charger plugged in, but macbook 'not charging'--help! *gulp*

[soiltek]

Fixed

I had the exact same problem. White MacBook would only power on while plugged in and battery wouldn't charge. I took it in and dropped it off. The "genius" at the Apple Store called me up to tell me that my $186 warranty had been voided because there seemed to be a water damage problem. He then proceeded to inform me that it would cost me $780 to replace the logic board which would fix the problem. Told him to screw off and took my pooter back home. I read this thread and decided to replace my magsafe board, buying a $19 used one online. After replacing the magsafe board myself and restoring my now fully functional computer, I am now convinced those guys aren't geniuses at all. BTW, the magsafe board I had to replace was covered with limey/chalky substance. Dont know if that was the "water damage" Mr. genius guy was referring to.

Lesson? EFF : although they do make good products, they have hired stupid some people. People who would have me fork out money I don't have. Thanks a lot !!!

 

[sethrocker]

Wish me luck

I tried the several reboot suggestions here as well as cleaning out the connector, to no avail. I'm taking it to a genius tomorrow.

 

[anp27]

I just went through the exact same thing.. just got my FastMac battery which is replacing the original battery (now dead) that came with my Macbook Pro Santa Rosa. I decided to calibrate it immediately and everything seemed normal at first. When the battery was done charging, instead of the System Profiler saying 'Charged', it said that it was 'Not Charging'. In addition to this the System Profiler indicated that the MBP was not 'Fully Charged' nor was it 'Charging'. However, the menu bar said that it was 'Charged'. The Magsafe adapter had the green light indicating that the battery was indeed charged. I also got some good readings from Coconut Battery.

I was still worried about the 'Not Charging' message. So what I did (after reading this thread) to solve the problem was I unplugged the Magsafe with the MBP still on, wiped the connector a little, connected it back to the laptop and let it charge for a while, status changed to 'Charging'. Once it was done charging, status changed to 'Charged' at 100%, yay! I guess since it was a new non Apple battery, it just needed to reset itself or something. iStat Menus battery readings shows that my FastMac battery now has a capacity of 6024 mAh (after the first calibration), this is higher than the Apple batteries, only 5950 mAh! I would seriously recommend the FastMac batteries, they are now MADE IN THE USA and they were shipped out to me pretty quickly. And they're cheaper than the Apple replacement batteries, $99.00!

 

[tjc-wilts]

Well, it turned out to have been one of those spectacular-looking-but-not-really-serious sorts of things: apparently some tiny debris had gone inside the magsafe port (probably via the connector; they told me it hapens even if you're really careful to always keep the connectore covered with the little plastic lid thing when it's not connected to the macbook, as I am). The debris prevented the thing from charging, though for some reason it could stil get power. Anyway they cleaned it and charged it, and it's been working fine. the best thing is it took them less than a day to take care of it, and the woman at the counter was a lot nicer, possibly because I'd caused kind of a stink last time, guess they remembered me lol ;-) You still can't talk to a real live tech, but at least she willingly called them and asked when I had a wuestion (still, you guys better check your 'puters before you take a trip to Greece, you wanna skip this lot if possible lol)

It took me a while to get back and let you know what went down, 'cause I wanted to check it was alright a few days, but I wanna thank you all for helping with this; offline, I don't know anybody else with a mac, so having access to such a lovely bunch of mac-knowledgeable people to ask online is all the more invaluable!





Robbieklow, I know about those forums, and use them too. I just like macrumors better for most things because it's got more of a community feel, so I hang out here more than the other place, and end up posting more of my help questions here than over there. Like the macrumors forum format better too, easier to use <shrug>

Superdelphinus: Naw, it wasn't actually charging even though the battery was at 33%. Besides, I think in those cases like you mentioned, I get one of the other messages: 'Charged', or 'Finishing charging'

Ok.
I read the post above after my brand new macbook pro would intermittently charge when plugged into power sockets. When it would NOT charge, it would run on the power adapter - it just didn't charge the battery.

Here's the hilarious part.

When I read "debris in the magsafe", I thought I would take a look. So I unplugged (it was NOT charging) and BLEW ON IT. It worked.

Shock. Horror. The power plug likes to be very, very clean. My advice ? Don't spend money. Blow on it.

Seriously.

 

[Agent A]

Same problem and nothing seems to be working

What happens if whilst trying to reset my PRAM, I don't get the "boooom" sound from my macbook? I have the same problem, the charger seems to be giving it power because it is running off it, yet it doesn't charge the battery and says "not charging" on the icon.

I blew on it and tried to clean it but still nothing.

 

[GGJstudios]

What happens if whilst trying to reset my PRAM, I don't get the "boooom" sound from my macbook? I have the same problem, the charger seems to be giving it power because it is running off it, yet it doesn't charge the battery and says "not charging" on the icon.

I blew on it and tried to clean it but still nothing.

PRAM/NVRAM has nothing whatsoever to do with battery, power or charging issues. You need to reset the SMC, instructions for which are in the following link. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[bpwicker]

Cleaning

So i tried just blowing it out clean and that did nothing.....tried to clean it with my shirt.....nothing. Ended up using a wet q-tip and scrubbing as hard as possible.....and look that fixed it.

It looked totally clean before! Could not even see that it was dirty.....
GO FIGURE!

 

[goodwinc]

for me the issue was the outlet i was plugged into... if it's a bum surge protector or an old outlet or something that isnt giving the power adapter enough power, put it in an outlet you know works and see if the problem persists

 

[goldfield]

not charging fix

I had this problem and the solution was simple in this instance, I activated the battery indicator lights on the port side of the macbook and hey presto the battery started charging

 

[nomansohail]

Well, it turned out to have been one of those spectacular-looking-but-not-really-serious sorts of things: apparently some tiny debris had gone inside the magsafe port (probably via the connector; they told me it hapens even if you're really careful to always keep the connectore covered with the little plastic lid thing when it's not connected to the macbook, as I am). The debris prevented the thing from charging, though for some reason it could stil get power. Anyway they cleaned it and charged it, and it's been working fine. the best thing is it took them less than a day to take care of it, and the woman at the counter was a lot nicer, possibly because I'd caused kind of a stink last time, guess they remembered me lol ;-) You still can't talk to a real live tech, but at least she willingly called them and asked when I had a wuestion (still, you guys better check your 'puters before you take a trip to Greece, you wanna skip this lot if possible lol)

It took me a while to get back and let you know what went down, 'cause I wanted to check it was alright a few days, but I wanna thank you all for helping with this; offline, I don't know anybody else with a mac, so having access to such a lovely bunch of mac-knowledgeable people to ask online is all the more invaluable!





Robbieklow, I know about those forums, and use them too. I just like macrumors better for most things because it's got more of a community feel, so I hang out here more than the other place, and end up posting more of my help questions here than over there. Like the macrumors forum format better too, easier to use <shrug>

Superdelphinus: Naw, it wasn't actually charging even though the battery was at 33%. Besides, I think in those cases like you mentioned, I get one of the other messages: 'Charged', or 'Finishing charging'

hey i know this post is quiet old, but i got this problem now and i am posting it now hehe ... as you can see i donot post that much but i just had to come and say thank you i have been freaking out since i found this problem and the solution was very simple clean it with a wet cloth both the charger and the slot your charger goes into ur mac, both and let them dry ... and voila you are done thank you very much

 

[royclancy]

Happened to me, funny fix.

The exact same thing happened to me. I spent hours try to figure out what was wrong, reading forums and etc.
At a certain point I found my self over-frustrated with the piece of machinery as it was practically brand new.
At my wits end I pulled out the connector, blew on up, plugged it back and it worked like a charm.
LOL, reminded me of the time I smacked my computer (that happened to have been unusable for a few months) and it began working

 

[emilyt0hebest]

Same Pain.

I have the same problem.

My battery seems to be the problem. The battery icon changes every time i start up my computer. just before, it said "not charging" with the charger icon in the middle and now that i restarted my computer it says "No batteries available" with a cross over the battery, there is a battery plugged in but... yeah...

This problem has been happening for a whole year now. if i pull the charger cable out, the laptop turns off.



the laptop acts weird too. the graphics card is broken which causes green dots to appear on the screen. the keyboard freezes every few months and my mouse drops out.

last night i was laying down trying to sleep, the laptop was on my bedside table with the charger out. i suddenly saw a green light coming from the bottom of my laptop. i picked it up to see it was the battery but then it turned off and i can't get it to light up again. this morning when i was seeing if i could get the battery to light up, i put my ear to the battery to listen. i heard a ticking noise... bomb?



i am quite young and i still live with my parents. they won't do anything about it. they also won't let me take the battery out. they put parental controls on so i can't access system settings and can't do anything but homework.............


i share the same pain

 

[farhabay]

Thank you !!!

had the same problem pop up last night. this morning i noticed that one of the pins on the magsafe plug was not out all the way. tried pushing it with a pen to no avail, then finally just whacked it (not too hard) on the table and the pin popped out. plugged it back in and the "Not Charging" message went away and charging resumed.

maybe that will work for someone else...


cs5477
black macbook 2.4ghz, 10.6.4

Man - thanks so much!! I did this and it worked for me !! i registered here just to thank you