Excerpts" .....arrived home this evening and connected up my PowerBook to my trusty Apple power adapter and the battery was charging... I started to check my email and I noticed the battery had stopped charging for no apparent reason. I lifted up my head and looked at the adapter - which was sitting on the table - and visually checked to ensure it was plugged in on both ends - yep!
Before I could even touch it and make sure everything was tight, it started spewing flames and sparks! I unplugged it faster than anything...! It even burned the paper that it was sitting on. I realize I was very, very lucky, however... my adapter spends 98% of the time plugged in un-supervised on the floor with carpet and paper not far away, and it is plugged in while I am gone most of the time! Had this happened any time but now, I would have had no home because a faulty Apple product caused it to burn down. And before you ask - NO, there was NO visible damage to the point that spontaneously burst into flame. Yes, that means NO external stress, cracks, etc anywhere near the point that the cable burned. All of the cracking and damage you see in the picture happened AFTER the adapter started burning.
Basically, it appears the plastic Apple uses is at least moderately combustible, and the adapter lacks any short circuit overload protection on the DC side. Following the incident, I plugged the adapter in on a non-flammable surface and found it to generate spark and flame without shutting down - albeit not so impressively - for quite a while with no apparent stopping. You do not need to even have a load on the adapter - simply plug in the AC power and let the sparks begin! Were I not home, my entire house would be gone by now, and were I sleeping, I might have even been trapped and die in a burning building.
I haven't even finished fully checking out my PowerBook, I shudder to think what the electrical problems might have done to it.
Are you listening Apple? This could be a HUGE problem. I am lucky that little damage was done. The next person may not be! Hopefully Apple will make this problem right, and we won't even go into the defective aluminum in the screen of my PowerBook... I love your products Apple, but I have to say you are making me really worry and wonder.
Addendum: People have asked if I beat up that portion of the cord. NO! Since seeing excessive wear there on an earlier version of the adapter, I stopped even rolling up the cord around the two feet to reduce the risk of straining the wire at that location. You guys need to trying to kill the messenger - I am posting a candid sequence of events and non-touched up photos. The adapter was working perfectly with no visible damage to that portion of the cable. Adapters get hauled around and accumulate a little dark residue and such over time and I didn't try to remove that and make my adapter look perfect before taking photos.
Update: Apple has agreed to replace the adapter. They took my concerns seriously, which was pleasant, although they did not address the larger problem of these adapters possibly starting serious fires. Only time will tell if the PowerBook has been damaged by the rather extreme shorting situation.
Update 2: After getting my adapter replaced by Apple and posting this page, I have uncovered three very disturbing facts:
1) My PowerBook intermittently shuts itself. Every 2-3 days, it just turns off without any real warning. This started only after the short occurred. PMU, PRAM resetting has not helped. My RAM is seated properly.
2) Apple has not re-designed their adapters. The brand new adapter replacement Apple shipped me is 100% identical physically to the one that came with my PowerBook and I am shipping back. Furthermore, the new adapters STILL do not have any short protection. 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. Basically, this means there's no reason the adapter won't attempt to incinerate my house again.
3) This is not isolated. Numerous people have contacted me and informed me of their problems with shorting adapters in the same location. Thankfully, no houses have burned down - yet. However, one poor gentleman in Russia has a PowerBook that shuts off after only a few minutes of being turned on. And I thought my machine was bad!
I am continuing to converse with Apple about this and we are hopefully going to reach some resolution. Meanwhile, I would strongly suggest that people closely monitor their power adapter and consider taking measures to reinforce the area around where the DC power comes out of the adapter. I would suggest silicone as it is relatively heat resistant and a solid amount that surrounds the cable and extends about two inches out from the adapter should both reinforce the wire (reducing the risk of the short happening) and act to cut of oxygen to the wire so it cannot combust.
However, I am not an electrician, so any modifications you make are at your own risk. I will not be making any modifications until I finish my conversations with Apple. Hopefully, they will offer a better solution..."
