Battery Issues

Discussion in 'Macintosh Computers' started by tilzinger, Jan 10, 2005.

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  1. tilzinger, Jan 10, 2005

    tilzinger macrumors newbie

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    Jan 10, 2005
    #1
    I got a used 667 Titanium PB off ebay a few months ago, and it's been a long and difficult road to getting a working battery. The seller finally sent me a battery that holds a charge (at least I think it does, it lights up 4 dots on the bottom of it when I press the button). The problem is that it doesn't seem like the powerbook itself is recognizing the battery properly. Right now it's showing 94% charge, but the light is green, not orange. Before it would charge, or be orange, until it hit 99%, and that is the highest it would go. When I unplug the powercord the powerbook will run for 5 minutes or so, then shut down. I plug it back in and it shows the battery at 2 or 3% and it'll hang there for awhile, then jump to to 98% or so. This happens over and over again. So it seems like the battery is charged, but the powerbook itself won't recognize it properly and is confused. I've reset the pram and taken the battery out for 2 days solid just to make sure the battery in the pram is ok (apparently if it's weak it'll die in a few hours without the main battery in?).

    Does anyone know what is wrong? Please help me... I'd like to be able to unplug my powerbook for more than 5 minutes at a time.

    Thanks
     
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  2. Norouzi, Jan 10, 2005

    Norouzi macrumors 6502

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    Philadelphia, PA
    #2
    It sounds like the battery is bad, but there are also 2 other things it could be. When this problems occours, it can be a bad battery, a bad logic board, a bad Power supply board (Small board attached to the logic board, not sure if that's the exact name, it's been a while) or it could be the AC adapter.
    What you describe sounds like a bad battery. You say that the battery has 4 green LED's when it's at 94% but dies after 5 min. After the PB dies does the battery still show 4 LED's, or does it then show none or less?
     
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  3. tilzinger, Jan 10, 2005

    tilzinger thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Jan 10, 2005
    #3
    it's always showing 4 leds.

    the guy sent me a new battery the first time, but it was for a new aluminum pb, then he sent me what is clearly a used battery that i have now.

    what bugs the piss out of me about all this... in the selling description he said "holds charge to apple specs." there were also scratches on the screen, and a selling desription to the extent of "no dead pixels and a clear screen."

    he was selling another almost identical pb as well. apparently he didn't take the time to properly inspect this one and posted the same description for both.

    guess i'll just suck it up and buy a new battery. if that doesn't work then i'll just give up. it's not my main computer, but it would be nice to use a laptop the way it's intended.

    i still have that new battery for an aluminum pb. beginning to wonder if i should return it to him or sell it on ebay.
     
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  4. Norouzi, Jan 10, 2005

    Norouzi macrumors 6502

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    Location:
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    #4
    You know what, have you tried resetting the PRAM? That can fix alot of wierd issues. To reset the PRAM hold down Command (Apple Key), Option, P & R when starting up. Keep holding down thoes keys till you hear the PB startup chime 3 times then let go and the machine will start up normally.

    There's one other thing you can try. Since this is an older PB it might just need to have the PMU (Power Management Unit) reset. Here's a link to Apples Support site that will show you how to do it. Sometimes this can resolve charging issues.

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

    Other than that, I don't know. The only way to really tell if the battery is no good is to put it in a PB that you know works and see if it works in it. As far as the battery for the AL PB, if the seller on Ebay didn't request you send it back, I'd say auction it off on ebay to finance the cost of a replacement for the bad one he sent you.
     
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  5. mkrishnan, Jan 10, 2005

    mkrishnan Moderator emeritus

    mkrishnan

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    Jan 9, 2004
    Location:
    Grand Rapids, MI, USA
    #5
    Also try this command at the command line:

    ioreg -l | grep -i IOBatteryInfo

    In particular, look for the capacity and current numbers. When the battery is fully charged, these should match within a couple of percent.

    There's a thread here where lots of people posted their numbers; I am going to try and find the thread and edit it into this post. You might be able to find another TiBook to benchmark off of. But for reference, the iBook 12" battery was around 4200-4400 new, IIRC, and my one-year-old one is about 4000. Your number for capacity should be in the high 3s or low 4000s if you have a smaller screen, I think, and probably in the 5s if you have one of the bigger TiBooks. If either capacity or current are below 1000 on a new battery at full charge, something is wrong with the battery, I think. If the numbers are high, but your computer gets no life from the battery, then I would point at the TiBook.... :(

    EDIT:

    Look at me: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=60447&highlight=iobatteryinfo
    And me: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=101969&highlight=iobatteryinfo
     
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  6. tilzinger, Jan 12, 2005

    tilzinger thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #6
    how is 64k? :)

    "IOBatteryInfo" = ({"Capacity"=64632,"Amperage"=0,"Current"$
     
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  7. kbonnel, Jan 12, 2005

    kbonnel macrumors 6502

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    #7
    WOW

    PowerBookG4:~ kbonnel$ ioreg -l | grep -i IOBatteryInfo
    | | | | "IOBatteryInfo" = ({"Capacity"=4499,"Amperage"=0,"Current"=4436,"Voltage"=12463,"Flags"=1090520069})

    Wow 64k huh, super battery :)

    Sounds bad to me....

    Kimo
    PB1.5 15" SD

     
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  8. tilzinger, Jan 12, 2005

    tilzinger thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #8
    figures.
     
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