Battery dead after 137 cycles?

[Canadian Bacon]

Hi all,
Our work polycarbonate Macbook (2008) with A1185 removable battery is having sudden unannounced problems:

Magsafe green light stays green the whole time when plugged in;
Battery shows 0% and 'not charging';
iStat pro shows 137 cycles, 0% charge and 'not charging';
I already did the SMC reset several times, no good.

Can I safely assume it's is just an old, dead battery before we go ahead and source one, or could it be something else (logic board, faulty Magsafe etc)? I have read numerous other threads on the subject, but they raise more questions than I can answer myself. Also, I work in Northern Germany and the nearest Apple Store is hours away, so we can't just take it in.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[GGJstudios]

Hi all,
Our work polycarbonate Macbook (2008) with A1185 removable battery is having sudden unannounced problems:

Magsafe green light stays green the whole time when plugged in;
Battery shows 0% and 'not charging';
iStat pro shows 137 cycles, 0% charge and 'not charging';
I already did the SMC reset several times, no good.

Can I safely assume it's is just an old, dead battery

Yes, it sounds like your battery is toast. It also appears you didn't run on battery power often enough to keep it healthy. You should be averaging more than 2 cycles a month if you want your battery to last longer. Buy a new one from Apple and run on battery power a few hours every few days, to keep the battery healthy.

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[Canadian Bacon]

Yes, it sounds like your battery is toast. It also appears you didn't run on battery power often enough to keep it healthy. You should be averaging more than 2 cycles a month if you want your battery to last longer. Buy a new one from Apple and run on battery power a few hours every few days, to keep the battery healthy.

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

Okay, thanks for the speedy reply. And, you're right, our Macbook gets used sporadically and then sits in a cupboard for longer periods, so it makes sense that our usage pattern may have contributed to the battery's early demise.