Macbook 'Battery Not Charging'

[SophieL]

2 months ago I started getting the 'battery not charging' message when I plugged in my macbook. If I left it plugged in over night it only charged to about 15% and it wasn't getting enough power to run off of the power adapter so once the battery died it shut off. I bought a new adapter, which solved the problem for a while, but then it started doing the same thing again. So this time I thought maybe it was the battery (it was 3 years old with around 850 cycles - although my computer was still saying it was in 'good' condition) My new battery arrived yesterday and it still won't charge. I've done a Hardware test - holding down 'D' when I turn it on - but it is saying there is no problem. Any suggestions or do I need to go to an apple store (there isn't one nearby - 2 hour drive one way - which is why I haven't taken it yet)
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Pax]

Have you left it on the charger for a few hours? Sometimes these batteries take a few hours before they start charging?

Also try
Apple > About This Mac > More Info
Look under Power
Cut and paste all the battery related info on here, when it is plugged into the charger. Also the AC charger info at the bottom of the list. For reference mine looks like this when running on battery.

If your charger is OK we should see Amperage (mA) number about +1500 mA dropping to +200 mA as the battery reaches full charge, and all the appropriate yes/no questions should be "yes".

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4758
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5132
Health Information:
Cycle count: 36
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1042
Voltage (mV): 12133

AC Charger Information:

Connected: No
Charging: No

 

[SophieL]

Thanks for the quick reply. Here is the power info...
Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: SMP-ASMB016-3b73-4ae
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0200
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 371
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5000
Health Information:
Cycle count: 1
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1084
Voltage (mV): 10828

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 5
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
Charging: No

 

[Pax]

The Magsafe charger appears OK since it can power the Mac and the Mac recognises it as connected. The battery appears OK (since it's brand new!)

This surprises me a bit:- "Amperage (mA): -1084". This figure shows whether power is being put into (+) or taken out of (-) the battery. Your battery is completely empty with only 371 mAh in it. I think that mA figure should read either 0 mA if it's not charging, or + mA if it's charging. -1084 mA implies that something MIGHT be wrong with the charging circuit in the Mac. I have never seen what my Mac reads when the battery is totally empty, so I could be wrong.

I can think of a few things it might be:
(a) the battery has a small CPU, it might be in "safe" mode to protect the battery
(b) there's a bad connection between the battery and the logic board
(b) the part of your Mac's logic board which decides whether to send power to the battery, the CPU, or both, is fried

Have you tried all the things on here...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1457
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1119
particularly the SMC reset

also take the battery out and look at the connections on the Mac and the battery. They should be fairly clean and shiny. Put the battery in and out a few times to help clean them off and get a good connection.

I suspect that your problem is (a) which should be fixable by the steps on the Apple website or by calling Apple. It could be (b) which could be a problem to fix. if it's (c) it could be expensive.

Sorry I can't give more positive news