Weird battery charging behaviour

Ok, I'll start by saying that this is a problem that has been coming and going for quite a while (definitely months, maybe years). But for the sake of illustration, I'll describe what happened today.
So last night I was using my laptop on the couch (not plugged in) and fell asleep. Woke up to a dead battery. No problem, I plugged it in and woke it up and was good to go. Several hours later I noticed that my battery charge was still at 1 or 2%, though clearly it was running just fine off AC power. Looking at the light on the power adapter, I thought it was completely off until I read a few support posts and found out that "dim green" is an option. Upon close examination, yep, dim green. System Information said the battery itself was ok (cycle count 153, condition normal) but not charging. Under AC Charger Information, it said Connected: yes, Charging: no.
Unplugging and replugging the adapter a few times didn't seem to do anything. There's no obvious gunk in around the terminals. I shut down and reset SMC, no change. Finally I just fiddled with the adaptor (unplug, replug, flip around, wiggle up and down) until the light turned briefly green, and then orange. Now it's clearly charging (up to 38% now, and battery icon has a little lightning bolt) although System Info still says it isn't charging.
Oh, hang on. I just quit and restarted System Info, and now it says it is charging! Huh.
Addendum: While adding tags I noticed that the light on the adapter is back to dim green. System info still says it's charging, and battery % charged numbers are still going up.
I'm guessing it's an issue with the magsafe adaptor, just not sure how you end up with a temporary situation where the laptop can run on AC power but can't charge the battery.
Oh, and in case it's relevant: I'm running a 13" mid-to-late 2009 MacBook Pro, the kind with a non-removable battery, though I did have the battery replaced (by a friend who is Apple-certified) less than a year ago. The AC adaptor I'm using is the one that came with the computer. I'm pretty sure the problem pre-dates the new battery (since it comes and goes, and because I spend a lot of time using the laptop at home while plugged in, I don't always notice).

I had this exact same problem with my mid-2009 MBP as well. My adapter (white connector) has suddenly stopped charging the computer and displayed a very dim-green LED instead of the normal orange or bright green.
I came to the conclusion that the adapter has been shorted out in some way (possibly due to old age) and that was the cause of this. Sure enough my local Apple retailer sold me a new adapter that everything has been fine ever since. I even enjoy the new design - the metal-tipped connector that faces sideways.
Unfortunately the adapter cost me $80, but was a small price to pay as opposed to replacing my laptop. Since this sounds like the exact same issue I faced, I would recommend you purchase a new MagSafe. Just make sure you get the right one for your model (should be a 60W MagSafe)
Hope this helps you out!

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