Serious Battery Issue?

[Arkanok]

Hey everyone... I seem to have a bit of a problem.

I have a 2.2 ghz Santa Rosa MBP, which is only about 6 or so months old. As a rule, I usually keep the thing plugged in, running off the power adaptor. I don't tend to let the computer fully drain; most of the time I just plug it in at maybe 75% charge, 50% charge ect.

So today, I had my computer unplugged and figured I would wait till the power drained to about 15% or so, maybe even less, then plug it in for the night. However, before that even happened, at about 30% battery power the computer just abruptly shut down with NO WARNING whatsoever. I even tried to power back up and it just turned off again. At this time, the button on the battery that shows the power level did show one out of the five lights light up. This is making me nervous. Its really not that old of a machine and I don't constantly plug and unplug the computer. I really have no idea why this is happening.

Does anybody know what the problem might be and maybe a possible fix?

 

[mikky05v]

Hey everyone... I seem to have a bit of a problem.

I have a 2.2 ghz Santa Rosa MBP, which is only about 6 or so months old. As a rule, I usually keep the thing plugged in, running off the power adaptor. I don't tend to let the computer fully drain; most of the time I just plug it in at maybe 75% charge, 50% charge ect.

So today, I had my computer unplugged and figured I would wait till the power drained to about 15% or so, maybe even less, then plug it in for the night. However, before that even happened, at about 30% battery power the computer just abruptly shut down with NO WARNING whatsoever. This is making me nervous. Its really not that old of a machine and I don't constantly plug and unplug the computer. I really have no idea why this is happening.

Does anybody know what the problem might be and maybe a possible fix?

I had this EXACT same problem with the macbook i sold just a week ago. I sold it on ebay and assumed the damage was from a drop. Take it to apple and ask them.. they couldn't help me because of the damage to it.

but just so you know it's bad for the battery to never be fully drained.. you should fully drain it every so often just to keep it lasting longer.

 

[MacGeek7]

just so you know it's bad for the battery to never be fully drained.. you should fully drain it every so often just to keep it lasting longer.

I let my battery drain completely at least once a month

 

[Arkanok]

I let my battery drain completely at least once a month

Yeah I heard about that, but now it seems that I can't even fully drain it, unless maybe I let it get to the 30% then just don't use it for a while...

Thanks for the info guys, anybody else?

 

[spgiva]

I am not sure that this is a battery issue, especially if the computer is not working while plugged in either. Although asside from that I can not say what I think the problem is (I am not really a tech person I just play one on tv)

Have you posted in the apple support forums. I find that I get useful responses to tech questions faster there (No offense to MR, I love this place )

On a slightly seperate note, you should re-calibrate your battery (which envolves fully draining it) once every month or 2 regardless of whether you generally use your computer plugged in.

 

[Arkanok]

I am not sure that this is a battery issue, especially if the computer is not working while plugged in either. Although asside from that I can not say what I think the problem is (I am not really a tech person I just play one on tv)

Have you posted in the apple support forums. I find that I get useful responses to tech questions faster there (No offense to MR, I love this place )

On a slightly seperate note, you should re-calibrate your battery (which envolves fully draining it) once every month or 2 regardless of whether you generally use your computer plugged in.

Well it works perfectly fine while plugged in, no issues at all. In order to see what percentage it dies at, I plugged it in and turned it on right away.

So again:
Power adapter = works fine
Battery = Dies at 30%

 

[spgiva]

Well it works perfectly fine while plugged in, no issues at all. In order to see what percentage it dies at, I plugged it in and turned it on right away.

So again:
Power adapter = works fine
Battery = Dies at 30%

Sorry, I mis-read, serves me right for speed posting.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

Don't know if it'll work for the MBP's but you will need to reset the PMU. Hold down Option Command "P" "R". Let the computer reset itself a good 5-10 times then let it boot up normally. I had the same problem with my ibook and after doing that, I get correct readings from my battery.

But yes it is a good idea to drain the battery completely and charge it up fully at least once a month for proper battery maintenance and optimization.