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Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: kap
Date: December 24, 2015 08:04AM
My issues with the MagSafe power adapters of my 2008 MacBook Pro (4,1) are more common than I had realized. After some Google searches, I found about Python Cords. It has many positive reviews on Amazon; I ordered a set for my wife's 2015 MBP (20,1). Has anyone here used Python Cords?



SoCal for now.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Ombligo
Date: December 24, 2015 08:30AM
I've never had a cable fray at the power brick end, always at the connection. The best solution I've had is to splice a new cord onto the old one, then cut it away when it eventually frays and splice another in.

It's an apple issue - once more form over function.



“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: cbelt3
Date: December 24, 2015 09:06AM
Interesting concept.
I've actually just applied a piece of shrink wrap tubing over the magsafe end of the boy's power adapters. That and plastic wire loom to protect from sharp kitteh teeth.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Black
Date: December 24, 2015 09:08AM
Quote
cbelt3
Interesting concept.
I've actually just applied a piece of shrink wrap tubing over the magsafe end of the boy's power adapters. That and plastic wire loom to protect from sharp kitteh teeth.

My 2011 MBA's is fraying where the wire enters the connector-- I just put packing tape around it to keep it from bending there (was the best thing I could find at the time.) Going forward I will do so preventatively. Bad design.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: cbelt3
Date: December 24, 2015 09:33AM
Black-
Agreed. You can get a small pack of heat shrink tubing at Harbor Freight. It shrinks with a hair dryer or a lighter (carefully). VERY handy for quick repairs like that.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Ombligo
Date: December 24, 2015 10:44AM
I tried heat shrink but a tube big enough to go over the connector wouldn't shrink enough to form a tight fit on the cord.



“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: space-time
Date: December 24, 2015 10:57AM
Quote
Ombligo
I tried heat shrink but a tube big enough to go over the connector wouldn't shrink enough to form a tight fit on the cord.

you could add some filler from the other side (such as a dummy piece of cable, which has the added benefit to provide stiffness).
Newt, you have been served, you turn.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: davester
Date: December 24, 2015 01:01PM
I'm also one of those folks who have only seen the cord break at the magsafe end, not the powerbrick end. Apple addressed this issue initially by going to the "L" shaped magsafe, but then they went back to the old design. I'm puzzled as to why the python folks havent tried to make a solution for the more fragile end. I wouldn't bother buying this unless I had the older "L" magsafe.



"Man is a little germ that lives on an unimportant rock ball that revolves about a small star at the outskirts of an ordinary galaxy. ... I am absolutely amazed to discover myself on this rock ball rotating around a spherical fire. It's a very odd situation. And the more I look at things I cannot get rid of the feeling that existence is quite weird. -- Alan Watts
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Black
Date: December 24, 2015 01:10PM
Quote
Ombligo
I tried heat shrink but a tube big enough to go over the connector wouldn't shrink enough to form a tight fit on the cord.

I don't think a tight fit on the cord is necessary-- keeping it from resting and being stressed at an extreme right angle where it exits the plug should do the trick.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Speedy
Date: December 24, 2015 02:02PM
Seems an all too common of a problem that I have never experienced. I guess I preemptively follow Black's advice and keep my MagSafes from bending at a sharp angle where they connect to the computer.



Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Jack D.
Date: December 24, 2015 02:49PM
Quote
Ombligo
I tried heat shrink but a tube big enough to go over the connector wouldn't shrink enough to form a tight fit on the cord.

I've used this stuff for this kind of fix. You can mold it to any shape while it's soft and then 24 hrs later you get a nice rubber covering that stops the shred. [www.target.com]





- Jack D.




New tasteless sig coming soon!
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: space-time
Date: December 24, 2015 03:22PM
Quote
Jack D.
Quote
Ombligo
I tried heat shrink but a tube big enough to go over the connector wouldn't shrink enough to form a tight fit on the cord.

I've used this stuff for this kind of fix. You can mold it to any shape while it's soft and then 24 hrs later you get a nice rubber covering that stops the shred. [www.target.com]


better deal is the 8 pack from Amazon, $22. You can even get it in different colors. I just bought one, but didn't use it yet.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Black
Date: December 24, 2015 04:34PM
Quote
space-time
Quote
Jack D.
Quote
Ombligo
I tried heat shrink but a tube big enough to go over the connector wouldn't shrink enough to form a tight fit on the cord.

I've used this stuff for this kind of fix. You can mold it to any shape while it's soft and then 24 hrs later you get a nice rubber covering that stops the shred. [www.target.com]


better deal is the 8 pack from Amazon, $22. You can even get it in different colors. I just bought one, but didn't use it yet.

Cool. Does this come with two different "colors" that you blend together? I use something similar for scar management.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: GuyGene
Date: December 24, 2015 05:51PM
My iPad wire broke. Thanks boys.



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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: kap
Date: December 24, 2015 07:04PM
The $100 Apple store bought L-shape connector was the replacement for the original T-shape one. The former was the one with the fray issue. Also, its placement is awkward as it blocks the nearby USB port.

UPDATE: Just found this: [gearaddix.com]
Has anyone here had any experience with this 3rd party Apple adapter?



SoCal for now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2015 07:40PM by kap.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Jack D.
Date: December 24, 2015 11:39PM
Quote
Black
Cool. Does this come with two different "colors" that you blend together? I use something similar for scar management.

I got a package with 4 colors in it. Red, black, yellow and blue. You could probably mix up a few more colors from these but it's far from a PMS* mixing station.




*Pantone Matching System is a standard for matching/mixing printed colors.



- Jack D.




New tasteless sig coming soon!
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: space-time
Date: December 25, 2015 06:08AM
Quote
kap
The $100 Apple store bought L-shape connector was the replacement for the original T-shape one. The former was the one with the fray issue. Also, its placement is awkward as it blocks the nearby USB port.

UPDATE: Just found this: [gearaddix.com]
Has anyone here had any experience with this 3rd party Apple adapter?

several people asked why do you need that Python thing, since the cable usually fails at the other end. Did you bother to stop for a second a d give a response?

Look at reviews on Amazon. Those a crap. stick to Apple chargers, and use some of the suggestions discussed here.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: Black
Date: December 25, 2015 05:29PM
Quote
space-time
Quote
kap
The $100 Apple store bought L-shape connector was the replacement for the original T-shape one. The former was the one with the fray issue. Also, its placement is awkward as it blocks the nearby USB port.

UPDATE: Just found this: [gearaddix.com]
Has anyone here had any experience with this 3rd party Apple adapter?

several people asked why do you need that Python thing, since the cable usually fails at the other end. Did you bother to stop for a second a d give a response?

Look at reviews on Amazon. Those a crap. stick to Apple chargers, and use some of the suggestions discussed here.

All I have to say about that is that the Keiko O'Brien character first appears on Star Trek 23 years before the linked video was made, so the reviewer could be named after a StarTrek character.
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: digby
Date: December 26, 2015 05:39PM
Gaffer's Tape.

I may cmd-C/cmd-V that into multiple threads... it works for so many things.

Wish I had light grey to match the cord, but hey, it's still Gaffer's Tape!
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Re: Python Cord to Protect Your Mac Laptop's AC Adapter
Posted by: RE:up
Date: December 27, 2015 02:23AM
Yes Gaffer's tape is good stuff, and (important) not the same thing as duct tape. Though they look nearly identical, not made for the same use. You may have to go to a theatrical supply house if your local hardware store doesn't have it, which is likely. Or you could order here.

Quote
digby
Gaffer's Tape.

I may cmd-C/cmd-V that into multiple threads... it works for so many things.

Wish I had light grey to match the cord, but hey, it's still Gaffer's Tape!
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