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My battery is jacked - what should I do?

J

jsilas

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 6, 2010
102
0
Washington State
The reason for this post is that I'm having issues with my battery and I cannot figure out what is the cause.

I have a mid-2010 MBP 17" i7 2.66. The battery's design capacity is 13,000 mAh. Current capacity (as reported by coconut) is only 5,448 mAh. And that's after only 163 loadcycles.

My computer is only 14 months old - can anyone help me understand why my battery is functioning so poorly, and better yet tell me what I can do about it? I'm kinda at a loss.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
jsilas said:
The reason for this post is that I'm having issues with my battery and I cannot figure out what is the cause.

I have a mid-2010 MBP 17" i7 2.66. The battery's design capacity is 13,000 mAh. Current capacity (as reported by coconut) is only 5,448 mAh. And that's after only 163 loadcycles.

My computer is only 14 months old - can anyone help me understand why my battery is functioning so poorly, and better yet tell me what I can do about it? I'm kinda at a loss.
Click to expand...
Use iStat Pro to get a "2nd opinion", although it will likely be the same. If you have AppleCare, take it to Apple. It sounds like you may have a defective battery. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
 
T

thundersteele

macrumors 68030
Oct 19, 2011
2,984
9
Switzerland
The 17'' MBPs have a design battery capacity of 95 Watt-hours or roughly 8500 mAh. The 13000 mAh design capacity that coconut reports seem wrong.

The current max. capacity is usually displayed in the system profiler/system information tool that you can reach either from "About this Mac" or through Applications -> Utilities.

Assuming that 5400 mAh is the correct reading, it seems that your battery is down to about 60% of its design capacity. I would expect that when you click on the battery symbol in the menu bar, it will say "Service Battery" or "Replace Battery Now."

You will need to get a new one. I can't help you understand why your battery has worn out prematurely... maybe just bad luck.
 
J

jsilas

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 6, 2010
102
0
Washington State
Okay, this is super weird. Now my battery is showing back to 11,xxx mAh in coconut, and all seems well. I'm confused, but I suppose I'm happy! iStatPro shows the battery at 91% overall, so I guess this issue went away.

Is it possible that, because I had the battery out yesterday, it had to somehow recalibrate or something, and that's what was causing the low number?

Weird....
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
jsilas said:
Okay, this is super weird. Now my battery is showing back to 11,xxx mAh in coconut, and all seems well. I'm confused, but I suppose I'm happy! iStatPro shows the battery at 91% overall, so I guess this issue went away.

Is it possible that, because I had the battery out yesterday, it had to somehow recalibrate or something, and that's what was causing the low number?
Click to expand...
First, you should never take the battery out. The built-in batteries are not user-serviceable. Also, the built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries. Try resetting the SMC.
 
J

jsilas

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 6, 2010
102
0
Washington State
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