Battery Life

[Butler Trumpet]

Is it normal(ish) for my iBook batter to get to about 20% then go to 0% and put my computer to sleep? I never did the battery thing that you are supposed to do when you get it... I think callibrate is the word Im looking for. Could this be why my computer is reading my battery level wrong?
Thanks!

 

[Applespider]

Is it normal(ish) for my iBook batter to get to about 20% then go to 0% and put my computer to sleep? I never did the battery thing that you are supposed to do when you get it... I think callibrate is the word Im looking for. Could this be why my computer is reading my battery level wrong?
Thanks!

No, it's not normal and yes, lack of calibration is likely why.

The good news is that you can calibrate it at any time (the local Genius suggested every month although I tend to only remember about once a quarter). If your iBook has gone from 100% charge to putting itself to sleep, then that's the start of the calibration cycle. Next step is to plug it back in until it's fully charged again.

The other thing it could be is the battery wearing down - it has a certain number of charge cycles and if you use it on battery power a lot, it may start running down. How old is your battery? If it's more than a couple of years, you may need to think about replacing it