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Battery at 39% Health

SoLibertyDies said:
No I hadn't callibrated once a month or anywhere near it, but I don't feel like I should have to to keep my battery alive for a year...
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Like I wrote before, your battery operates fine without calibration. Calibration just helps you find problems (like the one you have right now) and give you an accurate idea of battery life when you're not on AC power. You should perform the calibration every month when you get your new battery because it's usually the first indicator of possible trouble, and because the juices should flow every once in a while to keep things in good shape.
 
CalBoy said:
What's scary about it? Even while a battery sits on the store shelf, it gradually loses its maximum possible charge. It really can't be helped. However, when you consider the fact that they retain 80% of their maximum charge after 300 cycles, you see that they really are quite durable. And, as time goes on, they become cheaper and of better quality.
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I completely understand thus agree with what you just said.

But, I just find it quite disconcerting about the short timeframe of a 100% status.
 
849 mAh over max capacity for me. I bet it will go over 950 with my next calibration.

Also, this battery is 6 months old since the first one crapped out after Apple's battery update.

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hey guys! i always charge my battery up to its maximum and den discharge it to about 20%! this is my current battery state



What do you think?
 

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ness31 said:
I saw this thread and decided to test my battery. How can the current capacity be higher than the original capacity?
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Coconut Battery doesn't actually know what your original capacity was. It assumes MacBook batteries are 5200 mAh and MacBook Pro batteries are 5500 mAh, but there are variations in this value. So presumably, your battery was actually > 5200 mAh when new.

Perhaps there's been a battery hardware update since Coconut Battery was created to increase capacity? Does anyone have a new MB, Pro or not, who can check their capacity?
 
Zegna said:
But, I just find it quite disconcerting about the short timeframe of a 100% status.
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Well don't worry about it. Chances are your lust for a new Apple laptop will probably make you buy a new notebook before the battery degrades too much;) :p
 
Been a PowerBook / MacBook owner since 2002, but this whole thread is news to me. What exactly is the calibration process? And where can I get this coconut battery application from?

Is there anything like Coconut battery for Mac OS 10.3? I'm about to sell my older 1.5ghz powerbook on ebay and I'd like to give some battery info the the potential buyer.
 
CalBoy said:
Well don't worry about it. Chances are your lust for a new Apple laptop will probably make you buy a new notebook before the battery degrades too much;) :p
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No, my lust for a new Apple laptop makes me WANT to buy a new notebook, but I won't be able to for another couple years at least (I'm in college yet). Until then, my iBook's battery is at 62% health and 307 cycles, which isn't bad considering two years of constant use at home and school.
 
I have the same issue. My battery is 13 months old according to coconut battery, but i have less than half of the number of cycles. Its at 34% health right now. Installing the battery update forced me to recalibrate the battery. It went from 80% (before update) to 50% and then to 35% in a few weeks. (50 to 35 happened without calibration.)

I've read about people with "3-4" hours after a year. I doubt that is possible, they're probably just running on improperly calibrated batteries. as i was prior to the update. I knew the time reported by the computer was incorrect.

this is bad.. I'm barely making a 50 minute class.
 
I did a calibration on mine the day after I received it and now I am having a few little quirks with it. Ie: the mag connector light going out when it's sleeping. But this does not always happen. Now the battery health is weird. These issues seemed to begin with the last firmware update or the last battery update. I don't recall.
I have discharged the battery fully a few times, so I don't know what the problem is. I don't use it on battery power very often, but for a computer that was purchased in August, I would expect no problems this soon.

I have done 2 calibrations on it. (running on batt. power until it sleeps). This is correct. Right?
 
rychencop said:
I did a calibration on mine the day after I received it and now I am having a few little quirks with it. Ie: the mag connector light going out when it's sleeping. But this does not always happen. Now the battery health is weird. These issues seemed to begin with the last firmware update or the last battery update. I don't recall.
I have discharged the battery fully a few times, so I don't know what the problem is. I don't use it on battery power very often, but for a computer that was purchased in August, I would expect no problems this soon.

I have done 2 calibrations on it. (running on batt. power until it sleeps). This is correct. Right?
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Macbook/Pros require a 5 hour period in which you leave the computer asleep. I am assuming this allows the battery to see how long it can sleep after its "programmed" low power signal cutoff, and save the time in memory. Which is another reason why calibration is a hassle. I want to leave my computer on all the time.

Unlike powerbooks where you could just do what you described above i believe.

I have the magsafe issue too, but i think it is due to the power socket getting loose. If i wiggle the cord a little close to where it connects to the laptop (but no where enough to get the magsafe detatched) and tilt it up and down very very slightly the light goes out. You have to be careful not to disturb the wire.
 
Ok...I'll try the 5 hour deal tonight. As far as the mag safe light goes, I notice that it is actually dimmed, not out. Only visible in the dark of course. No big deal as long as it still charges the battery. I just like everything to work as it should.
 
wheels524 said:
I've had my MacBook for just about 15 months now and my battery health was anywhere from 50% to 70% recently. I just took it to the Genius Bar tonight as it started shutting itself off at 40% charge and they replaced it no questions asked. Of course, I have AppleCare which helped.

I would suggest you do the same if your battery health is at 39%!
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I had a two month old battery with 26 cycles that did the same. It'd hit around 30-40% and just shut off. I called Apple and talked to them and they said because the mAh wasn't below 5000 it didn't qualify for a free replacement. I WAS MAD! I told the kid on the other end I was not going to accept the fact that it shuts off with so much life left and explained how frustrating it is to be working on a project and just have it go to sleep on ya. He agreed that something was wrong at that point and I got a new one free. Oh, and I had calibrated it monthly and even calibrated twice in a few days only to have it do the same thing.
 
rychencop said:
Ok...I'll try the 5 hour deal tonight. As far as the mag safe light goes, I notice that it is actually dimmed, not out. Only visible in the dark of course. No big deal as long as it still charges the battery. I just like everything to work as it should.
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yep thats what happens. It dims to a faint green light (only seen when it is dark). I think its cause the wire gets disturbed, moving the magsafe connector a little and causing an inconsistent connection to the battery, which causes the power adapter to shut off (safety feature. There's an article on apple support on why the LED may shutoff.). at this point, it is no longer charging the battery, but it is still powering the computer. (according to coconutbattery)
 
For anyone that is having battery health issues after installing the battery update, call Apple and let them know your battery is losing capacity far faster than it should. This is what happened with my first battery, and Apple had a new one out to me in 3 days.
 
Rizvi1 said:
Been a PowerBook / MacBook owner since 2002, but this whole thread is news to me. What exactly is the calibration process? And where can I get this coconut battery application from?

Is there anything like Coconut battery for Mac OS 10.3? I'm about to sell my older 1.5ghz powerbook on ebay and I'd like to give some battery info the the potential buyer.
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The calibration process is different for Powerbooks than for macbook pros, so be sure to check out Apple's battery page for the particulars about this.

rychencop said:
My battery does not seem to charge past 97% anymore. Does anyone have any ideas on the cause of this?
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If you used your battery and it didn't dip below 95%, then it will not charge. One of the features of the new Intel macbooks/pros is this feature, which prevents your battery from going through several smaller cycles and degrading battery quality when you don't intend that to happen.
 
My friend that works at the computer store and he said he'll replace it for me for free. :) I'm happy.

btw, i have 32% health with 68 cycles.
 
klymr said:
I had a two month old battery with 26 cycles that did the same. It'd hit around 30-40% and just shut off. I called Apple and talked to them and they said because the mAh wasn't below 5000 it didn't qualify for a free replacement. I WAS MAD! I told the kid on the other end I was not going to accept the fact that it shuts off with so much life left and explained how frustrating it is to be working on a project and just have it go to sleep on ya. He agreed that something was wrong at that point and I got a new one free. Oh, and I had calibrated it monthly and even calibrated twice in a few days only to have it do the same thing.
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Do you know if that goes rule of thumb goes for Macbooks as well, or just Pros. My Macbook (only a few weeks old) is at 4970mAh.
 
laravia18 said:
Do you know if that goes rule of thumb goes for Macbooks as well, or just Pros. My Macbook (only a few weeks old) is at 4970mAh.
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It's all dependant on how high the capacity is. Mine was normally sitting around 6300 mAh or so. When I called it was at 5036 mAh. The dude at Apple said it didn't qualify for free replacement. I bitched at him and he put me on hold to talk to a "product specialist." While on hold, the full capacity jump up to over 6300 mAh. I surprised him when he got back from talking to his specialist by telling him the news of my wandering mAh readings, which only solidified my case. Something was seriously wrong with that battery.

BTW, I'm at 4 cycles on this new battery. Still holding out at 100% health. :p This is the third battery I have had for my MBP. The first one stopped holding a charge at about 20-25 cycles. I had it replaced at the 26th cycle. The second battery also started going crazy at about the 20th cycle and was also sent back on the 26th cycle. Talk about weird.
 
Ok...I just ran my battery down to 50% and then charged it up again and now I'm back at 100% and 100% per coconutbattery. :D
Now I'll see if it stays that way.
 
oh and also, the new battery that apple gave me a month or two ago has 45 cycles on it and is still at 100% health
 
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