g3 ibook battery problem

[nancyboon]

i have an ibook which just came out of warranty with a battery related problem. even though my battery is plugged into my computer, the 'energy saver' does not recognize its existence and instead states that there are 'no batteries available'. i have tried taking the battery in and out, and replugging the a/c adapter - after doing this, for about 5 minutes, the ibook will recognize the battery at 0% and 'calculating until full' Then it will immediately return to the 'no batteries available' status.

I have already reset the PMU using shift-control-option-power with the same results. It will register the battery at 0% for a few minutes then go back to "no batteries available". The battery is only a year old and hasn't given me any other problems than the ones posted already - in which - when charging with the A/C adapter - it will only be 96 - 99% full and sometimes 100%.

Please let me know what I should do. I don't know if this is related to the logic board problems I've been hearing about (I HOPE NOT - I only realized how possibly faulty my product could be after it came out of warranty) and would like this resolved as soon as possible.

THANKS!

 

[KershMan]

Sounds like the battery is simply dead. The batteries Apple uses are maximized for long charge times (3+ hours) but do not have a long life span. One year is actually pretty good.

If you talk to Apple tech support, they rate the batteries at somewhere around 300 changes ( I forget what the actual number is).

I have had an iBook battery replaced under AppleCare. The deal is, it can only be replaced in first year, must keep a 2 hour charge in 90 days, and only 30 minutes after that.

I feel for you, but you probably just have to replace the battery.

 

[nancyboon]

I would think it's just a battery problem too (I am testing that theory out with a friend's ibook battery today), but I'm just concerned because of it's 0% suddenness. The battery has never given me any problems and then, after coming back for two days and not touching it (in sleep mode), it went from it's 99 - 96% range to 0% with no power outage in the house whatsoever. maybe not touching it in 2+ days and leaving it in sleep is a bad thing? i feel like i may have done this before buy maybe i haven't.

 

[melmer]

IBook battery

I'm also having battery issues. I thought I would buy an extra just to have anyway and was unable to find one in stock. Maybe this indicated a consistant problem with these batteries?

 

[Toeknee]

Yeah my dad's iBook was giving us only 20min of battery life so we sent it in and they replaced the AC board and gave us a new battery. Problem solved the iBook now gives us up to 4:30 hours of usage.

 

[Calliander]

If it is just out of warranty like you said, contact Apple and see if they'll replace it for you under warranty.

However, this might not be a battery issue, so I would have the Apple Store or an AASP make sure of it for you.

 

[_The_Man_]

I have the exact same problem and my iBook 700 has also just came out of warranty. Did you have any success fixing the problem? What did they say at Apple? Does anybody know how to completely drain a battery, connect it to a light bulb or something like that?

 

[melmer]

new battery

I took my machine into an Apple Store, they tested it and said it seemed to be charging ok. They suggested I buy a new battery. I could not find one anywhere and finally ordered it through Apple. Although they said it would take a few weeks and was not in stock, it came within a week. My understanding of rechargables was also that they be totally drained on occasion. I have since read that this does harm. Anyone?