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MBP Battery Woes, with Video

dornoforpyros

dornoforpyros

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 19, 2004
3,070
4
Calgary, AB
Well today I was happily using my MBP when suddenly it went dead on me, at first I thought the battery had just drained and OS X had failed to give me the warning.

However upon plugging in the AC adapter and seeing that I still had a 60% charge I knew that wasn't right. So I unplugged the AC adapter and then 2 seconds later... dead again. Grr starting to get mad, press the power button again, hear the HD spin up and get to hear about half of the gong before it dies again.

Running the MBP off AC power and it works fine, shows a full charge and coconut battery confirms that it's charged. Yet as soon as the AC adapter is unplugged... no dice.

As Promised, here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLdESzRP4w

Before you ask the obvious
1) No, my battery is not covered by the 15" Macbook Pro Battery Recall
2) Yes I've visited the Apple support site and tried resetting my SMC and my PRAM
3) A Visit the Apple support forums yields people with the same story:
Example 1 | Example 2
4) I've called Apple, but I'm outside my 90 days of complimentary support so they want a $60(cnd) incident fee to diagnose the problem, or I can take it to an authorized repair store and pay them to do the same, I bought online so I doubt I'm getting free tech support from either of the 2 main Mac dealers in Calgary.

So if anyone has any tips on how to convince Apple to just send me a new battery under warranty without shelling out any $ I'd love to hear it.

cheers
-j


ps. the music in the video is "I don't feel like dancing" by the Scissor Sisters
 
I've never quite understood Apple's ridiculous 90 day "complementary" telephone support. Just call them and insist that it is clearly a hardware issue and tell them that you've tried all of the suggestions on their site.

I have had some luck with them in the UK in the past after the 90 days. It's not like you're asking them how to open your e-mails, you're asking them to rectify a hardware fault. If the person on the phone won't budge then simply explain that there is no Apple store around you and ask for a manager.

My understanding is that they only charge you if they find that the fault isn't actually a hardware (or in-warranty fault).
 
I called apple about the same problem, like I stated in the other post you were using and they told me to take it to a reseller. I called the reseller here in town and they told me to bring them the battery. They didn't even test it. They took it from me and ordered me a new one. I took the battery in thursday evening and monday morning they had the battery for me. It didn't cost me a thing.
 
That partial POST chime is more troubling than the battery, don't you think?
 
Ive seen this alot, its a probably bad battery, even tho the battery is reporting it has current. It could be getting a false reading. When you power on the computer off the battery. The PMU, will check to see if thier is enough 'juice' to start up. The battery is saying there is but it sounds like that there is none. So as soon as a load is applied it dies, (hence half the startup tone).

Baring this, if you manage to get a new battery and the problem exists, it could be the DC board.
 
Collin973 said:
I called apple about the same problem, like I stated in the other post you were using and they told me to take it to a reseller. I called the reseller here in town and they told me to bring them the battery. They didn't even test it. They took it from me and ordered me a new one. I took the battery in thursday evening and monday morning they had the battery for me. It didn't cost me a thing.
Click to expand...

well my concern is that the reseller is gonna want a minimum service charge to help me since I didn't buy from them.
 
dornoforpyros said:
well my concern is that the reseller is gonna want a minimum service charge to help me since I didn't buy from them.
Click to expand...
I think that as long as you have an AppleCare case number you should be good unless the reseller wants to to work that's not covered under warranty (which they should tell you about before they do it).

Just take it in, as others have said, this might not be the battery. My sister has recently had the battery in her MacBook replaced because it would intermittently fail to register. Looks like it's not the battery as the new one's doing the same.
 
he doesn't need to charge you anything. He gets paid by apple for every repair he does. So even if he orders you a new battery and swaps it apple still pays him. I know this cause I myself am a reseller and AASP. If he tries to charge you , then he is ripping you off.
 
mac-apricot said:
he doesn't need to charge you anything. He gets paid by apple for every repair he does. So even if he orders you a new battery and swaps it apple still pays him. I know this cause I myself am a reseller and AASP. If he tries to charge you , then he is ripping you off.
Click to expand...

Yes this seems to be the case, I took it in today and was told the same. So now I'm laptopless :(

I'd just assumed since Apple wanted to charge me $60 for a phone call that I'd be charged by a third party reseller for actually handling the laptop especially since I'd bought online.

3 - 5 business days though :(
 
I had a similar problem (though the "early empty" wasn't quite that dramatic) with a 17" MBP, but in my case the problem was accompanied by the battery physically swelling up a bit. It only took me maybe 30 seconds to convince the Apple support tech on the phone that it was definitely a battery failure, so the 90 day support policy didn't apply--if it's a hardware problem that's covered, the support call is free. It's only if it's your boneheadedness and the computer is fine that they charge you for the support call.

you might check to see if the battery is looking a bit "puffy", which would be a really quick way to prove it's not your fault.

Otherwise, maybe track down another battery and test to make sure the MBP works ok with it--if so, it's obviously a battery failure, and it shouldn't be at all hard to convince the tech of that.

If it turns out a replacement battery is the same it's still almost certainly a hardware problem covered under warranty (again, unless Canada is different, you don't pay for the call if it's "their fault"), but you won't go through the hassle of swapping batteries to find out.

Or you could just pony up for AppleCare, in which case you're set for the next couple years regardless of what goes wrong. Given the beating that laptops take and the expense of repairs, I would do that anyway.
 
Makosuke said:
I had a similar problem (though the "early empty" wasn't quite that dramatic) with a 17" MBP, but in my case the problem was accompanied by the battery physically swelling up a bit. It only took me maybe 30 seconds to convince the Apple support tech on the phone that it was definitely a battery failure, so the 90 day support policy didn't apply--if it's a hardware problem that's covered, the support call is free. It's only if it's your boneheadedness and the computer is fine that they charge you for the support call.

you might check to see if the battery is looking a bit "puffy", which would be a really quick way to prove it's not your fault.

Otherwise, maybe track down another battery and test to make sure the MBP works ok with it--if so, it's obviously a battery failure, and it shouldn't be at all hard to convince the tech of that.

If it turns out a replacement battery is the same it's still almost certainly a hardware problem covered under warranty (again, unless Canada is different, you don't pay for the call if it's "their fault"), but you won't go through the hassle of swapping batteries to find out.

Or you could just pony up for AppleCare, in which case you're set for the next couple years regardless of what goes wrong. Given the beating that laptops take and the expense of repairs, I would do that anyway.
Click to expand...

I didn't have any swelling, but after reading the forums on apple.com with people having the same problem I was hoping for a "yeah, my MBP battery is fubared, here's what's happening" and for the tech to reply "oh yes, we'll send you a new one"

but instead they seemed intent on selling me applecare, which I may still buy down the road, but right now I cannot afford it at all. So now I'm stuck typing on this primitive "non-portable" computer. Stupid g5 with your glorious 20" screen.. I hate you ;)
 
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