Powerbook 12" Battery keeps charging (but it isnt)

[blackbird]

I have a powerbook 12" running Panther. For some reason my battery keeps charging... but it isn't. The battery monitor says its at 84% and charged. When I click on it, it keeps saying calculating until full... Well my light has been amber for about 3 days now.

I tried draining the battery all the way down thinking that was the problem... it didn't help. Then, I have tried taking the battery out and putting it back in and still no luck. Now I am not sure what to do really.

Any questions, comments or suggestions would really help.

Thanks & Happy Holidays,
Gabe

 

[MoparShaha]

I was having some similar funky problems with the battery on my 12" as well. I restarted the computer, and that took care of it. If you haven't restarted, give it a shot. If that doesn't work, reset the power manager. I forget exactly how to do this, do a search of Apple's support section, it will tell you how. That usually clears charging problems.

 

[blackbird]

Originally posted by MoparShaha
I was having some similar funky problems with the battery on my 12" as well. I restarted the computer, and that took care of it. If you haven't restarted, give it a shot. If that doesn't work, reset the power manager. I forget exactly how to do this, do a search of Apple's support section, it will tell you how. That usually clears charging problems.

Thanks for the reply. I did restart multiple times and still the same thing. I will do some research on this "power manager" and maybe it will be easier to fix my problem for the next time it happens, but I have fixed the problem and have not figured out why it did what it did.

Here is what I did just incase anyone else is having the same problem:

While the powerbook was plugged in and running. This is sort of hard to do so work on a soft surface for when the battery falls out.

** Laptop should be on while doing this, putting it to sleep does not work I tried **

1) I dropped the battery out so the system seen no battery.

2) I put the battery back in while the laptop was on.

3) I unplugged the power so it drained to about 80%.

4) I plugged it back in to charge.

5) I left the lid open so it was charging but not sleeping.

6) Soon enough (30 - 45 min), the battery i guess seen it's problem and went to 100% and now my light is no longer amber! Funny thing was it said 2hrs 45 min left to charge from 80% but it didn't take that long.

I hope this helps anyone with a similar problem and thanks MoparShaha for the post about the "power manager" this might be an easier thing to do for the next time this happens.

Thanks again,
Gabe

 

[IJ Reilly]

I just bought a 12" G4/867 PB (irresistible price from Amazon!), and it had the same charging problem right out of the box. It never got above 78% and the light remained amber. A search of the AppleCare database turned up nothing of use until I searched for "reset power manager."

That did the trick. For the 12" G4 PB, this is how it's done:

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Reset the power manager by simultaneously pressing and then releasing Shift-Control-Option-power on the keyboard. Do not press the fn (Function) key while using this combination of keystrokes.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the power button to restart the computer.

Worked for me. The PB now charges to 100%.