Battery just died on my old macbook?

[AnrBjotk]

This isnt a distress signal. The macbook in question is not in use (being faulty in general) but I use it to import CDs from various box sets only available in physical form.

The battery was replaced some two years ago, or maybe less. The macbook has stood turned off in the hallway for some 10 months and when I turn it on now it wont use the battey. I plug it in and it will only use power from the cord but not charge the battery at all.

Did the battery just die on its own? Because of dis-use?

I wont replace it, but it hadnt shown any signs of problems with the battery - last time it gave me an early warning to replace it before it stopped working.

 

[AnrBjotk]

Anyone? Yoo hoo...

 

[Trusteft]

How old is this old macbook?
Was it an official battery or some third party?
It is possible the battery just died.
If you use this machine just to rip CDs, then you can always buy a new $15 or so external CDROM drive and plug it to any other computer of yours to do that there.

 

[AnrBjotk]

It's from 2010 and the battery was replaced by an authorized vendor...

Yes, it's not a huge loss, just strange.

Are there really external cd-roms for $15 for a MacBook Retina? The ones I've seen on Apple sites are quite expensive (around $100).

 

[maerz001]

It's from 2010 and the battery was replaced by an authorized vendor...

Yes, it's not a huge loss, just strange.

Are there really external cd-roms for $15 for a MacBook Retina? The ones I've seen on Apple sites are quite expensive (around $100).

U can check with coconut battery the battery.

For the external drive. Yes. Google. It doesn’t have to be apples drive

 

[EugW]

A lot of the cheap external DVD drives are crap. Buyer beware. The biggest problem is reliability on bus power alone.

 

[AnrBjotk]

U can check with coconut battery the battery.

For the external drive. Yes. Google. It doesn’t have to be apples drive

Fancy. Ok. But do batteries die like that on their own, as it were? Or due to disuse?

But at least I can get an external drive if conks out completely.

A lot of the cheap external DVD drives are crap. Buyer beware. The biggest problem is reliability on bus power alone.

How are they crap? What could go wrong? Isn't it a simple function? And what is "bus power"? You mean it uses power from the mac? Isn't that a good thing?

 

[EugW]

How are they crap? What could go wrong? Isn't it a simple function? And what is "bus power"? You mean it uses power from the mac? Isn't that a good thing?

It means they don’t work reliably for reading or writing DVDs esp if just running off USB power.

 

[Neodym]

Fancy. Ok. But do batteries die like that on their own, as it were? Or due to disuse?

Batteries are complex chemical constructions, which especially don’t like deep discharging (which can happen when sitting unused for many months, depending on individual conditions). So chances are indeed that your battery was killed that way.

Back in the early battery days, one could „recondition“ a battery, trying to regain full capacity (and sometimes even „resurrect“ them). Not sure if/how this might be possible in your case. But as the device is only used for the odd CD import and it still runs fine on AC power, I wouldn’t bother too much.

If you are worried about that battery inside the computer while being powered, remove it completely and run the Macbook exclusively on mains (which should be possible on a decent power/charging circuit construction, which that MacBook hopefully offers ).

 

[AnrBjotk]

Batteries are complex chemical constructions, which especially don’t like deep discharging (which can happen when sitting unused for many months, depending on individual conditions). So chances are indeed that your battery was killed that way.

Back in the early battery days, one could „recondition“ a battery, trying to regain full capacity (and sometimes even „resurrect“ them). Not sure if/how this might be possible in your case. But as the device is only used for the odd CD import and it still runs fine on AC power, I wouldn’t bother too much.

If you are worried about that battery inside the computer while being powered, remove it completely and run the Macbook exclusively on mains (which should be possible on a decent power/charging circuit construction, which that MacBook hopefully offers ).

Right... Like I said, it's not the end of the world.
But isnt removing the battery on a 2010(ish) MacBook Pro quite a hassle? Unlike my ancient white MacBook from 2008 it doesnt have a releasable battery. I'd have to open the dang thing completely. Not sure I wanna risk that with my butterfingers.