Chosen Solution
Recently my macbook won’t charge unless it is powered off. I have tried resetting the SMC and the issue persists. At first resetting the machine’s PRAM would allow it to charge normally but recently this has stopped working. If I shut down the laptop and allow it to charge for ~20 mins then power the laptop on it will charge normally. If I remove the charger before the laptop fully charges and plug it back in the laptop will stop charging and the battery will slowly begin to drain while showing the message below:
If the battery is at 100% and I remove the charger then plug it back in it will stay at 100% no matter what I do however if I allow it do drop by a single percent then plug it back in the battery will slowly drain to 0% at which point the laptop powers off. The MagSafe LED behaves normally, it is orange when the battery is <100% and green once it reaches 100%. I have tried replacing the DC-In board but that made no difference. Here is the hardware information menu:
I have scoured the internet and have not been able to find a single case of this happening to anyone else. I have similar cases and most them involve liquid damage which I am certain is not the case with my laptop, it has never had any liquid damage and I cannot see any signs of it after looking at the (bottom side of) the logic board. Here are pictures of the bottom side of the motherboard and the battery’s logic board:
Top of motherboard:
I just gave the motherboard an isopropyl bath and then scrubbed it (hard enough to make me uncomfortable) with a toothbrush and voila it’s charging again!
Check the MagSafe connector interfaces on both the charger & system. You want to check the middle pin on both are clean and shinny. Use a cotton swab (Q-Tip) dampened with some isopropyl alcohol (85% or better) to clean them. With the charger unplugged see if the pins on the cord depress a bit when you press them. See if that helps. Update (09/07/2016) Your images show a very clean system! I don’t see anything that could be cause visually. As you’ve cleaned the mating surfaces of the MagSafe connections and they look clean and shiny we’ll need to dig into the battery unit its self. This series houses the logic all within the battery assembly. You’ll need to have access to a new battery unit to test things. Carefully unplug your battery from the logic board and plug in the new battery unit. Make sure you have a piece of cardboard to rest the battery on as you don’t want it to short out. I’m suspecting the charging logic within the battery unit (the circuit board) has a problem. But before you swap out the battery assembly lets be sure.
