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PowerBook G4 suddenly decided to stop charging the battery.
- Thread starter Xandros
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If it is the logic board I'm going to give up completely. I will first of all try a new battery as and when I get around to it (which may be never) but if that doesn't solve the problem then I'm not even going to bother checking the logic board. I'll just resign the laptop as a desktop device that's plugge dinto the mains forever more.
Fiddling with the logic board is too risky and possibly cost prohibitive for such an old laptop. The whole reason why I didn't try a new battery to begin with was because of the cost involved. Apple stopped selling these batteries at some point in 2011 (their old stock obviously ran out), so you can't get official ones anymore unless you buy second hand, and I don't really trust the cheap 20 quid bats you can get off eBay or Amazon, I always opted to get something like a NewerTech but the costs involved are a bit much... Upwards of 80 quid for a new one. That's not much cheaper than an new original Apple battery. This laptop just isn't worth it anymore.
Fiddling with the logic board is too risky and possibly cost prohibitive for such an old laptop. The whole reason why I didn't try a new battery to begin with was because of the cost involved. Apple stopped selling these batteries at some point in 2011 (their old stock obviously ran out), so you can't get official ones anymore unless you buy second hand, and I don't really trust the cheap 20 quid bats you can get off eBay or Amazon, I always opted to get something like a NewerTech but the costs involved are a bit much... Upwards of 80 quid for a new one. That's not much cheaper than an new original Apple battery. This laptop just isn't worth it anymore.
I ended up buying one of these after trying 3 different batteries, all of which would only trickle charge:
http://www.newertech.com/products/charger_cond_pbg415al.php
I found a new one from a surplus stock seller on eBay uk for £29 new. It charges and conditions all of the batteries I have, so the problem I have is definitely an issue with the powerbook. I agree that the problem isn't worth tampering with the logic board and with 3 batteries and the Newertech charger I am quite happy.
http://www.newertech.com/products/charger_cond_pbg415al.php
I found a new one from a surplus stock seller on eBay uk for £29 new. It charges and conditions all of the batteries I have, so the problem I have is definitely an issue with the powerbook. I agree that the problem isn't worth tampering with the logic board and with 3 batteries and the Newertech charger I am quite happy.
Just an update with my situation; I actually bought a cheap (well cheap enough but still cost £28 quid) battery. Turned the Mac off, stuck it in and plugged in the adapter... Well, the orange light came on so initially I thought I was in business but upon booting the PB it's saying "battery is not charging" in the menu.
Looks like I'm back to square one, since that's the problem I had right in the beginning, the battery light was orange and the Mac was saying it wasn't charging (but it was in fact trickle charging, though it took over 3 months).
So, I know now that A) it's not the battery. B) It's not the DC-In board.
Still leaves two possibilities; C) the power adapter or D) the logic board.
The adapter is still a possibility because as I've said earlier the original replacement I got turned out not to be an original at all, it was a cheap Chinese fake that made an audible buzzing sound when plugged in and probably wasn't even as well made as the packaging it came in.
Also I'm still not entirely sure if the PMU is on the logic board in this PowerBook model or if it's part of the NVRAM backup battery which I've read that (though not confirmed) was the case for older PowerBook models. If it is on the logic board as said earlier - sod that. It can stay broken.
So next port of call; buy a decent power adapter and try that. Or if that fails to solve it as well; give up.
Looks like I'm back to square one, since that's the problem I had right in the beginning, the battery light was orange and the Mac was saying it wasn't charging (but it was in fact trickle charging, though it took over 3 months).
So, I know now that A) it's not the battery. B) It's not the DC-In board.
Still leaves two possibilities; C) the power adapter or D) the logic board.
The adapter is still a possibility because as I've said earlier the original replacement I got turned out not to be an original at all, it was a cheap Chinese fake that made an audible buzzing sound when plugged in and probably wasn't even as well made as the packaging it came in.
Also I'm still not entirely sure if the PMU is on the logic board in this PowerBook model or if it's part of the NVRAM backup battery which I've read that (though not confirmed) was the case for older PowerBook models. If it is on the logic board as said earlier - sod that. It can stay broken.
So next port of call; buy a decent power adapter and try that. Or if that fails to solve it as well; give up.
This is the end. Got round to buying a new third party adapter (65w), did the logical thing and turned the Mac off, bearing in mind it has a new third party battery in it with some charge left in it from when I bought it, plugged the new adapter in and... It won't turn on.
Even with a PMU reset (power button down for five seconds or something), no difference - just cleared the date and time as it does. I thought this was taking this piss so I turned the Mac on with the old adapter (new battery still plugged in too), when it had powered up I quickly pulled the old adapter out and plugged the new one in and... The PowerBook recognised it and stayed on. Ah, so it was taking the piss.
If however I turn it off and try and turn it on again with the new adapter, yet again it doesn't turn on. No light, doesn't even chime. Bloody thing. So I think that's pretty much the end of it. This PowerBook's power management unit is kaput. And seeing as I still have no clue if it's on the logic board or part of the backup battery (and I'm not spending any more money on the ****ing thing to find out), I truly have now given up on it.
Eventually I expect the PMU will just die completely and I won't be able to turn the thing on regardless of what adapter or battery I use. So I think I'll consign this to the junk heap. I've got a G4 MDD, I'll just trandfer what I need to that and this laptop... Well it served me well but it's completely useless to me if I can't move it around at all without having the adapter plugged in. I might just as well use the MDD.
Even with a PMU reset (power button down for five seconds or something), no difference - just cleared the date and time as it does. I thought this was taking this piss so I turned the Mac on with the old adapter (new battery still plugged in too), when it had powered up I quickly pulled the old adapter out and plugged the new one in and... The PowerBook recognised it and stayed on. Ah, so it was taking the piss.
If however I turn it off and try and turn it on again with the new adapter, yet again it doesn't turn on. No light, doesn't even chime. Bloody thing. So I think that's pretty much the end of it. This PowerBook's power management unit is kaput. And seeing as I still have no clue if it's on the logic board or part of the backup battery (and I'm not spending any more money on the ****ing thing to find out), I truly have now given up on it.
Eventually I expect the PMU will just die completely and I won't be able to turn the thing on regardless of what adapter or battery I use. So I think I'll consign this to the junk heap. I've got a G4 MDD, I'll just trandfer what I need to that and this laptop... Well it served me well but it's completely useless to me if I can't move it around at all without having the adapter plugged in. I might just as well use the MDD.
Check to see if there is current on the connector between the battery and the main housing. That will tell you if current is reaching the battery.
It is just as possible that the power regulation IC in the battery has failed, and some batteries have a charge click, that forces the battery to stop accepting a charge after a specific number of duty cycles, to avoid crystals from accumulating on the plates, and cross-shorting them.
Very sad to read this, I am currently unsure if my PowerBook is having the same problem. It only agrees to work with original charger, rejecting three others which worked fine with another machine. The battery which came with the machine cannot be charged, the machine apparently tries since there is one small blink of green led but then it just stops. I have already ordered new battery.
Did a new battery fix your problem? Didn't with mine though I never was sure if I didn't just get unlucky and the first third party battery I bought was just some crap over-price chinese knock off. I also wondered if the adapter I got was listed as 65w but was actually a 60w adapter (didn't say on the actual adapter ). I've read how lower wattage adapters can run the PowerBooks but you can't charge or turn them on with them.
Who knows, though even if my problems aren't battery or adapter related like I eventually concluded, Maybe it isn't the end afterall. I've been annoyed about this issue since there didn't appear to be any real explanation for it, I must have read hundreds of forums topics and articles relating to battery death, non-charging and power related issues with PowerBook G4's, and despite reading a multitude of potential solutions none of them seemed to work.
As such I still on occasion have a look around for anything new. Then I came across this Apple Discussion post from 2010;
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2630517?tstart=0
He never got any responses but seems sure of himself. He states that issues with these Macs not charging (and presumably where the usual routines don't work to fix the problem) that in actuality it's down to one or two surface mount fuses located on the actual logic board.
His link to farnell selling the fuse shows them but they are now discontinued however it seems like that's just one brand or something, they sell a lot of fuses all shapes and sizes so I expect there's another brand of the same type of fuse they do sell.
So it's something to consider. I'm going to investigate the possibility at a later date.
Who knows, though even if my problems aren't battery or adapter related like I eventually concluded, Maybe it isn't the end afterall. I've been annoyed about this issue since there didn't appear to be any real explanation for it, I must have read hundreds of forums topics and articles relating to battery death, non-charging and power related issues with PowerBook G4's, and despite reading a multitude of potential solutions none of them seemed to work.
As such I still on occasion have a look around for anything new. Then I came across this Apple Discussion post from 2010;
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2630517?tstart=0
He never got any responses but seems sure of himself. He states that issues with these Macs not charging (and presumably where the usual routines don't work to fix the problem) that in actuality it's down to one or two surface mount fuses located on the actual logic board.
His link to farnell selling the fuse shows them but they are now discontinued however it seems like that's just one brand or something, they sell a lot of fuses all shapes and sizes so I expect there's another brand of the same type of fuse they do sell.
So it's something to consider. I'm going to investigate the possibility at a later date.
I know this is old, but I wanted to add in that I have the same model with the same issue. I have not replaced the DC in board yet, but have instead ordered a part that has not been mentioned here yet, the battery cable.
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/parts/GS20434/Battery-Cable.html
I was $3.xx shipped. I will post the results when it arrives. If it works, perhaps you folks, and anyone else reading this in the future, will be able to replace yours and get them working as well. Stay tuned!
[doublepost=1486501952][/doublepost]I will also add that I have read that simply switching to a 65W charger instead of the stock 45W has done the trick for others. I just ordered an OEM 65W charger as well. So if this don't do the trick, I may try a different brand new battery and perhaps the one I just bought that isn't charging is actually faulty.
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/parts/GS20434/Battery-Cable.html
I was $3.xx shipped. I will post the results when it arrives. If it works, perhaps you folks, and anyone else reading this in the future, will be able to replace yours and get them working as well. Stay tuned!
[doublepost=1486501952][/doublepost]I will also add that I have read that simply switching to a 65W charger instead of the stock 45W has done the trick for others. I just ordered an OEM 65W charger as well. So if this don't do the trick, I may try a different brand new battery and perhaps the one I just bought that isn't charging is actually faulty.
The guy here sais, soldering wire between battery connector(brown wire) and PMU chip (pin 51) solves the problem. Has anybody tried this solution? Battery not charging seems to be the common problem of a1138 powerbooks.
www.overclock.net
Making a damaged PowerBook G4 work on battery
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