iBook shuts down! Battery problem?

svejar · Nov 25, 2005

First of all: I have done all those PMU resetting stuff. The problem is that my iBook (1GHz, 768MB RAM, Tiger 10.4.3) keeps shutting off when I run it on battery. While plugged in there doesn't seem to be a problem. Here's what I've found out:

This seems to happen only when I run the iBook from the battery
There is no pattern as to when it will happen: It might be fully charged, at 70%, 50%, etc.
There are no warnings: The iBook just dies
To restart it I have to plug in the charger, I can't start it from the battery after one of these sudden deaths
If I press the battery indicator after a crash, it doesn't show any charge - no green lights
When I restart the machine the battery indicator will work, and it show's a charge in Tiger as well

I've done all that PMU resetting, PRAM resetting, etc. Doesn't work. Any ideas as to what this could be? Bad battery? Any suggestions are most welcome

One more thing: I've run the hardware test, and it doesn't come up with anything at all.

Coconut Battery shows that my battery should hold a charge as well. Max charge is still at 3500mAh, 18 months and 750 cycles after I got the iBook.

mad jew · Nov 25, 2005

Okay, well it does sound like a bad battery but I'd try to force it to calibrate all the same. If it's possible, I'd run it off battery until it shuts down. If it's only at about 50% but still won't start up, I'd start it from the adaptor and then unplug it until it shuts down again. It's a pain, but I'd keep doing this until it gets to about 2% or so before putting it back on the charger until it gets back to 100%. I'm not sure how much it'll help and I know it's a pretty painful process but you have tried the other usual fixes and they haven't worked.

Will Cheyney · Nov 25, 2005

Haha, I make a habit of posting this app! I think I should be earning some form of commission!

Download CoconutBattery:
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

I'll allow you to compare the current capacity of your battery to it's original, new, capacity. That way you'll be able to determine whether it is knackered.

svejar · Nov 25, 2005

Will Cheyney said:
Haha, I make a habit of posting this app! I think I should be earning some form of commission!

Download CoconutBattery:
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

I'll allow you to compare the current capacity of your battery to it's original, new, capacity. That way you'll be able to determine whether it is knackered.

The battery seems to be doing nicely, that's the problem...

stevep · Nov 25, 2005

Is there something wrong with the figures here?
Will Cheyney:
163 cycles/22 months/44%
svejar:
742 cycles/18 months/81%
That makes a depletion rate of 14.87 mAh per cycle for Will, compared with only 1.1 mAh per cycle for Svejar.
This thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/158947/ suggests a rough average of around 5 to 6 mAh per cycle.
Maybe the battery's true condition is not being reported properly in Svejar's case. After 742 cycles it may well be completely shot anyway. I'd be interested to hear if Mad Jews suggestion is do-able, as it sounds the only way forward other than buying a new battery, and certainly a lot cheaper.

mad jew · Nov 25, 2005

stevep said:
Is there something wrong with the figures here?
Will Cheyney:
163 cycles/22 months/44%
svejar:
742 cycles/18 months/81%
That makes a depletion rate of 14.87 mAh per cycle for Will, compared with only 1.1 mAh per cycle for Svejar.

It might be because svejar's battery doesn't know what a full cycle is. Each time he has to shut down at 50% (or whatever) may be counting as a full cycle.

stevep said:
I'd be interested to hear if Mad Jews suggestion is do-able, as it sounds the only way forward other than buying a new battery, and certainly a lot cheaper.

Same. To be honest, I don't have heaps of faith in it and it'll take quite a while to complete but I'd certainly still give it a try.

zach · Nov 25, 2005

I'm getting a depletion rate of around 2.5 mAh / cycle, and my battery seems fine.

svejar · Nov 25, 2005

Yes, I installed Coconut this morning and was pretty stunned when I saw the figures myself. But to be honest, I've done everything "wrong" when it comes to sensible use and charging. I pretty much charge it every time I'm done using it.

And I'm fine with getting a new battery, if needed. But I would hate getting it and finding out that it's not the cause of my problem.

svejar · Nov 25, 2005

mad jew said:
Okay, well it does sound like a bad battery but I'd try to force it to calibrate all the same. If it's possible, I'd run it off battery until it shuts down. If it's only at about 50% but still won't start up, I'd start it from the adaptor and then unplug it until it shuts down again. It's a pain, but I'd keep doing this until it gets to about 2% or so before putting it back on the charger until it gets back to 100%. I'm not sure how much it'll help and I know it's a pretty painful process but you have tried the other usual fixes and they haven't worked.

Well, painful it is... It seems to die every time it reaches 50%. I fire it up, and it goes down. Seems like my battery have decided to call it a day.

mad jew · Nov 25, 2005

Yeah, I can't think of anything else it could be. That sucks but hopefully a new one will work perfectly. Maybe ask to test a battery from a display model before purchasing one to see if it'll work normally. Although, chances are they'll have more than 50% charge and it's not like you can sit there for hours waiting to see if it sleeps. Meh, maybe it's just easier to buy it outright.

kaylee · Jan 27, 2006

Sorry to dig up an old-ish thread, but I am experiencing the same thing.

My battery capacity is 57% of the original (2 years old in April this year) according to coconutBattery, so it only last 3-3.5 hours now instead of the 5+ i used to get.

However, when i use battery the computer just turns itself off - i never get the warning to switch to AC adapter, and it doesn't sleep just complete shut down. It doesn't always happen when the battery is completely drained - this last time i still had 30% left when i turned it back on with the AC adapter. Like the OP, i have reset the PRAM and PMU, and I have tried a few discharge and recharge cycles.

My computer is 12 inch 1GHz iBook, 512MB, Tiger (10.4.4), and I've only noticed this happening in the last week or so.

I just want to know if the OP fixed the problem without getting a new battery (and if so how), or if he did get a new battery did the problem go away?

svejar · Jan 27, 2006

kaylee said:
Sorry to dig up an old-ish thread, but I am experiencing the same thing.

My battery capacity is 57% of the original (2 years old in April this year) according to coconutBattery, so it only last 3-3.5 hours now instead of the 5+ i used to get.

However, when i use battery the computer just turns itself off - i never get the warning to switch to AC adapter, and it doesn't sleep just complete shut down. It doesn't always happen when the battery is completely drained - this last time i still had 30% left when i turned it back on with the AC adapter. Like the OP, i have reset the PRAM and PMU, and I have tried a few discharge and recharge cycles.

My computer is 12 inch 1GHz iBook, 512MB, Tiger (10.4.4), and I've only noticed this happening in the last week or so.

I just want to know if the OP fixed the problem without getting a new battery (and if so how), or if he did get a new battery did the problem go away?

I ended up using my laptop plugged in... But I've ordered a new battery that ought to arrive within a week or so - I will post to tell you if it worked or not.

kaylee · Jan 28, 2006

svejar said:
I ended up using my laptop plugged in... But I've ordered a new battery that ought to arrive within a week or so - I will post to tell you if it worked or not.

Thanks, that would be much appreciated.

svejar · Jan 31, 2006

kaylee said:
Thanks, that would be much appreciated.

Just got the battery, and it seems to be working fine! Currently at 33% of capacity, and will drain it completely. But for now I'm happy as can be! Best of all is that I got it for $75 - shipping included (to Norway). That's less than 40% of the going rate at the Apple store in Norway.

skinniezinho · Jan 7, 2009

I am having the same problem,although coconut battery shows
92% of current battery capacity (3871 of 4200).
And about 342 cycles,but 24459 months of age lool
other strange thing,it takes a lot of time to charge till let's say 30% but,then after little time (5min) for example it goes to 100%,is this normal?!
thanks all

skinniezinho · Jan 10, 2009

skinniezinho said:
I am having the same problem,although coconut battery shows
92% of current battery capacity (3871 of 4200).
And about 342 cycles,but 24459 months of age lool
other strange thing,it takes a lot of time to charge till let's say 30% but,then after little time (5min) for example it goes to 100%,is this normal?!
thanks all

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iBook shuts down! Battery problem?

svejar

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