I have a problem with my magsafe 2 adaptor, it has been stopping to work occasionally for a while now. Until now I always managed to get it to work by yanking the cable (in order to unstuck the pins), however now this method is not working anymore. After the usual yanking, I decided to clean both the connector and power plug on my macbook with a toothbrush and cotton. For some reason after that it stopped working completely. I am able to unstuck the pins by softly tapping on the connector with my fingernails but it still doesn't work.
I have another non working magsafe 2, which has perfect pins and after cutting the cord now looks like this:
How dangerous would it be, to cut off the non working connector, expose the cables and connect them together by intertwining the stings?
Obviously I would isolate the two wires (copper and the other one) with tape and try to make a decent connection. I have done similar shenanigans with audio cables and it has always worked for a while.
I will buy another one, but need an urgent solution right now. However, I don't want to break the computer or start a fire over it.
Best Answer
This is the low voltage side of the transformer, so the risk is far less than working on the AC side. I haven’t heard of anything worse than scorch marks and safely melted plastic on the low voltage side when people shut these cables in a door or roll chairs over them, so I’d say you’re pretty safe if you make sure it works and doesn’t heat up and protect it electrically. The low voltage side has enough power and current to start a fire, that is certain so I’d say you are risking safety if you don’t do it well or there is hidden damage you don’t catch and fix.
So, if you know this and try a repair, worst case is you pay for new part or someone skilled at electrical work to do a repair if you’re not comfortable with your safety and whatever house you leave this plugged into going forward once you have learned if you can do the repair. The chances of breaking your Mac is low with this since it’s designed to not charge from damaged cords anyhow.
Since you probably should try this for science: