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iBook G4 14" battery/charger issue

Old Muley

Old Muley

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
761
188
Titletown USA
Hey folks, I need a little help and/or advice. Last night while using my 14" G4 iBook, I notice the battery was getting a little low, so I plugged in the charger. When I did, the charger plug did not glow at all, and while the battery icon on the menu bar changed from "battery" to "plugged in", it indicated the battery was not charging.

This morning I did an experiment with a second iBook and charger. The problem is definitely not with the charger, since it works fine and "glows" when plugged into the other iBook. Likewise, no matter what charger I plug into my iBook, I cannot get the battery to charge nor will the charger plug glow. My iBook will run without a battery plugged in, so at least I can still use it when the battery eventually runs out of it's current charge.

Does this sound like a DC-in board issue? I've found one on-line to purchase and it doesn't look to hard to install (I've done HD swaps in my iBook before). I'd really like to keep this laptop running for a little while longer- I really can't afford a new one at this time.
 
charging problem alos

i have what sounds like a similar problem. my ibook will not charge from the AC adapter. the charging process slowly faded over a month. i have two AC adapters so i am nearly certain that is not the issue. it's not the battery--i have an external conditioner/charger--but i'd like to fix the ibook, not buy multiple batteries hoping they hold charges long enough to satisfy my needs. i have disassembled it but nobody would touch it. i reassembled it. it works again but...alas, i am not a computer repair man, cannot find near my rural upstate NY small town, and cannot afford the apple store's diagnosis fees given they offer no guaranteed solution. how hard can it be to pull out the charging internals? know anybody in upstate who would do it? help?
ctc
 
charging problem also

i have what sounds like a similar problem. my ibook will not charge from the AC adapter. the charging process slowly faded over a month. i have two AC adapters so i am nearly certain that is not the issue. it's not the battery--i have an external conditioner/charger--but i'd like to fix the ibook, not buy multiple batteries hoping they hold charges long enough to satisfy my needs. i have disassembled it but nobody would touch it. i reassembled it. it works again but...alas, i am not a computer repair man, cannot find near my rural upstate NY small town, and cannot afford the apple store's diagnosis fees given they offer no guaranteed solution. how hard can it be to pull out the charging internals? know anybody in upstate who would do it? help?
ctc
 
I've ordered the DC board and using this guide I'll try the repair myself. If you've ever swapped out a hard drive in an iBook, this should be a piece of cake. I'll post again once I've done the fix.
 
following old muley's path

thanks for the guide link. i have dismantled my ibook and ordered the same DC piece. i'll let you know.
 
Old Muley said:
Hey folks, I need a little help and/or advice. Last night while using my 14" G4 iBook, I notice the battery was getting a little low, so I plugged in the charger. When I did, the charger plug did not glow at all, and while the battery icon on the menu bar changed from "battery" to "plugged in", it indicated the battery was not charging.

This morning I did an experiment with a second iBook and charger. The problem is definitely not with the charger, since it works fine and "glows" when plugged into the other iBook. Likewise, no matter what charger I plug into my iBook, I cannot get the battery to charge nor will the charger plug glow. My iBook will run without a battery plugged in, so at least I can still use it when the battery eventually runs out of it's current charge.

Does this sound like a DC-in board issue? I've found one on-line to purchase and it doesn't look to hard to install (I've done HD swaps in my iBook before). I'd really like to keep this laptop running for a little while longer- I really can't afford a new one at this time.
Click to expand...

Could it be the battery instead of the DC-in board?

One of my iBook refused to charge as a result of a dead battery. A new battery fixed the problem ;)
 
Problem Solved!

My replacement DC board arrived in the mail this afternoon. After a quick disassembly of my iBook I swapped out the part and now everythings running great! I inspected the original part, and didn't see anything that looked obviously bad, so I really can't tell what was wrong with it.

Ultimately I guess it doesn't matter since it's fixed.
 
wow, this is exactly what is happening with my Macbook. The charger light disappeared, and I thought that was a problem with the adapter. Where did you order the DC board?
 
Bad Paper said:
wow, this is exactly what is happening with my Macbook. The charger light disappeared, and I thought that was a problem with the adapter. Where did you order the DC board?
Click to expand...

I picked up my DC board from http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/themacoutlet, where it was being sold as N.O.S.
Other vendors I looked at included http://www.powerbookmedic.com/, http://www.macrecycling.com/ and http://www.ifixit.com/. Be aware that the prices for this part varied wildly from just over $20 to nearly $90, so it pays to shop around.
 
I've been having the exact same issue with my Ibook G4 laptop. It started within the past week. It's hard to believe that this issue, being so widespread within the past few weeks, is only a coincidence... I've read in several places where people think that this issue may be related to some update. Has anyone found an affordable solution?
 
I mentioned my problem (and fix) to a friend, and she said her son's G3 iBook was having the same problem. She picked up a replacement DC board and I installed it for her, correcting the problem.

It is interesting that there's been such a rash of failures of this type recently. I doubt it's a software update that's causing the problem. More likely it's a mechanical failure due to the stresses that can be incurred by the connection. You'd probably only need to trip over the power cord once to cause a problem. On both laptops that I've repaired, I've been surprised at how loose the DC boards were prior to the fix.
 
ibook G4 battery not charging

Thanks to this forum I was able to fix my ibook G4. And thanks to fixit, for posting the instructions to do the job. The culprit was indeed the DC in board. I located one on ebay and was able to install it with little problem. Getting the case off is fiddly. But the rest of it was just a matter of following the excellent instructions on the fixit web site. Very happy right now to have my little Mac back.
 
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