst of this is that the apple branded adapters were $79 apiece, while a perfectly working replacement, with much sturdier cables, could be had for $35.

Re:Not exactly new

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"After 3 Apple laptops, I've had no problems, I've had a G3 iBook, a G4 Alubook and now I am on a G4 iBook."

I owned a Dell laptop that never caught fire.

Blogs = Science?

[Gothmolly]

So a guy writes an article on his personal website, and its data? Geesh, what's next, people using the # of Slashdot posts about a topic to judge its validity?

Re:why oh why

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"does my girlfriends pussy smell of fishes?"

No. She smells of inflatable plastic.

Here are some technical details:

[Anonymous Coward]

The details you will need to know are: The gentleman, who complains about the problem, is a bubbeling idiot.

The power rating of these power bricks is 45W (for my iBook). Fourtyfive watts. If you concentrate that amount of electricity in a small volume, it is quite sufficient to set most synthetic materials alight. The possible exception being Teflon.

His comments (yes, I did RTFA) about the brick not having any kind of short circuit protection is groundless. He has experienced one type of SS protection, the type found in many large PC PSUs, which needs a power off to reset. Another type is the foldback, or current limiting SS protection circuit, which increases available power immediately after the short is removed. So it is no wonder that he could sense the power (by repeatedly shorting out the brick?! Asking for trouble, is he?) as soon as no short was present.

He would have a solid argument if he was able to draw an excessive current through the short, larger than, say, the 1.875A (45W @ 24V) the brick is specified for.

I just tried testing for this problem using the brick for my iBook, but failed miserably, since I don't have the proper connector to mate with the low voltage end: The thing won't even power on unless it is plugged into the iBook. This may be a design change since my brick is apparently of a more recent design as compared to the one shown in TFA.

So in summary the actual news items here are:

*) Frayed wire can short out.
*) A short may not be sufficient low ohmic to trip the power limiter in the PSU, yet the power you can draw through it may be sufficient to cause fires. (This is no different than for any other electrical appliance. AKA: Badly maintained electrical installations can kill you.)
*) Apple didn't employ sufficient strain relief at the point, where the power wire leaves the power brick.

Move along, nothing to see here.

Re:Here are some technical details:

[v1]

Just a technical addendum. The white bricks are no longer produced in the 45w range. All new white bricks are 65w. This is most likely because the latter g3/4 laptops were all requiring more power than the early G3s. The 65's work fine on all the older equipment, (watts are drawn on demand, a 65 won't hurt a machine that took a 45 originally) so we just carry the 65's. I have replaced maybe five white packs that had the wire broken at the strain relief where this fellow had the problem, and as many more where the wire went at the DC jack end. Apple does need to improve the strain relief at both ends. I find OP's claim that there was "no visible damage before the fire" to be laughable. When I look at the picture I note immediately, the wire always comes straight out of the pack when it's new, and there is a good inch of cord needed to bend it 90 degrees without excessive force. But when you look at the picture, the wire is almost emerging at 90 degrees right out of the strain relief. Good money says he tends to plug the pack into the wall a long way from his ibook, and the cord is always being strained and pulled hard to the side, and was a direct cause of the cord damage and the fire.

Also of note, the "ufo" power adapters that shipped originally on the ibook G3s are much much worse. They are known for failure where the DC cord meets the computer plug and where the AC cord meets the connector that plugs into the pack. We have replaced many of them for failure at one of these two points. Though for all the macs I've worked on, I have yet to encounter a single apple pack that caught fire. This sounds like an isolated incident and someone trying to make a whole lot of noise, stomping about and shouting "defect, recall, save me!"

Given 50,000 production units of electronics, a couple of them are going to be bad. There is no escaping that. And yes, one of them might burn down your house. But a meteor might hit it first, and has roughly the same odds, OP needs to get over it.

Though I don't deny he needs to post about it, because this is how you find out about real issues. Now if we saw a dozen "me too" followups immediately we might want to look into this more, but right now we just have a blowhard.

Re:Here are some technical details:

[prockcore]

Also of note, the "ufo" power adapters that shipped originally on the ibook G3s are much much worse. They are known for failure where the DC cord meets the computer plug and where the AC cord meets the connector that plugs into the pack.

That's true. I think it's something to do cracks or holes in the plastic. In every UFO PS at work, they'd die at the DC plug, and you can clearly see that the copper wire had oxidized and turned green.

Re:Here are some technical details:

[v1]

I believe these are two separate issues. Without having actually seen the adapter before it failed I cannot say for certain if it was showing signs of wear or not. If it was not showing signs of wear, then I would admit that apple may have more responsibility in the matter. But I expect we would find that the wire was heavily worn prior to the failure, and that it has clearly gone unnoticed by OP. If my car dies and I take it in and he asks me when the last time I changed the oil and I ask him what's that? Then we can conclude that I was neglegent in the care and maintaining/monitoring of my property. Same thing here. If the power cord on your vacuum has been run over one too many times and is fraying, don't go chase after Hoover when you run it over one more time and get shocked. Every piece of equipment will only last so long before it becomes unable or unsafe to perform its function, and the owner does have some responsibility to monitor it and repair/replace it when appropriate.

But yes as I said, Apple's power adapters are notorious for poor strain relief performance and I'm sure this leads to premature failure, but if you allow the damage to progress to the point of catching fire then you are really out of it. While there is not a problem in general with most power packs, it is a problem with laptop power packs in general because they are plugged and unplugged sometimes several times a day and the increased use leads to much faster wear and tear. I haven't seen any proof however that better materials are available that are not being used, so it's hard to condemn them just yet. Apple's "plugs into wall" design is very convenient and saves us a lot of cord to deal with, but also causes the user to pull the power cord at a sharp angle to the adapter, and this too probably contributes to premature failure. The cord is actually shorter than most laptop packs also, which probably makes matters worse trying to stretch the cord to the nearest table.

Re:Here are some technical details:

[Macgrrl]

By far the worst unit I encountered for AC adaptor failure was the original PB190/5300 AC Adaptor. It had two primary points of failure:

• the first being the male connector which would 'snap' internally (most easily diagnosed either by the connector being at an angle from it's sheath, or being able to 'wiggle' the tip of the connector - a clicking noise could generally be heard where the ends of broken connector flicked across each other),
• the second failure point was the grommet where the cable came out of the transformer (normally caused by people wrapping the cable around the adaptor too tightly and pulling it out of the casing - sometimes a inch or so of bare wire would be visible by the time it was brought in for replacement).

The biggest problem with AC Adaptors is that to make them samll and light for easy transport they are somewhat fragile and not particularly durable - especially in relation to the cable being wrapped over ridged edges.

The PB1x0 series adaptors were possibly the most durable adaptors I've ever seen, but there were total bricks and awkward to plug into power strips and low mounted wall points.

Fuss about nothing - not just apple laptops.

[mpcooke3]

I have a HP omnibook 6000 and the connection near the laptop started to short. There is a lot of pressure on this part of the connector as you move about with your laptop. Probably the inner wires can rub bare before you notice any damage to the exterior.

I was wearing boxers and the shorting wires were against my naked leg when i discovered the problem, so I have limited sympathy for this guy with his burnt paper.

Re:Fuss about nothing - not just apple laptops.

[v1]

Not just that. When my wallstreet (g3 powerbook) started failing to charge, I noticed I could wiggle the cord where the DC jack was in the computer and it would work.

So I tore it apart to repair/replace it, and I was amazed that when I removed the plastic jacket of the cord, the outer braid (the ground conductor) of the cord fell to the desk in a pile of a milllion little 3mm long pieces of copper strand. The braid had just shattered from repeated bending, and when I just shook the cord there was NO copper at all left for a 1" span of the cord, it was all just in a pile on the desk. Sort of like when you take a coat hanger and bend it enough it breaks. Same thing happens to these adapters.

Moreso, the white insulating material between the braid and the inner (power) conductor was cracked all the way around in three places. If any of the bits of copper had found their way into any of these cracks I suppose I would have had the same problem the poster did.

In that case though the design was defective... they put that huge balun 1" down the cord from the computer jack, separated by a 3mm thick wire, what did they expect? They don't do that with any of the new cables thankfully.

Look at Country of Origin

[reporter]

Power adapters are low-tech, commodity devices. Since their profit margins are very low, Apple management probably subcontracted their design and assembly to a generic company in mainland China.

One thing that we know about China is that (1) it has few laws ensuring product safety and (2) that Beijing rarely enforces those laws. As a result, many products from China are just dangerous.

Consider the recent case of lead contamination of children's toys. The toys had 5x the amount of lead that is considered safe.

Now, consider the case of a bracelet that was 99% lead. A Chinese company made the bracelets for Reebok. A child who accidentally ingested the bracelet died.

Now, consider Chinese honey that is contaminated with a dangerous antibiotic.

Here is the summary reduction. The price of a product imported from China is $X. The price of a product made in the USA is $Y. Generally, $X is much less than $Y. The difference in price represents the "cost" that you paying for tough, enforced regulations and for higher ethical standards. Most American consumers do not want to pay this cost directly, so Walmart (a.k.a. the clearinghouse for Chinese products) prospers. Still, most Americans do pay this cost indirectly via, e.g., higher medical bills.

Re:Look at Country of Origin

[tomstdenis]

That's not the same thing. If a batch of bracelets were made that way it shows the company is doing something wrong. The spiked tylenol was a single person on their own. Not the company being negligent.

Tom

Re:Look at Country of Origin

[ivan256]

I thought the reason Apple computers were more expensive was because they spent more money on better compponents and that they didn't use the cheap low end parts like Dell uses...

Whatever put you under that impression? Many of Apple's machines are made by the same manufacturing company as Dell's machines and many of their products use the same key components (like their monitors, etc...). Apple's are just generally designed more thoughtfully. This is even true of the power adapters, which often have niceties like built in cord storage.

Count me in, I'm one

[X43B]

Whoa, I thought my incidident was isolated. My power supply for my iBook shorted right where wire goes into the connector that plugs into the computer. Some magic smoke was released and the connector/power supply was inoperable. Apple sent me a new power supply under my AppleCare plan. I don't know if they would have charged me otherwise.

About a month later my motherboard died. Again everything covered under AppleCare.

Guy is not an EE

[morcheeba]

I don't think he's qualified to say that his adapter has zero short-circuit protection.

Here's what he says: Meaning, I can short the adapter on the DC side, generate a spark, and repeat again and again without causing the adapter to power off or any circuit breaker/fuse/GFCI outlet to cut the power.

He's expecting the wrong results. Sure, shorting any supply with output capacitors will generate a spark -- that's typical good design. The spark doesn't last long and it isn't indicative of the total energy released.

Now, if his circuit breaker or fuse triggered, I'd be concerned. That means the adapter is shorting out the mains voltage -- very bad, very dangerous. But, it apparently is not. It's good that this doesn't happen, but the guy seems to think it should. And a GFCI wouldn't trigger due to a hot-neutral short -- he would have to throw the adapter in a bathtub to have a chance of it tripping.

I'm not saying there are no problems with the adapter, but his assertion is unsupported by his evidence. I suspect that the adapter has an internal short-circuit protection that kicks in milliseconds after the spark is seen. He would need to use a current meter to detect if the circuit exists.

(why, yes, I'm an electrical engineer)

Re:Guy is not an EE

[tcgroat]

The "fire" claim seems exaggerated, too. The paper under the adapter has soot on it, but it doesn't appear to be charred or burnt. You can still see the writing through the soot, which is unlikely when paper smolders or ignites. The only scorched part of the cable is the small damaged area at the end of the strain relief. The fire didn't spread down the cable; the insulation damage is limited to a very small area at the end of the strain relief. It appears that the cable insulation self-extinguished without actually igniting the paper, just like it's supposed to. The mechanical design of the strain relief might be improved (larger bend radius), but it's neither a unique design nor the worst one on the market. This appears to be more a durability and ruggedness question than a safety issue.

If the author believes that the power supply has ineffective current limiting or that it is a fire hazard, the complete circumstances should be reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the test agency whose approval mark appears on the power supply. That's the way to resolve a suspected safety problem. Griping accomplishes nothing.

this is very true.

[jeffehobbs]

I'm on my second Aluminum PowerBook AC adapter after the first one crimped, then frayed, then went up in a literal puff of smoke. The worst part is I had to buy another of the clearly faulty adapters. You'd think they'd beef up the design a bit around the part that breaks for everyone, but no... Read the reviews on Apple's own page on store.apple.com for this adapter (average rating: 1.5 stars out of five), and it becomes clear that there's a very specific reason they redid the power connector ("MagSafe") for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models.

Shameful -- and doubly a shame because this PowerBook (one of the original Aluminum PowerBooks) has proven to be a champ for over two years.

~jeff

Apple posted the schematics on their site!

[5plicer]

Apple provides full detail on how to build your own power adapter in this tech note. Guess what I'll be building over the next couple of weeks ;)

An anonymous reader?

[Lifix]

From his website:

"I'm currently starting up an exciting new company, Zink Foods. We are poised to revolutionize your perception of "healthy food" by combining taste and nutrition in a completely unprecedented way. Finally, real food, real taste, real nutrition!"

This sounds like a real expert that we should listen to? I guess it's not that hard to use slashdot to drive up your pageviews afterall.

Re:Lots of FUD...

[v1]

Apple Authorized Service Provider. hey, that's me :) Certified to work on everything apple sells, warranty repair.

I have yet to see a single pack catch fire. And I've replaced quite a few of them. Damaged, yes. They definitely need to improve their strain reliefs, and magsafe is brilliant. But defective by design? Not from a safety perspective. They DO need to improve the strain reliefs though.

If one tire in 20,000 started to bulge on the sidewall after 30,000 miles, and the owner didn't notice it until 2 months later the tire blew, you can't blame that entirely on Goodyear. All products break, and the consumer does have a reasonable responsibility to identify a product that has failed and may create a safety hazard.

Now take the ibook g3 logic board recall. Now those I have seen maybe 4 dozen of. THOSE are defective. But THIS, this is just a blip.

Actually now that we have magsafe, I don't expect this to even happen once in a blue moon. The power cords are 2x as thick, and if you are a total yutz trying to use your macbook 5.95 feet from the wall using a 6.00 foot power cord, POP and out releases the magsafe before you can jack up your cord. Something tells me OP will just glue it in, break another cord, and cry for us some more.

Fud

[John Nowak]

I work in a lab where we have dozens of these bricks. We lend them out to students all the time, who do god knows what with them. Over the course of several years, we've not had one problem. No shorting out, no signs of wear, nothing. I personally have one as well, going on three years now. I take it with me every day, usually just throwing it in my bag. It looks the same as the day I got it and shows no signs of wear upon serious inspection. Mac users are a VERY VOCAL bunch. It is impossible to gauge the severity of a problem by listening to the Mac community.

3rd party power adapter

[5plicer]

After a bit of searching, I found an alternative to Apple's power adapters. This one sells for $50 (much cheaper than Apple's). I'm sure there are other companies doing the same thing as NewerTechnologies. Of course, as I mentioned in a previous comment, you could built your own using this Apple tech note.

Re:3rd party power adapter

[5plicer]

It turns that Kensington makes a pretty slick one.

FWIW...

[Phroggy]

Two years ago I was on vacation and staying with a friend when her pet rat decided to chew through my iBook G4/800's power cord. I wrapped a piece of duct tape around it and it seemed to be OK, but a few days later I plugged in the power cord and heard a clicking sound coming from the adapter brick. The inner insulation had been breached, and the two wires were touching.

I cut and stripped the wire with a pair of fingernail clippers, twisted it back together, and wrapped it back up with the duct tape. Several months ago the duct tape came loose and the wire shorted again. I re-spliced it, and wrapped it with Scotch tape, which was all I had on hand at the time. About a month ago the Scotch tape started coming off (as I had known it would), so I retaped it with white electrical tape.

I do freelance IT work, and haul my iBook everywhere. My power cord gets unplugged, wound up, stuffed into a backpack, unwound and plugged in somewhere else pretty frequently. Even when completely shorted out, all it did was make a clicking noise. The adapter brick can get pretty warm, especially when it's not well ventilated, but not uncomfortably so.

Please keep in mind that most of us never have a problem, even in unusual circumstances.

Ah. Another Dvorak-In-Training article.

[jpellino]

I was under that recall - it went fine. I'm on my 5th Apple notebook (Duo, 1400, 1400, iBookG3, iBookG4, 9 adapters total) and have had exactly one problem - a recall on the spare black brick adapter for a 1400 that got me a yo-yo style that works to this day with the Madsonline gap adapter. Even my Duo duck-head adapter still powers my iBook in the same fashion.

You can only abuse your suppliers for so long...

[StandardCell]

I think companies, including Apple but especially Dell, have issues with squeezing their suppliers just a bit too hard. They negotiate one price for a given volume and simply short-change the supplier. Then the supplier has to decide between (a) taking legal action to recover their money and thus kill their relationship, or (b) eat the margin. That's how companies like Dell figure it.

Unfortunately, there is an option (c) that basically says they will cut just a few too many corners so that they can only just meet the bare minimum requirements and stick it back to their abusive customer. This is, at least in part, what you're seeing today.

TANSTAAFL...

If there is no lawsuit, it is not widespread

[Nice2Cats]

Fortunately, this is America, so it is very easy to figure out if this is a widespread problem: If there is no gimme-a-million-bucks-I-deserve-it class-action lawsuit ongoing, forget it. It is that easy.

Re:Apple has ALWAYS

[Detritus]

The Apple II reduced its hardware costs by a huge amount due to clever engineering. Just compare the floppy disk controller to similar cards on other computers of the time.

Networking over serial I/O was a reasonable choice for the time. Zilog had a chip that would do serial I/O at 230 kbps and Ethernet hardware was still very expensive.

Sort of happened to me..

[Coolnat2004]

The adapter that came with my PowerBook G4 one day sparked and burned some of its own insulation. The reason being, is I had put too much stress on that area of the cable (next to the plug that goes into the computer) over a year and it had become frayed. It was out of warranty so I bought an adapter off eBay and now I make sure to put no stress on the cable if I can avoid it.

I'd say that this could happen to any electrical device.

his GFCI comments are off base...

[YesIAmAScript]

This article makes some sense. But when he tries to explain that it should trigger an GFCI (or even AFCI), he gets way off track.

It would never trigger an AFCI, because there's too much smoothing circuitry between the output and the wall plug. No matter, as an AFCI is designed to protect against arcs in the walls and frayed AC power cords. So the AFCI comment didn't make sense.

Also, the GFCI comment doesn't make sense either. A GFCI is supposed to notice power being drawn and not returned on the neutral. The Apple power supplies are designed to be 2-prong devices, so they could never dump significant power on the ground pin and trigger a GFCI. The only way it could trigger a GFCI is if you shorted the live end of the cable to a separate return, like earth ground or a hot tub or whatever. Then the power would not come back on the neutral and would trigger the GFCI.

Anyway, a GFCI is supposed to prevent against things like dropping a live appliance into a puddle of water or whatever, not shorts internal to low voltage cables.

His spark test maybe means something, I see what he is talking about there. But I'm not sure about his testing methodology. Maybe he's testing a case expecting it to shut down and instead Apple just current limits, which is an acceptable alternative. I just can't tell with only the data on that page.

The article summary is definitely full of unwarranted hyperbole. The article isn't even close to triggering a level of "source of some serious safety concerns".

Re:Apple adapter puts nasty load on inverters

[NoMaster]

This sort of behaviour is fairly common with small switchmode supplies - in fact, it's more likely if the power supply is well-designed and over-rated.

It's to do with the current waveform. Any switchmode supply tends to have a very spiky current load, as it switches on an off to keep the output voltage stable. A cheap switcher, if it's lightly loaded, will draw huge spikes of current only in the early part of each half-cycle - so it's current load looks just like one or two noise spikes, which get absorbed by any output filtering &/or ignored the protection circuitry in the source UPS/inverter.

A better switcher, on the other hand, will spread that current draw over the each half-cycle - so it's current load looks like a continuous noise hash to the supply. Enough hash to get back past any output filtering on the UPS / inverter and trigger the protection circuitry.

Hence the reason any decent UPS or inverter has specific warnings and / or deratings when used with switchmode loads.

(Yup, that's a simplified explanation - but it's also basically correct...)

In your case, it would probably work better with a smaller inverter, or a cheaper & nastier one without such good protection circuitry ;-)

Thirteen inches of flaming pleasure

[Jason Argo]

I was just about to buy my wife 13 inches of flaming pleasure in the form of a new MacBook for her birthday. After reading this article, it looks like I'll have to give it to her the old fashioned way.

One thing is fure sure, if I do end up getting a MacBook, I certainly won't be putting it on the Freedom Furniture Laptop Table: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly0-Vbqyby8

Dare I say "Me Too"?

[skingers6894]

We've had two of these go.

I have a photo on our blog too:

http://homepage.mac.com/skingsley/xemaybe/C1935475 274/index.html

About 4 headlines in.

You'll notice from the blog I'm pretty much an Apple Fan Boi (tm) but even I in my Appleuphoria can see that this is a problem.

I had the same problem.. and Apple said..

[hvnarsana]

.. that it was my mistake it burnt out! I was using a power regulator AND a spike buster to protect my powerbook and adapter.. and the result was the exact same burn out as described in the article (it's picture perfect for me).

Apple, though the best in design, needs to do one better when it comes to their adapter! They refused to replace mine, so I am going to go back in with this article as a reference, and ask for a replacement.

No matter how good they are, they do have their host of hardware issues (if not software ones, and thank GOD for that).

IMPORTANT: A solution already in the box.

[niktemadur]

My wife's iBook power adapter malfunctioned a couple of months ago, it started to crackle and even let out a few sparks! The replacement runs for about US$80.00, a ridiculous amount for a product that is raising a stink in forums all over the web because of its' horrible quality.

However, I decided to inspect the adapter, detached the A/C plug, which snaps on and off the corner of the adapter, and was horrified to notice it was thoroughly charred on the inside. Then, I vaguely recalled that a power cord came with the iBook, in the box. This is what I'm talking about: http://www.shentech.com/aprepog4ib65.html
To my great relief, the new power cord snapped neatly into the corner slot of the adapter, and ran smoothly. It was the detachable A/C plug that was defective, not the adapter itself. Now, not only could we throw the defective plug where it belongs (in the trash), we also had made our device safe, as well as doubled the length of the cord, and saved ourselves $80.00 to boot! My wife and I were happy campers that day.

So, if you have an Apple laptop, check this out for yourselves and I'm sure it will allow you to solve/avoid this exact problem, and even if it's not malfunctioning yet, do it now, no use putting your expensive computer at risk. Also, even if you've misplaced the box and/or cannot find the power cord, buy that instead, as it's price starts at around $10.00, saving you quite a bit of cash in the process.