The Definitive Battery Charging Thread

[queshy]

I'd hate to make another thread about this, but I will. I've gone through 6 battery cycles and have tried COPS, and still the battery takes 8 hours to charge. I tried doing it from a 0% battery and from a 6% battery and it still takes that long. Is there a fix for this? Thanks!

 

[shoulin333]

i think the main reason is that it is a 45watt charger to make it small...



use a MBP charger on it, it will charge faster,, but i heard the battery can get quite hot doing that.....

my full charge deff doesnt take that long, but maybe just a bit longer than my Blackbook

 

[queshy]

I don't want to risk using the wrong charger...and besides...it SHOULD charge with the supplied charger. What if you don't own a MB/MBP charger?

 

[Darge13]

Google an application called minibatterylogger. The main site is down but you can find it on the google user groups. You will be able to see how your battery is charging. I have gone through 3 Airs and all did the 10 hour first charge. Using the app you will see its trickle charging at ~500mA the whole way from 0 to 100%. This has happened to me for the first cycles. Then the normal pattern I have seen is 1.4 to 1.6 amps rapid charge from 0 to ~74% and then it drops to ~500mA trickle charge for the remaining time (2 hours). I get the same results from my MacBook White charger, so its not the chargers fault. It's in the firmware of the charge controller.

 

[queshy]

Google an application called minibatterylogger. The main site is down but you can find it on the google user groups. You will be able to see how your battery is charging. I have gone through 3 Airs and all did the 10 hour first charge. Using the app you will see its trickle charging at ~500mA the whole way from 0 to 100%. This has happened to me for the first cycles. Then the normal pattern I have seen is 1.4 to 1.6 amps rapid charge from 0 to ~74% and then it drops to ~500mA trickle charge for the remaining time (2 hours). I get the same results from my MacBook White charger, so its not the chargers fault. It's in the firmware of the charge controller.

Thank you for the informative post. Will that app really help me solve the problem, though? It is obviously trickle charging,right? So the question is, do I keep it for a few more days in hopes of it fixing itself?

 

[Darge13]

Run your battery down to 50% and run that app and watch the graph. Let the app run in the background until its charged. If its trickle charging from 50% the whole time then you might try C O P S

 

[queshy]

Google an application called minibatterylogger. The main site is down but you can find it on the google user groups. You will be able to see how your battery is charging. I have gone through 3 Airs and all did the 10 hour first charge. Using the app you will see its trickle charging at ~500mA the whole way from 0 to 100%. This has happened to me for the first cycles. Then the normal pattern I have seen is 1.4 to 1.6 amps rapid charge from 0 to ~74% and then it drops to ~500mA trickle charge for the remaining time (2 hours). I get the same results from my MacBook White charger, so its not the chargers fault. It's in the firmware of the charge controller.

Hey, I have some interesting updates here. I found the software on google groups very easily.

I did cops and then OS X said the usual 7.5 hrs to charge...then I installed the software and the battery was getting charged with around 500 mA. Now, all of a sudden, it shot up to 1655 mA and OSX says it will be charged in only 2 hrs (it's currently at 25%). I will let you know on the accuracy of that shortly, and I'll also post the graph of the charge.

thanks so much!

Edit - seems as though the issue is not fixed. Check out the battery logger graph below...it seems to be trickle charging at 500mA all the way through.

 

[NC MacGuy]

6 cycles?? I went through about 15 obsessing over the thing and resetting way too many times. Finally thought I'd just use it and see what happens, always can exchange under a year if truly a problem. Well, after about 6 cycles without doing anything health increased, usage time increased and charging time is now about 4 hours from empty to full. On cycle 28 now and couldn't be happier. Just wish I would have used it normally from the get go.

 

[CalBoy]

use a MBP charger on it, it will charge faster,, but i heard the battery can get quite hot doing that.....

I thought the Air had a different type of Magsafe port on the notebook?

A mbp Magsafe fits into the Air's socket?

Either way, you probably shouldn't do it (don't want that battery catching fire or anything).

 

[siurpeeman]

I thought the Air had a different type of Magsafe port on the notebook?

A mbp Magsafe fits into the Air's socket?

Either way, you probably shouldn't do it (don't want that battery catching fire or anything).

it's the same port, but the plug is shaped a little differently. i assume it's to account for the weird angle.

 

[CalBoy]

it's the same port, but the plug is shaped a little differently. i assume it's to account for the weird angle.

That makes sense.

So conceivably, a macbook/pro could be charged with an Air's charger (albeit slower).

 

[siurpeeman]

That makes sense.

So conceivably, a macbook/pro could be charged with an Air's charger (albeit slower).

because of the different wattage, i would think you could use a macbook pro off a macbook air's adapter, but i don't think it would allow you to charge and use at the same time. either one or the other. somebody correct me if i'm wrong, though.

 

[CalBoy]

because of the different wattage, i would think you could use a macbook pro off a macbook air's adapter, but i don't think it would allow you to charge and use at the same time. either one or the other. somebody correct me if i'm wrong, though.

That would make sense (for the pro especially).

Not that I'll have an Air charger anytime soon.

 

[NC MacGuy]

I've charged my Air w. a MBP & MB charger and they all charge at same rate. I've also charged a MB w. the Air charger without problem. It did get a tad warm but not smokin' hot. Haven't tried my MBP w. Air charger yet. They all fit into each other fine except as noted previously - the non-Air chargers hang low on the Air due to non-angled cable.

 

[queshy]

6 cycles?? I went through about 15 obsessing over the thing and resetting way too many times. Finally thought I'd just use it and see what happens, always can exchange under a year if truly a problem. Well, after about 6 cycles without doing anything health increased, usage time increased and charging time is now about 4 hours from empty to full. On cycle 28 now and couldn't be happier. Just wish I would have used it normally from the get go.

So you're saying this problem just fixes itself? If that's the case, Apple really should inform its customers that the first X charges will take very long but the battery is in the process of being "calibrated" or whatever. Don't leave us in the dark about it...my macbook pro charged way, way faster than this thing.