How to power a Macbook using a DC power supply!

[@novakordz3928]

Dude ...First of all in 10 years I have not found a person who explains beautifully something factual on youtube and willing to share correct knowledge, it means you ooze confidence and know way more than your presenting here...plus the amount of recycling benefit world wide you bring is massive , the subscribers is awesome , the views on this video way under estimates what your helping us all to achieve. Wonderful Brother thanks for sharing mate your a legend.

[@alabrrmrbmmr]

So true, so true

[@DrMeize]

wow...I don't know how you can teach this things that are very valuable ?! I am not a tehnician by far...I am not doing this stuff to earn money , in fact the only thing I watch your videos is because I like the way you speak ...but man , this king of small things makes a difference in some services stores where most of them are only entering this beautifull world of repairing stuff :) good work tho' and keep posting vids :)

[@alejandrinos]

The way you switch seamlessly from the main camera to overhead and microscope is really cool. No matter what you say, your videos look professional as fuck.

[@rossmanngroup]

Thank you

[@Xplol19]

louis is really a master of his craft

[@meemo4556]

Andron MacBeton what do you mean

[@joshuanorris5860]

@@meemo4556 r u dumb He means that he knows his shit! Duh.

[@엄상덕-m7k]

I’m using MacBook Pro 15” 2015 without battery. I turned it on like you said. Oh it works! Very good video! Thank you so much! But does it damage computer? Or we only use it for emergency?

[@Killerspieler0815]

Louis is the master who prevents us from falling to Apple iRippoff

[@Kallaste.]

Wow, this video is the best! You are an expert in what you do AND you are fun to listen to. What a great channel and a great guy.

[@zacharytaylor8523]

Here is an idea, snip the charger cable from dead chargers add some banana jacks at the end and now you can sell DC power adapters for macs at the store

[@p_mouse8676]

@ Louis Rossmann So basically you can convert a regular 19V power supply (let's say a Meanwell or something). Replace the standard cord and connector by a Apple connector and you just got yourself a very cheap adapter for your Mac? For the pros/more advanced people here, you could probably add some extra circuitry to make sure it never overloads (although, in my experience this is normally already implemented) and drop de voltage a 0.5-1V (mostly a diode would do just fine lol)

[@thatradkid]

really awesome video camera control! and good content. btw if you flip your side cutters so the flat side is out you can strip wires 1st try every try

[@karlmcdonnell5838]

The fact you wrap cables properly pleases me

[@andrewklug4845]

Hey Louis, now that Apple has finally come out with US-C cables that plug into their 140 W bricks ... can you recommend an appropriate third party power supply with a USB-C port that would not require cutting the cable? Keep up the great work.

[@tanveerakber948]

thanks bro first time you explain me very easy .. keep it up

[@RaggaDruida]

I really, really want to know your opinion on the new Thinkpad lineup they announced for CES... Specially the changes they did to the X2x0 (X270 to S208) line...

[@jlan123]

What did they do?

[@RaggaDruida]

Soldered on ram, non removable battery, with half the capacity, no Ethernet port...

[@kerbsidemotors9249]

Disposable

[@MrKillswitch88]

Not worth the money, time, and are frankly mac like cancer which is really sad given how good thinkpads were in the past.

[@juweinert]

Funny that German idiom really fits him well: "Nun komm doch mal runter, von Deinem hohen Ross" 😂

[@Spanto21]

Dear Mr. Rossmann, i'm a big fan (and i don't even know why LoL) even if i'm not at all into mac repair hehehehe. I have a simple question that you have probably talked about before (but i cannot find it). Can/should we use our MacBook Pro plugged in or not ? I really appreciate your answer. Thank you very very much !!

[@MrRaebild]

That's what I love about your videos Louis .. the more I see, the more I figure out how little I know :) .. I love it .. there is noting more irritating then watching af video and learn notting :)

[@jkyoft78]

I would like to charge my MacBook pro from my 12V battery in my RV. What do you suggest? I want to avoid installing a DC to AC inverter on my 12V battery and then plugging in my Safemage 2 into it - I don't want to convert from DC to AC to DC. So the MacBook expects 20V (4.25a) DC, but my battery is only 12V. What can you suggest?

[@dumbbellenjoyer]

Will you ever write a list of diagnostics commonly found via the amps shown?

[@jonasczech7237]

wiki2.rossmanngroup.com > "troubleshooting guides"

[@tav48]

I have two questions regarding magsafe 1 macbooks / cables / powerbricks 1) If I use a cable from a 60W power brick, do I need to power it with 16.5V or can I also use 18.5v? 2) is 18.5v the upper limit for macbook pro's from 2012 or will they take 20v ? Thanks

[@homersimpson9257]

Great Louis ! I’ve learnt exactly what i wanted to know. Thank you

[@13richjenn]

"This wouldn't be Apple if there wasn't unnecessary complicated" - SO TRUE!

[@kinsi55]

They made it so easy? Would've expected proprietary circuitry in the charger itself and not just the connector.

[@rossmanngroup]

Me too!

[@Ishiku__aka_xchoibitschibihil]

Louis Rossmann does no one ever think of the little green pinhole LED inside that connector? only Apple does this

[@mikegleasonjr]

3. Using solar/battery and avoid DC -> AC -> DC conversions

[@dna2087]

SO TRUE !!!

[@B.E.H.]

AMAZING!!! The best channel about "Macs" repair, congrats!!! : ) I bought one flux in your website, waiting arrive. Have some link when to buy MagSafe 1 and 2 both 85w ORIGINAL, please? THANKS!!!

[@erlanning]

Maybe not the correct forum to ask this... I am looking for a solution where I can plug my Macbook (Air) directly to a battery (charged by Solar). Sure I could use an Inverter from the Battery, but that is inefficient. To specific, I am looking for a DC to DC converter for a Macbook, suggestions? BTW Louis and Team... I love the work that you all are doing. :)

[@zapallalla]

You can see all that data (and more) from iStat Menus. I've had few macbooks in heavy use and I haven't blown a single charger. The lead gets broken after few years, yes. That's because of mechanical wear but I think that's totally normal thinking how much bending those takes in years.

[@crazyirishman121]

Im enojying the better camera angles. Nice work :)

[@PhuketMyMac]

Next is how to build a USB-C charger from a DC power supply... thanks for the video!

[@cheeriomartinez]

...so what if we don't have a huge power supply thing like you do? What should we use? Plug it in straight to the wall?

[@pr0xZen]

How do you adjust the PSU and tell if it's negotiating (or trying to) full voltage, or stuck in 12/5V etc? Do you always set the PSU to the full (16.5-19V) voltage, and then measure on the board by multimeter?

[@louisslouiss8326]

Finally... Thanks @louis !

[@jonny777bike]

I imagine that your DC power supply also has current limiting so it will CC when you have over current instead of blowing more fuses or parts. Also if the power supply is programmable you just recall that voltage setting.

[@maqabyah2]

Great vid, just leaned a lot

[@johncoops6897]

Stop leaning... you might fall over.

[@Mordaur]

So, if I can get a 85w magsafe cable and a magsafe to magsafe2 adapter, it'll work for any mb, right?

[@kalp0rter]

Yes

[@DavidJohnson7738]

can you modify the circuit in the tip to allow you to use ANY tip and have it report as an 85W charger?

[@uN1Qu3DZ]

Likely yes, but cutting into that metal body to modify it and having it still usable at the end is going to be difficult.

[@debug9424]

+David According to this article (link below), the chip inside is a DS2413 "1-Wire Dual Channel Addressable Switch". It can't be rewritten (lasered ROM), but can easily be spoofed with MCU (Arduino, ATINY85, etc). www[dot]righto[dot]com/2013/06/[remove this text]teardown-and-exploration-of-magsafe[dot]html?m=1

[@maxlaval4419]

Thanks Louis

[@MartinAmbre]

Louis Thanks for the detailed info. I just researched a little harder and found your video. Can you suggest can we convert old Magsafe 2 cables to power through Power Banks and what do I have to note ?

[@rafextreme2879]

Match the power output of the original charger (he says it in the vid)

[@eljardincitorecords7787]

You Chanel blow my mind dude! Is it advisable to use a toshiba notebook adapter (19V 4.75amps 90w) on a macbook pro late 2013 15inch?

[@joncamp9126]

I have a question not pertaining to this exactly. If I have a 18.5v car charger can I cut the barrel connector off and wire the MagSafe connector to it instead. The old MacBook car chargers are hard to find and the ones you can find seem to have bad reviews. I just want to be able to run my laptop off of straight 12v and I’m trying to figure out the best way to go about doing it. Some of the 12v adapters that switch a MagSafe to usbc people reported they were over heating, as that’s what I was going to do before I read that. Thanks for any help!

[@VovanCBR]

thanks dude for this video

[@rotor676]

Thanks for the vids. Your an awesome instructor.

[@domingohipulan7027]

Best of the best

[@kevinkleine5116]

thanks for sharing this great info

[@vanhetgoor]

I never knew this before, thanks you told us.

[@dailylegend]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@philabrahams383]

Another great video.

[@ababab678]

appreciate it man.

[@domzzz1244]

Thanks Louis !

[@alsadler4013]

Louis, I just came across your video and am interested in powering my MacBook with 12v while using it on my boat. Looking at my 85W power charger it states it's output is either 18.5 or 16.5v. Will my 12v be enough power for the MacBook Pro?

[@harryhall4001]

The battery on a macbook pro needs more than 12V to charge. You could use a dc-dc boost converter to increase the voltage. You might also have to worry about filtering the power from the boat to make sure it is free of ripples/noise as the boost converter may not remove all of it, and it could interfere with or even damage the macbook pro.

[@alexmacdiver]

Thank You

[@christopherwatling1847]

Hi Louis, Is it possible to use a DC power supply direct to the contact point on the logic board - (taking off the t5 torx screw from the connector on a 2019 touchbar MBP) - I have 4x dead USB-C ports here and cannot seem to get a charge into the battery, or boot at all. Just need to buy some time to get the files off... I was thinking if I lift off the battery connection and simply DC the board directly? Would love your thoughts on this!

[@joelstarkman1019]

Wondering if it’s possible to connect the MagSafe power cord to a 12VDC boat system. Has anybody tried that, or do I need to use the onboard inverter, generating 120VAC and plug in the Mac power block?

[@hectordenicola]

I have a Lenovo T490 laptop that has a 65W adapter with a USB-C connector. I would like to use this adapter with my Macbook Air Retina 12" (2017). Is there any risk in doing this? I have actually connected it and it works fine. But I'd like to know if there might be any risk in the long term if I continue using it. Thanks!

[@javidbenam5400]

Thank you for sharing great subjects about mac. I was wondering if it is possible to bridge the smrt circuit in dc power supply system and connect the Mac directly to a power supply without using the Magsafe connector ? I know that this might not be a smart question to ask, but maybe worth thinking of.

[@DuckMaster37]

I usually just buy a bunch of them on eBay, used they are less than $10 each, and they work fine, if kne breaks just replace it

[@whymustinamethischannel3422]

Dealing with power outages. Looking for a way to charge my MPB (2011 13") via DC. Is it possible? A UPS seems overkill, why go from DC battery -> UPS AC -> Magsafe -> DC -> MPB...

[@trick4you101]

thank you so much ...... very useful information.......keep it up

[@waelelkholi3406]

will the same technique work for macbook 2018 with magsafe charger?

[@ChristianGrytten]

THANK YOU, i swapped my DC cable, and it said 60w NO WONDER IT CHARGES SLOW!

[@tobiasbercu9401]

great video, thanks!! I'm curious if there is a risk of overcharging the macbook with this process. Doesn't the magsafe charger also contain a controller that prevents overcharging? Or is that charge controller in the magsafe head itself? thanks and all the best

[@YoungAbuelita]

Pretty sure the controller is inside the computer.

[@saeed12056]

Thanks for this informative video! Based on the fact that the circuitry on the tip of the adapter cable determines how much power a mac can draw from a power supply, can I use the adapter of my Dell laptop computer for charing my 15 inch macbook pro 2010? Its voltage output is 19.5 and its amp is 4.62.

[@rossmanngroup]

You should be able to.

[@saeed12056]

Thank you! Does that mean I can use it as a substitute for a mac charger or only temporarily?

[@robinmordasiewicz]

Maybe off-topic, but I'm trying to figure out how to power my 15" USB-C Macbook pro from a DC battery pack. Most portable USB-C 3amp chargers are not powerful enough to charge and power the laptop at the same time. Do you have any recommendations for DC battery banks that can charge and power my laptop for a day ?

[@joegoh1968]

my wife has been using my MacBook Pro charger to charge her MacBook Air. Sometimes, I use her charger to charge my MacBook Pro. They seem to work but now I am worried if it may have damage the logic board of both machines.

[@RiffLords]

Thanks Boss!!

[@andypalm7061]

Valuable info! Thanks.

[@ENIGMALABSSOLARGURU]

hi... louis i have a macbook pro 2011 i have replaced the batteries serval times. how can i bypass the battery and use just charger to operate it.

[@kelenfernandaduartemolina7952]

can I use cables (just cables, not entire adaptors, 85w) being sold at eBay for 4, or 5 Dollars? Looks a good option to have brand new cables that would be used to fix broken adaptors...

[@rossmanngroup]

+Kelen Fernanda Duarte Molina the reason that I don't sell the cables as easy as it would be to shill them is because most of those cables are the 45 to 60 watt ones and not the 85 watt ones. I don't trust the sellers on eBay one bit. The sellers are all clueless and don't even know that the circuitry is in the tip

[@eduardomolinayourmac.repai614]

Hi Louis, just to follow up: I bought bought tips at eBay, and they are working good, even in computers which require 85w...

[@randallgoguen3463]

@@eduardomolinayourmac.repai614 Who was the seller? Thank you in advance.

[@SBHSGA]

it is a good thing that the "smarts" of the MagSafe supplies are in the plug and not in the charger itself.

[@simplynotsquare8285]

Hey Louis! Awesome video. I live off grid and have a 24v DC system. My circuits are all protected by 5 amp fuses. Am I able to attach my old charger cable, as you showed to my 24v system without damaging my computer or do I have to get a DC power supply that I can adjust and control? Thanks for any advice.

[@DNMEBOY]

Jair Stolz It’s probably best to stick with the voltage that the charger outputs. You could pretty easily reduce your 24v source to 18-19v . If you had a 12v source an inverter for a car that gives you a 120v outlet would allow you to use the charger for the MacBook. Im not an expert on these things though.

[@johncoops6897]

So what if your system is 24V? What voltage does your DEVICE need? If the device suits 24V DC, then you can power it directly. If the device needs higher than 24V, you need a Boost Converter (Step-Up). If the device needs lower than 24V, you need a Buck Converter (Step-down). If you needed to ask the question, then you shouldn't consider DIY. Just buy something from somebody who knows what they are talking about.

[@ashleesmith3988]

thanks... great advice

[@carlosportela9233]

Hi Louis, can I connect to a 12v car battery using the same approach to charge and operate a MacBook Pro 16?

[@vilenius187]

I bought a mid 2009 MBP for 50 euros because I want to make music... in my car. Just drive out to some industrial area at night and no one will complain. I wonder if 12+ V will be enough to charge the machine and if it will freak out having only that instead of 14.5 V or whatever it is that comes out of the Magsafe

[@3DSurfacing]

I use the same keyboard in Sydney Australia. :)

[@selbstwaerts]

Came here quite late, but the content is timeless ... :D With my early 2015 Macbook Pro it's like this: the battery stays at its charge as long as I keep the power cord connected. But it does not actually charge. When I keep it plugged in and turned off, sometimes there is a surprise: It charged fully. Happenes every other month for once. I thought it was the battery and replaced it. No effect / same situation. Does have power, works fine, but does not charge. Replacing the power board would be not much of a hassle I think, but could it be the charger? Or how Mercury stays relative to Venus? Any ideas out there? Contraindications: SMC and the other thing are reset a thousand times internal plugs are snugly plugged in, battery is brand new Charging LED is green when connected, then switches to orange as expected

[@Jhale716]

Meditation selbstwärts sounds like your charger is under rated and everything else is/was fine...

[@selbstwaerts]

@@Jhale716 Update: Changed battery, no charging. Changed charging electronics: no charging. But power supply works just fine. So it's something on the main board AND WE HAVE NO LOUIS ROSSMANN IN GERMANY! What an unpreferrable situation...

[@berniwwooley3846]

Easy question that no one seems to answer without going round the world that no one can understand when testing the pins on a MagSafe 1 charger what you put multimeter on first pin what should it read 2nd pin what should that read and so on until all 5 pins have been tested

[@iDano98]

Can we do a similar thing with a typeC macook forcing the 20v without the typeC controller talking to the charger? I think this will break the computer but i don't know

[@MauriceKon]

thank you for this video. but i have to say, i'm surprised you cycled through many original overprized PSUs before switching to a professional lab bench power supply. it's kinda obvious to use a short-circuit protected, current limiting PSU

[@pleggli]

yeah, it's a no brainer. A bench lab psu was about the fourth/fifth piece of electronic lab gear I got when I started to work with a range of different circuits a few years ago. 1. multi meter. 2. soldering iron. 3. oscilloscope 4. bench PSU.. I have never had a goal to repair laptops, the closest I've come is probably fixing a faulty PC motherboard and repairing a bunch of commodore 64/128s which btw. also requires 9VAC because they are old :)

[@nicolasbacaloni8385]

Louis, excellent video, congratulations. looking at your video and tired of broken mac chargers and cables i kept the cable and connected it to a HP 18.5v 90W charger. My cable reads 60W power so power should be no problem. when looking at "about this mac" the system tells me "battery error" everything looks normal , battery is charging but i would like to know your opinion. Thanks and best regards. Nicolas

[@luiginetstar]

wow, I'm thinking of doing the same, it would be nice to know what Louis thinks

[@nicolasbacaloni8385]

@@luiginetstar I'm still not able to remove the "repair battery" call in my macbook but what i can say is that battery is charging without problems to it's full amperage and battery drainage time seems to be normal. charging time is identical as with original charger and magsafe light indicators works perfectly....i think maybe there can be some kind of communication between original charger and computer because battery status showed "normal" condition untill i plug in the new hp charger. so i think must be some trick to induce fear to the customer when using non propietary devices. ....waiting Louis opinion too! cheers.

[@luiginetstar]

@@nicolasbacaloni8385 que hacen 2 argentos chateando en ingles ???? 🤣 Hoy cuando lei tu respuesta me di cuenta del nombre de tu canal y me pegue una vuelta, me di cuenta que tambien eres de Argentina.....ja ja ja!!!!!!

[@nicolasbacaloni8385]

@@luiginetstar Y si, si no era por mi canal solo el hecho de la capochada que me mande con er cargador es "pure aryentain" jeje. Saludos!

[@rafextreme2879]

Que tal si regresamos al ingles i me ayudad a entenderte. You said you plugged a regular hp power brick 18.5v to the magsafe connector?

[@Charliendt]

Hi Louis! Thanks for sharing this information. Could you also please add a note with the current or voltage limits that you use so you don't blow the things up? I know from your videos that when you are testing shorts you are very aware to not to blow the CPU with to much power but I was wondering if you do the same with the Macbooks.... Also I think it would be a nice discussion to check whether or not this is possible with the new Macbooks that use USB type C to charge up. Again thanks for sharing and happy new year Carlos

[@Infigo96]

Have you found a similar solution for the USB-C based macs? There is a lot of communication in USB-C so something more evolved would probably be needed

[@Ishiku__aka_xchoibitschibihil]

Hampus Baaz hella. F u appel!!

[@Infigo96]

Well, all manufacturers is going the usb-c route since it is a good route for the future where you can ask any buddy for a charger and whatever the laptop it will work and you can charge your phone with the same charger. The problem is that I have a ton of thinkpad chargers and the new ones is going USB-C for charging so a something that uses those old ones with usb-C in the end would be nice for me at least.

[@Infigo96]

You mean charging or do you mean accessories? To charge a laptop through USB-C it starts of talking at lower voltage and when the computer knows it is a 12/20V adapter and it can deliver the power as well as the computer can receive the charge (which not all laptops can) over type-C. First then a charge can be done. Same thing with Thunderbolt, the cable must be able to tell that it can handle thunderbolt over the two acc pins. There is chips at either end of the cable as well as on every type-C port...unless it is a standard USB-C 3.0 port and then it defaults to 5V power out with USB-3.0 protocol like a regular 3.0 port but with the C cable

[@S1278-q9f]

Ah yes, the right Video this time.

[@ZaiFuchigami]

Could I make a macbook "charger" with a simple LTC3780 CC CV board? I'll just limit the current to 3A and set the voltage to 14.8V (I have a Macbook Air Early 2014)?

[@madhvikumari2048]

Hello my friend. I have the same macbook. My battery was swollen and I removed it myself. Now on power cable support it is not going to turn on without battery. What to do, I have followed every techniques from nvram reset to holding down the power button for too long, but nothing worked. Please suggest me any option do that I can start my macbook without battery.

[@maryjanecosmiano6874]

hi sir huge fan of yours maybe you can help me.. i have a working a1342 board with a bad lcd and def hdd is there a way that i can turn this into an all in one pc using just the board

[@tagurumoy1101]

Can you help me convert my macbook charger to barrel connector.. Please... Thank you

[@sim6699]

what about people who want to charge their mac from a car cigarette power socket

[@suhaspranadev]

simple, feed the 24V input to ltc3780 DC converter, set the voltage on the converter to 16.5V, feed the output to the above MagSafe cable.

[@rafextreme2879]

Is there a way to bypass the magsafe connector in total like either connecting the 2 possitives together and the 2 negatives to a power brick ignoring the middle wire? or converting the connector to a different type like a dc jack? Asking because i got handed a mbp and would like to see it turn on before i invest in it

[@cmontieltv]

Did anyone noticed the fancy Pepe on the back of his chair?

[@WVRick]

Nice Zoom!

[@juweinert]

7:45 Maybe someone can help me here. I have a 15" MBP from 2015 wich does not boot without the battery installed (just as you said, Louis). But I ONLY own genuine 85W Apple AC adapters. It almost fully boots and then turns off again...

[@giandenorte]

good video! I am wondering if I can power up my matebook 13 using dc power supply. ( I bought it as defective, without charger and battery and other parts.) the charger port is usb type C. will it still work without the battery. I am planning to use it just like computer.plug and play... thanks

[@betohfinger879]

thank u!

[@rigo6156]

Is it possible to remove a battery from a late 2016 15" MacBook Pro battery and charge it?

[@03269696]

hi man thanks for this video,. i have a question can i remove the battery and use the laptop only with the power supply? my battery condition is Replace now and i am looking of a way to charge my mack book pro 2012 without the battery i hope u can answer me man. thanks

[@peterrutter7332]

Hi great vid can you tell me if i can make a lead like this to power and charge a macbook air at 12v from a car ??

[@harryhall4001]

Macbook airs run on 14.85V (or atleast mine does) so you would need something like a boost coverter to increase the voltage. Another issue is that car power is often fluctuates and is noisy due to the electrical components in a car such as the altenator, this is especially bad when starting the car. You would need something to filter the power coming from the car.

[@whateverz-876]

Your Tekpower TP3005T is plugged in. Stupid question but if I'm road warrior'ing with my MacBook then can I used this to power my Macbook 13-in 60W after I MacGuevor the tip connector per the video instructions..? If so, as long as I'm just accessing web data with a dim screen how long use might I expect (verrrry ballpark)...? Thanks! ^_^

[@DNMEBOY]

Is it possible to power it without the plug from the power supply? I scored an A1502 today without a power supply. The cover wasn’t screwed in so I’m not hopeful that it works and don’t want to buy an official power supply.

[@pranavp8023]

I have a MBP 2013 early model , I’m using it with a genuine 85w adapter without a battery , is it safe to use it for 12hours everyday? Please reply asap

[@DNMEBOY]

Pranav P I cant think of any reason this would not be safe. If you can use it 12 hours a day with a battery while plugged into the power supply you should be able to use it without a battery just fine.

[@johncoops6897]

It may not be safe if you develop RSI or other afflictions due to working on a portable device for so many hours. Buy a proper fucking computer, for gawds sake.

[@suhaspranadev]

u are the best