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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Macbook shuts off - no powering up

heathercarey - Mar 2, 2008 - 11:24 am

I have had a macbook for about 15 months now. i noticed for a few weeks that it wasn't powering off completely when i was running it off of the battery. suddenly one day after about an hour of battery use it shut off and refused to power up. i purchased a new battery but this did not help. i tried a different power cord. this did not help. the power cord indicator showed an auburn colour but there was no sound, no movement, no nothing.

i took it into a mac repair shop and after 2 weeks they repaired what they say was the power connector inside the machine (I'm not very technical so not sure if this is the right terminology). this seemed to work when it was repaired 3 weeks ago.

the same problem has happened again. and neither battery works, and now the power cord indicator doesn't light up at all.

is this is a recurring problem i should expect to experience, or is this as a result of a bigger problem that apple should be checking on my computer?? i surely cannot continue to lose my computer for 2-3 weeks at a time every 3 -4 weeks. and was thinking of getting a desk top for my house but this is my first apple computer and right now i am very disillusioned.

DeltaMac - Mar 2, 2008 - 12:38 pm

Take your Macbook back to the repair shop.

You have a problem that is repairable, but shouldn't recur.
If your MacBook is covered by AppleCare, then you need additional work.

The repair should not fail like that within the first month.
If they used Apple parts, those would be covered for 90 days.
Or, that part is still good, and the logic board needs replacing.

- Dale

heathercarey - Mar 2, 2008 - 12:51 pm

Will take it to repair shop tomorrow as closed today. i was just hoping to at least tell them what other possibilities it could be instead of going in circles and fixing the same thing over and over. i am in bahamas, so our techs probably are not as up to par as in the US. I do have applecare for another year and a half so at least that helps. forgive my ignorance but does replacing the logic board affect the memory in my hard drive? i.e. will i lose anything that i haven't backed up externally?

DeltaMac - Mar 2, 2008 - 3:10 pm

Does either battery charge? Are they totally dead - no charge lights come on when you press the test button on the battery?
If you don't get a light on the power adapter plug - neither green nor amber - make sure that the little connector pins (there's 4 pins) are completely clean, and that there is no debris around those pins. The pins on the adapter should be fully extended, and will 'spring' back when you gently push the pin. They should all be about the same length. Do you get a green light on the power adapter if you remove the battery, and attach the power adapter? If you don't get any light at all, then you need to try a different, known-good power adapter. If that one does not light either, then you still have a problem inside the MacBook
Here's your 'other possibilities'
Another failed DC-in board (that's the power connector that your Power adapter plugs into)
Possibly a bad battery connector board.
Failed logic board.

That's pretty much everything that could fail...
Wish you luck...
Do you have a contact in another country, where you could ship the MacBook and have the repair done in a reasonable time period?
- Dale