Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

stupid f*#@ing battery

A

azscp

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 9, 2006
41
0
Hey everyone,

I've had my Intel MBP since April and the other day it started acting up on me. When I disconnected the power adapter the battery discharged rather quickly and the MBP shut down without my knowledge after a couple minutes of it not being plugged in to the power adapter.

So I called Apple Care(less) and they sent out a new battery. That arrived yesterday and it was installed. This one seems to be doing the same thing.

The symptoms here are:

With the power adapter plugged in, the battery icon/time remaining is going down, not up. The battery icon shows a battery with a sideways z inside.

When disconnected from the power adapter the time remaining jumps all over the place. From 222 to 235 to 324 to 231 mins or 37 to 46 to 58 mins. All within a matter of a couple minutes. It jumps around.

So again, I called Apple Care(less) and was on hold for over an hour just to be told nothing was wrong.

Thanks in advance to those who take the time to respond.

Steve
 
Pimptastic

Pimptastic

macrumors regular
Nov 27, 2006
136
11
Up North, UK
azscp said:
The symptoms here are:

With the power adapter plugged in, the battery icon/time remaining is going down, not up. The battery icon shows a battery with a sideways z inside.

When disconnected from the power adapter the time remaining jumps all over the place. From 222 to 235 to 324 to 231 mins or 37 to 46 to 58 mins. All within a matter of a couple minutes. It jumps around.

So again, I called Apple Care(less) and was on hold for over an hour just to be told nothing was wrong.
Click to expand...

Ive not had my MacBook long but im sure the behaviour you are seeing is the correct (annoying) behaviour.

I have mine plugged in now charging, and the battery time remain is going down.

When i am running on battery, the time remaining fluctuates pretty bad. When i wake it from sleep, it sometimes says anythin up to 4 hours (becuase it is using hardly any power). Do anything processor intensive and this will suddenly drop, as it is using more power.

I think it is more acturate to look at the percentage remaining, rather than the time reamaining, as the time remain is an estimate based on current power usage.

I dont think i explained that very well, but hopefully you get the idea
 
Pimptastic

Pimptastic

macrumors regular
Nov 27, 2006
136
11
Up North, UK
Just to update:

I have just figured out why the time continues to go down when plugged in. This is the time remaining to charge the battery!!
 
D

DaLurker

macrumors 6502
Mar 30, 2006
364
0
Pimptastic said:
Just to update:

I have just figured out why the time continues to go down when plugged in. This is the time remaining to charge the battery!!
Click to expand...

Yep the time shown when it is plugged in is the time remaining until a full charge. Also the estimated time indicator usually isn't very accurate. Use the percentage indicator and see if it fluctuates. The time indicator is usually least accurate in the first few minutes of use. Try to use it for a bit and see if the times even out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom