Dead Battery or Hardware fault?

[weckart]

My last purchase was the 2005 14" iBook. This came with a dead aftermarket battery. I filched a spare Apple battery from a dead iBook. SysProfiler shows it has about 2300mAh left of its original 4400mAh. The charging cable turns orange when I have the battery in, SysProfiler insists it isn't charging but an old X-Charge utility indicates that it is trickle charging.

However, apart from a brief period when it registered up to 3% charged, the battery refuses to rise above 0%. I have left it on overnight, both sleeping and switched off. This has resulted in no change in charge level. The LED on the battery flashes on the first LED when the charge level button is pressed but switches off after a couple of seconds.

I have reset nvram, reset the PMU/SMC and done all the usual tricks but I can't get the battery to start charging. The orange LED on the charger cable gives me some hope that the battery can be coaxed to spring into life. Is there anything else left to try or do I have two duff batteries?

 

[Hughmac]

Put it in a sealed bag in the freezer for at least 12 hours - see https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-restore-a-dead-or-dying-laptop-battery/ for example.

Cheers

Hugh

 

[Dronecatcher]

Put it in a sealed bag in the freezer for at least 12 hours - see https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-restore-a-dead-or-dying-laptop-battery/ for example.

Cheers

Hugh

I tried that once with the battery on a Toshiba Libretto - didn't work. Left the laptop in a box for 3 months, next time I plugged it in the battery was working again - that's also happened on a 'dead' netbook...funny things these batteries...

 

[Hughmac]

Ah, the Libretto. I had the 100, and overclocked it from 166 to 266 to run Win XP (slowly). Fun though.

I tried the freezer trick a long time ago, and I can't remember what success I had. It's supposed to reset the chips inside the battery so it'll accept a charge. It must've done some good or I wouldn't have recalled it.

Anyway, remembering this, I've just put a nearly dead Pismo battery in the freezer in hopes as I've searched all over the world for replacement

Cheers

Hugh
[doublepost=1560372478][/doublepost]FORGET THAT, according to that link it apparently makes a lithium-ion battery worse to freeze it !!

 

[weckart]

Put it in a sealed bag in the freezer for at least 12 hours - see https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-restore-a-dead-or-dying-laptop-battery/ for example.

Putting Li-Ion batteries in the freezer is a very, very bad idea.

 

[Hughmac]

Yeah I know, sorry about that

Cheers

Hugh

 

[amagichnich]

Put it in a sealed bag in the freezer for at least 12 hours - see https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-restore-a-dead-or-dying-laptop-battery/ for example.

Cheers

Hugh

Do NOT DO this with an iBook battery! I the freezer trick only works with NiMH and NiCD batteries! You will damage your LiION battery with this as they really don't like the cold

 

[Hughmac]

Yes I know, see my PS above in red. Sorry to have upset you all; I was obviously thinking of way back before lithium ion.

Cheers

Hugh

 

[amagichnich]

Yes I know, see my PS above in red. Sorry to have upset you all; I was obviously thinking of way back before lithium ion.

Cheers

Hugh

again I am a victim of not refreshing the page, I only saw post #4