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My battery lost 17% capacity in one charge!?

I

iSpoody 1243

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 29, 2008
435
1
Australia
hey,
I have owned an early 08 mbp for a little over 1.5 years and the battery health is already at 67%.
yesterday the battery health was at 84%. i just decided to calibrate the battery so i drained the battery until it went to sleep then left it in sleep overnight till it shut down. After that i let it charge till the light went green and to my surprise found that the battery health dropped quite a bit.
so what does this mean? is this 'normal', or is my battery on its last limb?
 

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If it keeps dropping then call Apple Care immediately. Mine has been dropping slowly since about 500 cycles and it's currently at 94% on 866 cycles and it's about 19 months old says coconut battery. That kind of drop is not normal though.
 
well i'm only at 65 cycles!
well i guess ill calibrate my battery again to see what happens.
if the battery continues to drop what should i do?
is there anything apple could do?
thanks
 
iSpoody 1243 said:
well i'm only at 65 cycles!
well i guess ill calibrate my battery again to see what happens.
if the battery continues to drop what should i do?
is there anything apple could do?
thanks
Click to expand...

If it's under Applecare, Apple will replace the battery. And even if you're not under Applecare, it shouldn't hurt to set up a genius appointment and see if they'll swap it anyway.
 
yeah my mbp is under apple care till end of 2011.
the nearest apple store is 2 hours away, not exactly a leisurely drive.
what would calling them accomplish, prob just tell me to bring it into the store.
 
I'm pretty sure its just a wrong reading since technically its not possible for a good battery to just drop like that in one cycle. Recalibrating it might help.
 
iSpoody 1243 said:
i just decided to calibrate the battery so i drained the battery until it went to sleep then left it in sleep overnight till it shut down. After that i let it charge till the light went green and to my surprise found that the battery health dropped quite a bit.
so what does this mean? is this 'normal', or is my battery on its last limb?
Click to expand...

Try following the calibration steps exactly and see if you get different results.
 
iSpoody 1243 said:
yeah my mbp is under apple care till end of 2011.
the nearest apple store is 2 hours away, not exactly a leisurely drive.
what would calling them accomplish, prob just tell me to bring it into the store.
Click to expand...

Actually, they shouldn't tell you to come to the store. I once called Apple directly for an MBP (late '06 model) with a failing battery like yours. They had me check a few things (like battery life and health readings) in System Profiler. Then they shipped me a new one, and I shipped the old one back in the same container, and the problem was solved. Even though there are a couple Apple stores within 30 minutes drive of where I live and work.

Since youve got an early '08 model, the battery is still removable, so they should be able to do the same for you.
 
scaredpoet said:
Actually, they shouldn't tell you to come to the store. I once called Apple directly for an MBP (late '06 model) with a failing battery like yours. They had me check a few things (like battery life and health readings) in System Profiler. Then they shipped me a new one, and I shipped the old one back in the same container, and the problem was solved. Even though there are a couple Apple stores within 30 minutes drive of where I live and work.

Since youve got an early '08 model, the battery is still removable, so they should be able to do the same for you.
Click to expand...

Yup, all you have to do is call them and they should ship you a new one. At the very worst you'll have to put down a deposit.
 
dsprimal said:
so much for the expected 1000 recharge cycles that apple said :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Those are for the integrated batteries, this one isn't one.

To the OP, your battery most likely died from lack of use. 65 cycles in 2 years isn't all that much.
 
greemie said:
I believe the macbook battery is good for about 300 cycles. You can check your cycles in system profile - power.
Click to expand...

Are you joking? i checked system profiler and do not see any cycle limit listed. My other machine, a macbook air has over 500 cycles on it and the battery health is at 97%


Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: W0014PC8VBX0A
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0201
Hardware Revision: 000a
Cell Revision: 0157
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 2315
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 6790
Health Information:
Cycle count: 26
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -2031
Voltage (mV): 11044
 
I checked that page and it said my battery shouldn't go under 80% until it has had 300 discharges.
i just calibrated the battery exactly like the link said and my battery health is now at 69% at 66 load-cycles.
I'm gonna call apple care now and see what they say.
thanks for your help!

applecare said my battery is defective, i need to take it to a service center and have it tested then if the test finds it to be defective i will get a new one.
 
ExcelonGT said:
Are you joking? i checked system profiler and do not see any cycle limit listed. My other machine, a macbook air has over 500 cycles on it and the battery health is at 97%


Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: W0014PC8VBX0A
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0201
Hardware Revision: 000a
Cell Revision: 0157
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 2315
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 6790
Health Information:
Cycle count: 26
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -2031
Voltage (mV): 11044
Click to expand...

It says Cycle count: 26
But all macbooks are different. From early 08, I believe the magic number to be 300. Verified by Apple.com
 
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