iBook battery problems

Based on the age of the computer and what you're describing, yes. It's a dying battery. Seems a little premature based on the numbers you posted there, but nothing that can be done, really. I saw exactly the same behavior when my battery was going (although in my case it was actually a prematurely failing battery, not just worn out).

Have you tried recalibrating? That may not help, but if you can manage to COMPLETELY run the battery down (which you're already almost doing) to the point it's stone dead, then let it recharge overnight, it should reacquire a more accurate "full" gauge, which will at least prevent it from dying without warning.

You might also try resetting the power manager (there are instructions on Apple's site), but if the battery is failing (not just worn), then neither of these things will help.

Ive heard that if you drain the battery of all its charge and freeze it in an airtight plastic freezer bag overnight, it will restore the battery to its former glory. Although i would get a replacement just incase, although it would be interesting to see if it works. You can pick up replacements cheaply anyways.

rhys105 said:

Ive heard that if you drain the battery of all its charge and freeze it in an airtight plastic freezer bag overnight, it will restore the battery to its former glory. Although i would get a replacement just incase, although it would be interesting to see if it works. You can pick up replacements cheaply anyways.

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i don't think that works with Li-ion batteries seeing as they don't develop crystals like the Ni-hydride ones.

dude, face it, you've got a 2+ year old battery, they don't last forever.
i've got the same computer and have 80% health.

i know it's kind of a pain now, but the computer will probably outlast the next battery. if you decide to sell later on, a fresh battery would help you out a lot.

my macbook pro did this but only after 6 months. battery was replaced under warranty and all is good. still at 100%. you probably have to buy a new battery

PickledSquirrel said:

hmmm just looked at my coconut stats again.
New battery plugged in yesterday says 95% health. isn't that rather quick deterioration?

-Squirrel

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Depends on a number of things. Is that an Apple-manufactured battery, or 3rd party?

If it's 3rd party, it may have just shipped with an inaccurate "full" label, so 95% might be what it was built to give new. Alternately, the procedures that some 3rd party batteries ship with suggest running it through a couple of full charge-discharge-charge cycles to get it calibrated properly. Could be that the battery's self-estimate isn't quite right.

If it's an Apple battery, it could be the same situation, though I was under the impression that Apple generally shipped their batteries pre-calibrated.

Either way, try running it through a couple of full cycles (that is, discharge until the computer force-sleeps, then fully recharge) before you get too worried.

And of course those estimates are just that--estimates. Heck, my MBP battery (according to Coconut Battery, anyway) is reporting 6233mAh of capacity when it was only supposed to have 5500mAh brand new--WAY over "full"--and it's an Apple-brand warranty replacement. I seriously doubt it'll give that kind of life, so I only pay attention to those reports if I'm troubleshooting.

PickledSquirrel said:

hmmm 3 cycles and down to 93% health.
And when I opened it just now after recharging, I got an "You need to restart your computer ... ..." message and had to kill it with the power button.

time to panic?

-squirrel

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the battery could have been sitting on a shelf for quite a time before you bought it, based on the age of your iBook of course.

this is making me want to buy a new battery now.....

Was that your original battery? I ask because your cycle count was low for the age of your mac. You should regularly use your battery. I assume that you leave your computer plugged in most of the time. On your next battery, try letting it run down more often

pk