Maybe I’m lucky too. The last problem I had with traditional power supplies was in 1987 for my Commodore 64. I’m sure I’ve had other fail since then, but it was most likely a single failure - or I would have remembered.
I have gone through plenty of USB power supplies (especially the cheaper ones) - until I started using decent quality ones. Even with Apple Certified cables - I doubt a single one of them has lasted for a year. I have been through probably 2-3 dozen of them (some through losing them).
Yes, we’re using a plug adapter to make the British plug fit the CEE 7/4 socket. I suppose that’s another possible point of failure, though as with the power bar, it’s strange that it would suddenly fail after years of unproblematic use, and then magically fix itself later the same day.
Well, it’s happened again—the power supply is dead. And now we realized that this time, as well as last time, the problem happened right after using the vacuum cleaner, which we plugged into the same power bar. Is it possible the vacuum cleaner is at fault?
I think you’ve found your problem. I wouldn’t plug something like a vacuum cleaner into a power bar. In fact, you way want to avoid even putting the vacuum in the same socket box as the power bar.
The power supply “resurrecting” itself may indicate that it contains a circuit breaker which resets itself after a period of time.
Bingo. Good for the OP figuring out that it’s probably the vacuum.
My guess: the vac, when starting up, is drawing lots of power and causing a brownout (low voltage condition). The power supply is protecting itself from the brownouts, which are deadly to lots of digital circuits, especially switching power supplies, which draw lots and lots of current trying to achieve their target voltage; only there’s not enough voltage in the AC feed so they overheat. Or something like that; I’m not an EE.
Chances are Davidm is right (or close): I bet a thermal sensor in the PS is tripping, saving the PS from killing itself, and resetting when the temperature inside the device cools down.
Maybe the power supply successfully saved itself before, but it hasn’t been able to do it again. It’s been dead since Friday. We even tried bob++'s suggestion of putting it in the freezer for 20 minutes, but that didn’t help.
We have been using the same electrical socket, power bar, laptop, and vacuum for years. The laptop’s always plugged into the power bar, and every Friday we plug the vacuum in as well and clean the apartment. Can someone explain to me why this setup is suddenly so dangerous to our laptops? Can some electrical component in the vacuum have become degraded or damaged such that it’s drawing too much power now?
I don’t know why it hasn’t caused a problem before, and it may well be that the vacuum isn’t the cause, but I still wouldn’t recommend plugging the vacuum into the same outlet as your power supply.