A Battery Problem or LogicBoard?

[jfontestad]

Hello,

This is my first post here, even though i've been reading the forums for a while now. So, maybe someone can help me out.

I'll try to be as thorough as possible, but first here is a little background about my laptop specs:

2006 Black MacBook A1181
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0
3GB Ram
160GB 7200 RPM HDD
MacOS X 10.6.7


My problem is as follows...

About 10 days ago, my computer just randomly shut off. I think that I accidentally disconnected the power cord, and the computer just shut down instead of my battery kicking in. I didn't think anything of it and since it was already late, I just left my computer off and went to sleep.

The next day, I turn on my computer and didn't really notice anything out of the norm at first. After about 10 min. I unplugged the MagSafe to take my laptop to another room and **BAM** it shuts off. I'm thinking to myself... 'weird'... and so I check the battery and the green leds on the bottom showed 3 out of the 5 lit up, so i'm thinking that the battery has charge still, so whats going on?

I sit down, plug in the MagSafe and the green led on the MagSafe comes on, I power on my laptop and the battery icon on the laptop shows that the battery is connected, but when I click on the icon it says 'Battery Not Charging'.

I start searching the web for answers, but to no avail., I have not found a case where the battery is connected, recognized by the computer and under condition says 'Normal' (system profiler power information at end of post), but doesn't work.

So, now I really do not know what to think or do. I have done everything, reset all the RAMs (even though NOW I know it has nothing to do with the battery), I think that I've reset the SMC (not sure, because nothing happened), I have taken out the battery, put it back in, cleaned all the connectors, etc... and still the problem persists. The computer recognizes the battery, but for some odd reason it just suddenly stopped working with the computer.

Any help or ideas are welcomed.

Thank You.

**Edit**

Here's some additional information:

iStat Pro:
Battery ->
Health: 100%
Cycles: 54
Charge: 46%
Charged

coconutBattery:

Battery Charge ->
Current Charge: 3203 mAh
Maximum Charge: 7007 mAh

Battery Capacity ->
Current Capacity: 7007 mAh
Design Capacity: 5020 mAh

Details ->
Mac model: MacBook2,1
Age of your Mac: 52 months
Battery loadcycles: 54
Battery Temperature: 30.4 C
Battery Power Usage: 0.0 Watt


----------------------------------------------------------------


Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB013
Pack Lot Code: 0001
PCB Lot Code: 0021
Firmware Version: 0010
Hardware Revision: 001f
Cell Revision: 7a3e
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 3203
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 7007
Health Information:
Cycle count: 54
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 11431

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: No
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
ID: 0x0100
Wattage (W): 60
Revision: 0x0000
Family: 0x00ba
Serial Number: 0x00273eb7
Charging: No

 

[msjones]

Is it a replacement battery you have? And if so is it an official apple one?

If the MacBook is running fine with the power connected then it will most likely be a battery or battery connection circuit issue.

 

[jfontestad]

Good Morning/Evening,

It is a replacement battery, and no it is not an OEM one.

By battery connection circuit issue, are you referring to a circuit on the battery, or a circuit on the LogicBoard?

Is it a replacement battery you have? And if so is it an official apple one?

If the MacBook is running fine with the power connected then it will most likely be a battery or battery connection circuit issue.

 

[msjones]

Sorry dude, I meant the logic board battery connection circuit.

 

[jfontestad]

So, should I try to switch out the battery to see if that's the issue? and if not think about getting a new LogicBoard?

Sorry dude, I meant the logic board battery connection circuit.

 

[logana]

It is not charging because the MacBook thinks that the battery is charged (which it is not...)

The first thing would be to replace the battery with a genuine Apple battery and see if that helps..

It may be a logicboard problem but more likely to be the battery. The MacBook should still run for a long time with 46% charge but sounds as if it does not.

Can you borrow a battery from somewhere (Apple Store ????)

 

[jfontestad]

I am in Dominican Republic, and there are no Apple stores here.

I will try to get someone to lend me a battery and see if that solves the issue, but if not... it's looking like i'll have to replace the LogicBoard?

And no... the laptop does not run at all unless it is plugged in. It shuts down once the charger is unplugged.

It is not charging because the MacBook thinks that the battery is charged (which it is not...)

The first thing would be to replace the battery with a genuine Apple battery and see if that helps..

It may be a logicboard problem but more likely to be the battery. The MacBook should still run for a long time with 46% charge but sounds as if it does not.

Can you borrow a battery from somewhere (Apple Store ????)

 

[flipshot]

I had this same issue with my Aluminium Macbook after it came back from repair for a overheating issue.

Although the battery had charge, as soon as the magsafe adapter was removed it would switch off. The battery varied between not charging or taking 20hrs to charge. SMC reset did nothing. Same issue occurred with 2 official Apple batteries

Took it to the Apple store and they replaced the Magsafe board which had no effect. So they put it down to a faulty Logic board as that had been replaced in the previous repair. They are replacing my Machine though rather than replacing the Logic board again, so I won't know for sure that it was that but it seems likely.