Trackpad hard to use.battery expanded in size.how to fix it?

[britpoprule]

Hi there!
I have a white macbook unibody A1342 (old, I know!), and unfortunately the trackpad has become very hard to use. It's not comfortable anymore as it used to be. You have to press hard.

At the beginning, watching on youtube I decided to loose the screws beneath, but it didn't work. The real problem should be the battery, which expanded in size. I tried to remove it but it seems like the macbook can't function properly without it. The fan becomes noisy and crazy.

What does your wisdom suggest? The battery is a bit expansive to replace for an old macbook....something like £50-60 for a genuine Apple one.
Thanks

 

[MyopicPaideia]

If the battery has actually swollen that is a dangerous situation. You need to get rid of it immediately. My advice is to take it to your nearest Apple store for safe disposal and get yourself a replacement battery, or use that money towards a newer model.

 

[ucfgrad93]

If the battery has actually swollen that is a dangerous situation. You need to get rid of it immediately. My advice is to take to your nearest Apple store for safe disposal and get yourself a replacement battery, or use that money towards a newer model.

Agreed. You can't unswell a battery, the only solution is to have it replaced.

 

[britpoprule]

Actually, I just tried to remove the battery again and this time the macbook seems to work smoothly. Fingers crossed. Generally the fan starts making a crazy noise.

 

[JackieInCo]

I had a 2010 white MacBook in which the battery swelled. It became so bad that the battery actually pushed the trackpad up breaking palm rests on each side making the trackpad stick up a half inch easily. The trackpad no longer worked. I was able to stick a pin in the pouch containing the battery to get the swelling to go down but once I did that, the OS began saying the battery needed to be serviced. I posted pictures of the damage last year in this forum.

The OP should replace the battery soon before it pushes the trackpad up damaging the case which will then need to be replaced as well. I ended up accidentally shattering the display on mine a short while after and just trashed the MacBook.

 

[britpoprule]

As mentioned above, the battery has been officially removed, and this time the macbook seems to be working fine. I just wanna know from all of you if I am obliged to buy a new one...? Or I can carry on using my macbook without any battery inside? Does it make any damage? Thanks

 

[AZhappyjack]

As mentioned above, the battery has been officially removed, and this time the macbook seems to be working fine. I just wanna know from all of you if I am obliged to buy a new one...? Or I can carry on using my macbook without any battery inside? Does it make any damage? Thanks

"Obliged"? I suppose not, but understand that in addition to providing power to the MacBook when the AC power is removed, the battery serves as something of a "conditioner" for the AC power feed. I would not run a laptop without a good battery in place under any circumstances. YMMV.

 

[britpoprule]

"Obliged"? I suppose not, but understand that in addition to providing power to the MacBook when the AC power is removed, the battery serves as something of a "conditioner" for the AC power feed. I would not run a laptop without a good battery in place under any circumstances. YMMV.

I understand what you say, but at the same time it's an old macbook that struggles to work and that needs to be replaced. I hope to buy a second hand macbook pro in a year or so. For this reason I don't know if a new £50 battery investment is worth. I hope it doesn't get damaged working without battery though.

 

[Fishrrman]

I found this thread while researching to fix a malfunctioning trackpad (and possibly bad battery) on my sister's 2010 MacBook 6,1.

Within the past several days, trackpad has become jumpy and unresponsive.
The battery is original, 65 months old, and shows 87% of original capacity using "Coconut Battery".

I haven't yet opened it, have a few questions:

- accoring to ifixit, there are 5mm "tri-wing" screws, that require a special driver. Yet in the comments section (of that same ifixit page), someone posts that the correct name and size is a "tri-point" (or "Y") and the required diameter is 2mm, not 5mm. Can anyone confirm which size is actually correct?

- I'd like to remove the battery first, to see if it's swollen at all. If it is, I'll put the back on the Macbook and try to boot it via "magsafe power" and test the trackpad that way. Is it possible to boot up the MacBook with NO battery inside?

If the battery is still good, i.e., no swelling, then I guess it's the trackpad. I've -heard- of some folks cleaning these, not sure what they did. Can anyone offer tips?

 

[leventozler]

I understand what you say, but at the same time it's an old macbook that struggles to work and that needs to be replaced. I hope to buy a second hand macbook pro in a year or so. For this reason I don't know if a new £50 battery investment is worth. I hope it doesn't get damaged working without battery though.

It won't get damaged, but you won't be able to get the full processor speed.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130615084258/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2332