Battery Not Charging Properly

[jason.siegel]

For the past few weeks, the battery on my 13" Air has not been charging properly. It's one of the new models, but I ordered it the day it was released, a few months ago.

I thought I remembered the Magsafe light always being on—if it was charging, it'd be orange, and if it was not, it'd be green. Much of the time, now, there's no light at all when it's plugged in. Often the battery refuses to charge, getting stuck at pretty much anywhere in the spectrum of fulness. Usually it will refuse to charge immediately upon plugging in, but sometimes it will stop after some charging. Sometimes I can get it to go again by disconnecting and reconnecting the Magsafe a few times.

Today I had enough and reset the SMC. At least, I think I did. There was no way to confirm. (?) Upon the restart, the battery was again not charging, so I had to reconnect the Magsafe a few times again.

Do I have a bad battery?
Thanks.

Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 5530
Fully Charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6227
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 141
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 2119
Voltage (mV): 8306

 

[ftaok]

I had this issue with our CoreDuo Macbook. The culprit was the charger. I took it into an Apple Store and it was replaced free of charge. Since it was one of the older chargers (t-style connector), it was replaced with a newer one (l-style). There was noticeable "charring" on the mag-safe connector on the defective charger.

I'd say that you should look to see if there's any "charring" on your charger. Probably not, since Apple has redesigned the charger.

The other thing you should check is to make sure the pins in the charger connector aren't stuck. The pins are springy, and if they get stuck in the "in" position, it won't charge properly. Next time you notice the light not working, pull out the connector and look at the pins.

 

[jason.siegel]

No noticeable charring, but I'll look to see if the pins are stuck next time. Thanks.