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#1 2009-09-03 4:12 pm
85W MagSafe Charger
My wife and I have been through several iterations of chargers and batteries for her 3-year-old 17" MBP. I think the laptop itself is a very nice product, but find that Apple's design on the charger and the battery have serious flaws. The battery tends to allow itself to become overcharged, potentially causing electrical damage to the laptop, and ruining the battery. The charger cable obviously used a wire gauge that was too small or had too much resistance that the 85W running through it manages to disconnect the insulation from the sheath on the magsafe connector. Now we're in a situation again where there is a hole where the battery used to be, waiting to accept a replacement when we can afford one, and the power cord is becoming a fire hazard.
I'm not going to shell out another $80 on what I feel is a defective design. I've found that there are several aftermarket charger designs out there comprable to the 85W MagSafe made by Apple. Are there any you'd recommend to get, or even recommend to stay away from?
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#2 2009-09-04 12:59 am
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18092
Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
3 years is a pretty average lifespan for a battery. (depending on usage patterns, of course.)
The magsafe design hasn't been licensed by apple afaik... so anybody building one is probably using salvaged parts. Or violating US patent law. You're therefore more or less stuck with the wire guage you've got, among other perceived limitations.
The charger cable obviously used a wire gauge that was too small or had too much resistance that the 85W running through it manages to disconnect the insulation from the sheath on the magsafe connector.
In normal use, and especially without a battery installed/charging, nowhere near 85w are actually being drawn. Insulation usually peels due to other factors - at work, I keep an eye on 60 macbooks, and the wires are the only thing about the damn laptops that DOESN'T get hot enough to melt. 
Contrary to your suspicions, your best bet is probably the Apple adapter.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#3 2009-09-04 1:53 am
Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
In 3 years, we've already been through a few batteries. One was replaced by AppleCare, the other was replaced out of pocket. That battery eventually swelled. AppleCare has also replaced one of these chargers. the second charger did the exact same thing (the cord insulation becoming seperated from the plug). The replaced charger is what we have now.
So, what you're saying is that I may as well purchase a product from salvaged parts because, at least when it fails, I won't be losing another $80. Either that or I should continue throwing money at Apple for a design that's defective. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Just look at the reviews on Apple's site.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#4 2009-09-04 11:57 am
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18092
Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
You're welcome to gamble on any product you wish. But they will probably use the same insulation and wiring as the Apple adapter. Just older, and used. So if it's really a design defect/inevitability, you'll see the same problem, just (probably) sooner.
And if it's not a design defect, or if you get an atypically sturdy one, you might not have that problem at all. But you'd be mistaken if you concluded it was because the third-party adapter was a better design. It's the same part, after all - made by Apple.
But I have yet to see a power connector that was immune to insulation peel. Apple or otherwise. 
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#5 2009-09-04 4:20 pm
- D'Eyncourt
- OMGDICTATOR
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Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
Any battery that becomes swollen should be disconnected IMMEDIATELY and you should contact the manufacturer for a replacement if within the warranty period. This should be so regardless of whether or not there is a recall program for the battery: a swollen battery is itself an indication of a manufacturing defect.
BOYCOTT SONY
"I think the question now is not whether you went to Vietnam or whether you didn't, whether you fought in the war or fought against the war. I think the only question is whether we can find a president smart enough never to make a mistake like that again"--Molly Ivins, way back in 1992
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#6 2009-09-08 11:03 am
- Robert B Technician
- MyService
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- From: Santa Clara, CA
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Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
We haven't seen any 3rd part MagSafe compatible AC adapter that are more solid than the standard Apple ones.
(What we've seen are cheap knock offs that I wouldn't at all recommend.)
I believe the new Apple 85 watt adapters are smaller and a different design to the one that came with your 17" MBP.
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#7 2009-09-08 10:23 pm
Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
Thanks for the advice. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful, just trying to save a few $$$ to bring this MBP back to life without it being tethered by a failing power cord at all times.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#8 2009-09-09 2:26 am
- kamizuno
- Poking you with a stick
- From: Smileytown
- Registered: 1999-07-13
- Posts: 1987
Re: 85W MagSafe Charger
yeah, the magsafe cable tends to come apart after a year or so, Iʻm on my 3rd one, it starts to look like a possible fire hazard so I replace them before the exposed wires short out, unfortunately Iʻve yet to see any third party units that look sturdier
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