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Powerbook Battery Life

M

macphisto

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2002
233
13
At home
Here is a question for you the macrumors community. I have a G4 Powerbook which battery is apparently completely dead. I had one of the recalled batteries which I sent in and had replaced, so the new battery I received is only a little over a year old. I am a moderate user of my laptop, and I haven't subjected it to any unusual treatment or extreme climate conditions/changes.

Do Powerbook batteries die this quickly and become nothing more than paperweights in little over a year or should I expect a few more years out of it? Is it something that I should call and take up with Apple and do you think that they would replace it?
 
download istat pro and checkout your battery health. this will give a good indication of how its going. also open system profiler click power and post the stats for Full charge capacity, Charge remaining and Cycle count. a new battery has a charge capacity of ~ 6000 mAh. also apple states that a properly maintained battery should have 80% of its original health after 300 charge cycles.

my original battery for my macbook pro purchased September last year had the random shutdown syndrome and my second battery went down to a health of 40% after 40 cycles! hopefully my new one which will come in next week will function normally. laptop batteries seem to have their own quirks and problems and Apple seems to acknowledge this. they dont manufacture the batteries is up to the other companies like Sony and Samsung to have good quality control.
 
Did it just die like suddenly or has the battery life been less and less gradually over the last year...Also what model powerbook do you have?

I am thinking some powerbooks in the 1.5ghz/1.67ghz model range have a big problem all of a sudden...I have seen 3 (my fiancee's and two of our friends who were in school with us) in the last 2-3 weeks suddenly demolish their batteries.

All three of these machines where fully functional just fine, holding 2 hour charges. Then one day the batteries where just ZAPPED. 2 of them were recall replacement batteries, one of them was original battery.

One running 10.5.1(1.5ghz-pre-hires screen), one 10.4.11 and one 10.4.10 (both of these are 1.67ghz machines)

My financee's is covered on applecare who I just called yesterday and they are sending a new battery to her (should be here today) but I'm afraid either it wont charge or its going to get zapped. So we'll see.

Our friends didn't buy applecare and when they took their powerbooks to our local apple authorized service place (no apple store nearby) they said they didn't know why it would happen suddenly like that, but that they most likely needed a new DC-in plug or there was a problem with the logic board.

Personally, I think these machines are suddenly turning up defective in the battery charging/DC-In/PMU dept.

It's too much of a coincidence that this is happening. The apple discussion boards are littered with these same issues suddenly as well.
 
I have a 1.67Ghz Powerbook. It happened more or less all of the sudden. I thought that it was a bad DC board, but I took it to an authorized Apple reseller/repair center and they replaced the board, but the battery still isn't charging. Unfortunately, I don't have Applecare on it, but if it is an issue that is springing up all over the place, I am hopeful that Apple will do something.
 
I think this problem might just be more widespread than anyone thinks or knows...

I have a 12" PowerBook (1.5GHz) and got my battery replaced last year under the replacement programme. The problem started shortly after I installed Leopard. The battery starts off at 100% (I even check the indicator lights at the bottom and they're all lit) and when I unplug it, it goes to about 80% (in about 5 - 7 min) then just goes to sleep. The indicator lights at the bottom show that the battery is dead.

I've only about 50 cycles on my battery and I can barely get 10 min out of it?? According to Apple docs, its sposed to retain atleast 80% charge after 300 odd cycles! My capacity is down to 1283 mAh (full) and I'd had enough. So I rang Apple today and just spoke with a rep. I'm getting a new one by the end of next week :)
 
brepublican said:
I think this problem might just be more widespread than anyone thinks or knows...

I have a 12" PowerBook (1.5GHz) and got my battery replaced last year under the replacement programme. The problem started shortly after I installed Leopard. The battery starts off at 100% (I even check the indicator lights at the bottom and they're all lit) and when I unplug it, it goes to about 80% (in about 5 - 7 min) then just goes to sleep. The indicator lights at the bottom show that the battery is dead.

I've only about 50 cycles on my battery and I can barely get 10 min out of it?? According to Apple docs, its sposed to retain atleast 80% charge after 300 odd cycles! My capacity is down to 1283 mAh (full) and I'd had enough. So I rang Apple today and just spoke with a rep. I'm getting a new one by the end of next week :)
Click to expand...

Did you have to escalate it all of the way up the chain or did the first person you spoke with help you out and get it solved for you? The last time I called they wanted me to pay the $40 (or whatever the fee is) for the 1 month tech support service outside of apple care. I declined, went to my local Apple Store and the Genius Bar was, oh, not so Genius. Arrggh.
 
Same problem

My computer is a PowerBook 15" (1,67GHz), I also had my battery replaced last year and it is now empty in about one hour or even less. I did all that is recommended to keep it alive and did not use the battery that often, but it did not help. Moreover, the battery goes to sleep without a warning and at different times - from an official (icon) 20% to 40% energy level left. But when I recharge it, the battery shows a 0% energy level.

Unfortunately, I bought the computer in Germany (2,5 years ago) and am now in Shenzhen, China. The "authorised" Apple store nearby has no idea whatsoever concerning this problem (there is supposed to be a main store about 2 hours away from where I live) and would charge me 1600 Yuan (nearly 160 Euro) for a new battery. Considering that it might well be produced here, I find this a little irritating.

All best
clea
 
I know this problem is more widespread than they will EVER acknowledge. Part of me thinks they just don't care because powerbooks are so old now, and even the next version of the OS won't support PPC architecture any more.

I would just email sjobs@apple.com.

Search for threads on here and apple discussions, because there's MANY that exist.

State your case in a firm but polite manner, include links, appeal for help.

You will more than likely get satisfaction.

If you get to talk to someone ask if they are aware of the issue, ask to speak to a powerbook engineer.

Report these issues people.
 
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