[parasubvert]

1. See sibling posters. The plastic sheathing would split, and eventually splay. Electrical tape was the solution many used.

2. North America?

3. Burnt, i.e. the cable would turn brown at the edges connecting to the power supply or the Magsafe adapter.

I'm glad your power supply still works. This situation is sort of like the new MBP Keyboard: I've never had a problem with it, but many have. With the older power supplies, I've gone through at least three replacements over 10 years of MagSafe, not counting the new ones I received with new laptops. Much less expensive and time consuming than the keyboard so not as big a deal.

My point is that the Magsafe power adapters weren't this shining beacon of perfect design. They had flaws in practice, and USB-C has so far corrected those flaws (and introduced its own tradeoffs).