Everybody owning an Apple power supply knows the problem: it looks nice but with everyday use you get the feeling that the design aspect won over longevity.
The problem: the kink protector at the MacSafe as well as directly at the power supply is too short. As the cable is made out of very smooth material, it only withstands the mechanical stress a limited amount of time. After that, you have to buy a new power supply.
We already gave you a few tipps to wind up the cable correctly, now we show you how to prevent fried cables by strengthening the two most broken parts of the cable with tape.
Duct tape work reasonably well
Duct tape seems to work reasonably well. It sounds like a cheap solution but brings the characteristics to the table we need: it supports the parts of the cable that get bend the most and is sticky but still flexible. In addition, everybody has it at home.
How to strengthen the Apple power supply’s cable
Take a half an inch wide stipe of the tape, that is long enough to get wrappend around the cable one time. You don’t want more, as you want to keep flexibility. Tape it around the part of the cable with starts directly after the little kink protector. Don’t tape it onto the kink protector, as this first piece is the base for our DIY solution.
Now take a second piece of tape and put it over the original kink protector and the already existing piece of tape. When assembling, tape it on with a bit of tension so it fits perfectly. If it doesn’t look perfect the first time, just start over. It is just a piece of tape.
If did a good job, it even looks nice (with white tape) and doesn’t look like a DIY solution. The tape now supports the often damaged parts.
Linen tape works too and is a bit stronger
If you would like to have a solution that is still a bit stronger, go with linen tape. It is a bit less flexible than duct tape is and is also a bit stickier.
Both tapes are good and in any case better that nothing.
The application here is the same as mentioned above: first one layer directly after the kink protector, that one onto kink protector and tape.
Tape that doesn’t work
Surprisingly, insolation tape is not a good idea. The seems to be to strong to go with the movements of the cable. It disconnects and loosens and doesn’t give any more support. Not a good choice for this project.
Also a bit complicated: shrink tubing. This is a little plastic tube that gets smaller when you make it hot. This would be an ideal solution, but there is a problem: You have to get it over the MagSafe connector. Therefore you have to use a relatively big shrink tube that either doesn’t shrink enough or is so big that it gets really hard and inflexible.
Result
So why should you attach some tape around your power supply? Because it will save the cost of a new power supply in the long run. Just put two layers of tape on each end of the cable and you have enough mechanical support for a long period of time. Yes, you have to renew the tape after six months or so, but this is a little price to pay.
Don’t forget: even if you strengthened the cable, wind it up this way!
