Fully draining/recalibrating a MBP battery

[r-sparks]

Got a brand-new 13-in 2.53GHz Macbook Pro a few weeks ago.

Last week it started showing that the battery needed servicing. Then it seemed to fix itself but would randomly go into power saving mode when I was using it.

I took it to an Apple store and they replaced the battery and reset the SMC.

The problem is that the new battery just doesn't seem to last as long as the old one.

I followed the instructions to calibrate the battery (the Apple KB article), but when I plugged the power back in, it still had 5% juice left in the battery.

The new battery seems to have healthy figures compared to the old one. I've reproduced the figures from System Info below.

Any help or advice to completely flush the battery?

Old battery:

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: xx
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0003
Hardware Revision: 0002
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 5390
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5433
Health Information:
Cycle count: 22
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 12482


New (replacement) battery:

Model Information:
Serial Number: xx
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0003
Hardware Revision: 0002
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 795
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5610
Health Information:
Cycle count: 4
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1266
Voltage (mV): 10845

 

[itommyboy]

I followed the instructions to calibrate the battery (the Apple KB article), but when I plugged the power back in, it still had 5% juice left in the battery.

...then you didn't follow the instructions properly - I suggest you do it again. The most imperative step of battery calibration is completely draining the battery - then letting your Mac sit on that completely drained battery (not plugged in) over night. If you do this step as mentioned by the motershp it will solve your "issue". That being said all your #'s look good I doubt you have an issue really. Battery's are like partners mileage will vary.

 

[r-sparks]

...then you didn't follow the instructions properly - I suggest you do it again. The most imperative step of battery calibration is completely draining the battery - then letting your Mac sit on that completely drained battery (not plugged in) over night. If you do this step as mentioned by the motershp it will solve your "issue". That being said all your #'s look good I doubt you have an issue really. Battery's are like partners mileage will vary.

Tried it all several times, not working :-(

 

[r-sparks]

I seem to have fixed it by following the instructions found on this article:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10426564-263.html

I did three things:

1. The calibration run-down (i.e. running the battery to zero and leaving it unused overnight)

2. Resetting the PRAM

3. Booting into safe mode, and then restarting

It's quite strange but the battery was draining quickly before I did this at around 50% of remaining juice, and since then it's been draining very slowly indeed. I've no idea what the issue was.

Oh, and I also switched down the backlight about a notch or two. I think the PRAM reset might have reset the backlight optimisation, because I don't think it was happening previously.

 

[itommyboy]

Thanks for posting back with resolution!