[kill bill]

On my '15 Powerbook g4, the rim on the power cord has become bent to the point that it does not provide charge to my system. It doesn't seem severely bent, but enough so that it doesn't work . I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a way to fix this problem. I ordered a cheap aftermarket plug that's forking fine, but if this is fixable, I might as well restore it (in the event that my replacement meets a similar fate).

thanks in advance

[duck]

Pliers and paitence. Do you remember shop?

[kill bill]

Originally Posted by duck 

Pliers and paitence. Do you remember shop?

hehe, I grew up in the states in the late 90's-2000's, there's no more shop. they prepare us to afford million dollar homes that we won't be able to take care of.

but ive already tried pliers thing. I was wondering if there was a particular method that actually works to restore the right circular shape because i wasn't able to fix it like that. it looks circular, but doesn't perform accordingly. Is there something i missed?

[duck]

Bah, kids! (I'm only 27

It's conceivable that the solder joints that make the electrical connection from the outer ring to the small circuitboard in the plug have broken. While I've tried fixing them before, it's really quite hard to get at them. In any case, the plug should still work to power the machine (but may not light up and may only charge the system while it is asleep).

The actual power supply unit may have failed, in which case, you now have a very stylish brick.

I would have said another option might be a faulty DC-in board, but if a third party adapter works fine, that's probably not it.

[TheZee]

If you're patience is lasting then you can fix the plug. I did. Mainly because I was short on cash at the time and didn't have the $149 bucks that Apple wants for a new power supply. I use an Ivory G3 iBook. Not sure if the plugs are similar but I think they are. Here's what has happened, the microfibers inside the plug, itself, have either freighed too much to secure a connection or they have come away from that metalic circular ring part of the plug. What you have to do is get an Exacto-Blade and cut away the rubber part of the plug, where the cord ends and enters the plug. Apple's design of this plug is problematic which is why they changed it for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. The wire that from the plug to the power adapter is very sensitive. If you were to slice that wire you would find in the center a normal metallic wire insulated with a rubber covering but then around that inner core wire are all these tiny fiberous wires that must also maintain connection for everything to work as it should. What you need to do is cut away the rubber piece where the power wire connects to the end plug. When you do that you will see what I have described above, a centeral wire surrounded by many hair thin fiberous wires, which all have to connect to the end plug itself for your power adapter to function. After you have carefully cut away the rubber at the base of the plug, being careful not to slice the wire, then simply gather those fiberous wires, which look more like hair than actual wires, their so thin, gather them together and push them deep into them plug, where you have cut away the rubber, so that they again make a connection to the metal ring center. Be careful not to shock yourself, but I kept mine plugged in while I performed the surgery so I could constantly check my progress by pluggin the plugg into my computer. As soon as the light ring indicator lit up I was done. After you get the plug to light up, indicating proper connection, wrap the plug with electrical tape and you're done. It's really not as difficult as I might have presented it here, have patience will succeed. It's a common defect in all such power adapters. Over time, from pulling and what not, those micro fibers become freighed and then detach causing power plug failure. Again, hence the redesign of the plug for the new MacBook models. Thank you Mr Jobs. Hope this helps. Peace out.