"Service Battery" Appeared!! :s

[UltraNEO*]

Hiya folks, been using my older MBP with windows 7 for a while and have never notice oddies with the battery until now. Then recently after replacing the failed HD and re-installing Snow Leopard on my 2007 MBP, the battery panel is telling me "Service Battery"; it's battery health according to coconutBattery is fair for it's age (50%).

Umm... the unit (battery) has been replaced previously due to being considered 'under performing'. Is Snow Leopard trying to encurate it's users to replace the battery more frequently? If not, does anyone know why this appears? I'm at lost, since it appears to work fine, if not charging completely.

 

[DoFoT9]

yeh this is a new feature that SL has implemented. more to keep the end user happy and notify them of their batteries status. 50% is quite a big hit in capacity, but if it doesnt bother you then ignore it - i guess.

 

[UltraNEO*]

Dunno about others but I ain't forking out for a new battery just because some system update suggest I should...

It's bleedin' insane if you ask me.

Right now, I sooner grab a knife and crowbar the thing open and replace the oem cells with something cheap!! Perhaps, $5 project cells from the likes of Farnell?

All I need to know. How to hack the onboard controller, sooo it resets... Anyone have any suggestions? Maybe experience?

 

[daneoni]

okaye...and then when you inadvertently and irreversibly break something or get acid all over hands or just get the whole repair wrong i wonder if that principle of yours will be worth it.

The system is fairly accurate (speaking from experience), if it says replace your battery...replace your battery...the normal way.

That said, to each their own and please post pictures of your adventure and subsequent results.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Try ressetting the power unit, not sure what the correct term is. How that works with your model you should find at apple.com/support. It is different for every Mac.

 

[Thiol]

The system update only activates notification. The truth probably is that your battery has been at 50% health already. If you haven't thought, "Man, I don't have as much battery life as I used to...", then you're OK at 50% and don't need to replace it per se. As a heads up though, batteries only tend to get worse and worse over time, so you might dip far below 50% soon.

 

[Tears Apart]

My experience with the "service battery" message is worse.

I had my early 2006 MBP battery replaced under the official exchange program.

From 45 hour of life battery I went to 40 minutes. I thought it was normal at the time - both batteries sucked.

Only two years later do I discover via Snow Leopard that my battery is to be serviced.

A genius tested it and confirmed it's a faulty battery - always has been. But because it's out of warranty they don't exchange it.

Best they offered me was about 30€ discount on a 150€ battery. Bottom line my battery never lasted more than 40 minutes - luckily I almost never had to use it without power plug.

 

[DoFoT9]

In any case, i would certainly still take it in for them to look at it, maybe they will feel sorry for you

Bring on the pictures!

 

[UltraNEO*]

In any case, i would certainly still take it in for them to look at it, maybe they will feel sorry for you

Bring on the pictures!

Oh... Think I spoke too soon! Or as a mate calls it "bad karma".
Something else died...

 

[CorporateFelon]

I've seen this warning many times, very misleading in my opinion.

It usually only appears for me when the battery is at a low charge level has has been in sleep mode over night. In the morning the battery will have little or no charge left and in coconutBattery it says the Battery Health is around 50%. After leaving the computer plugged in and charging every thing goes back to normal.

But other peoples mileage may vary.

 

[CavemanUK]

i have same message.. did buy a new battery because i figured i had worn out the original but now that saying the same thing. After some investigation, it seems theres a lot of people having this issue... I dont think its the batterys because most people only notice it after installing snow leopard.

unfortunately, so far I havent found a fix.