MacBook Keeps Unexpectedly Turning Off

[NoahDev]

Hey, my 13" MacBook (Late 2009) keeps turning off whenever the batter's percentage gets around 20%. One time it did this and I was just watching a video on YouTube and nothing else, nothing plugged in to the computer! When it turns off, it doesn't go in to sleep mode or anything, it instantly just turns off. When I turn it back on, the power indicator flashes and the hard drive clicks, and then it turns off again. If I try to turn it back on again, it does a normal boot with the Apple logo and stuff, and everything I had open before it shutdown was closed and the apps had quit.

It has been doing this for about half a year.
It has also been getting very hot over nothing. Its even doing that as I type this!
Could someone please tell me what is going on?!?!? PLEASE.

Specs:
Processor - 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory - 2 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive Size - 160.04 GB
If you need more just ask.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Detrius]

You have a bad battery.

The machine getting hot is a completely different issue.

 

[GGJstudios]

Hey, my 13" MacBook (Late 2009) keeps turning off whenever the batter's percentage gets around 20%.

Reset the SMC. Also, calibrate your battery to make sure the readings are accurate.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

It has also been getting very hot over nothing.

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.

 

[NoahDev]

Thanks for telling me about the battery, however...

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.

I did as you said and as of now the computer is untouchably hot and Activity Monitor is not showing anything big. The things using the most of the CPU is the stuff in the "root" section, and is only taking up 5% - 15% of the CPU.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for telling me about the battery, however...

I did as you said and as of now the computer is untouchably hot and Activity Monitor is not showing anything big. The things using the most of the CPU is the stuff in the "root" section, and is only taking up 5% - 15% of the CPU.

Install iStat Pro to track your temps and battery, among other things. It's normal for your computer to be hot to the touch, more so if there's a heavy workload on the CPU/GPU.

 

[NoahDev]

It's normal for your computer to be hot to the touch, more so if there's a heavy workload on the CPU/GPU.

Thats the thing though, all I was doing was typing something, nothing else was open. Is THAT normal?

 

[GGJstudios]

Thats the thing though, all I was doing was typing something, nothing else was open. Is THAT normal?

Install iStat Pro, as I recommended. That way, you're not guessing as to the temps, but have accurate info.

 

[NoahDev]

Thanks

Install iStat Pro, as I recommended. That way, you're not guessing as to the temps, but have accurate info.

I just did. Thanks! It's been helping a lot.