ibook g3 battery not charging

[jrsx]

This iBook G3 has two batteries, and neither of them charge, but work in other computers. It shows up as charging in the menubar, and the cord glows orange, but when it is unplugged it dies immediately. Also the lights on the battery do not show that it is charging. What is the issue? Is it a faulty logic board?

 

[Altemose]

Try a PRAM and SMC reset.

 

[jrsx]

None of these worked.

 

[jrsx]

Does anyone have any suggestions? Or is it a logic board issue?

 

[DeltaMac]

What is the condition of the battery?
Go to the System Profiler, then click the power tab.
That will display various information about the battery, such as Full Charge capacity, cycle count, voltage on the battery, charging current, etc.

Full charge capacity for an iBook battery (new) should be around 4800 mAh.
A used battery might still be useful down to around 1500 mAh. Less than a few hundred mAh, would likely only be a few minutes of use.

Compare the numbers that you see from both batteries. You can swap the batteries with power on, just to try. Be sure to refresh the System Profiler window (Command-R), so it re-reads the change in battery. I would probably leave each battery in place for about 10 minutes, just to see how those numbers change. Don't forget to command-R to display any changes. You may find that both batteries don't show any connection, which may mean the internal charge circuit is bad. That MIGHT be the DC-in board (where the power adapter plugs in to the iBook), which can be replaced. Anything else will be the logic board.

 

[jrsx]

I have an extra DC-in board lying around, but one of the screws on the bottom case of the iBook is stripped!

 

[Intell]

Replace the battery.

 

[In-Correct]

It Could Be Dusty:

The connections could be bad. Perhaps they are dusty? Clean the dust out of your iBook.

 

[jrsx]

Replace the battery.

I did. btw the battery it had charged in my G4, but I think it's still trash because while using it after about 5 minutes, the screen goes black in whatever computer it's in.

 

[Altemose]

Bad batteries are funky things to work with especially if they still hold a charge. How badly stripped is the screw?

 

[jrsx]

Possible rescue-able....I will continue to try my best to get it out

 

[Altemose]

Try using a piece of rubber between the bit of the screw driver and the stripped head. Otherwise maybe superglue. I saw an interesting video where they had a stripped screw on a MBA and they soldered a small piece of metal (paperclip?) to it and was able to spin it out.

 

[jrsx]

Try using a piece of rubber between the bit of the screw driver and the stripped head. Otherwise maybe superglue. I saw an interesting video where they had a stripped screw on a MBA and they soldered a small piece of metal (paperclip?) to it and was able to spin it out.

It appears able to be saved, but I don't want to ruin it anymore than it came to me like, so thanks for tips. Also, if all else fails I can just drill it off....

 

[Altemose]

I would take that screw out and leave it out. I am sure a new screw won't run you any more than a couple of cents so you may want to replace it. My PPC Macs have turned into testbeds so I usually have them apart for one reason or another.

 

[jrsx]

I have a lot of extra iBook G4 screws, I can use them, if I get the screw out

EDIT: I think this is the video about how to get stripped screws out with a soldering gun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jliBOo10bA

 

[Altemose]

Be very careful because the iBook is plastic and may not do all that great if you were to slip that soldering iron the wrong way.