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When calibrating a MBP battery...

R

' r i S e n

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 15, 2011
183
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Today is the day that I calibrate my battery (!) and I currently at the stage where my laptop is fully charged (green light) and I am using it while still plugged in for "two hours or more."

After this, do I just unplug it and leave it running/use it until it approaches 0%? Will it put itself to sleep when it gets low?

Also, am I allowed to put it to sleep at anytime during the calibration process on my own or will that disrupt it?

I got this information from this thread.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
As stated in that post, it goes to sleep.
You can also sleep it yourself.
Click to expand...

So I can put it to sleep at any time during the process and it won't mess with anything?

How will I even know if it's calibrated? As far as I'm concerned my battery readings are accurate at the moment, but I guess not since I have had it for about 5 months and it hasn't gone through this process.

Sorry for the excessive amount of questions.
 
' r i S e n said:
So I can put it to sleep at any time during the process and it won't mess with anything?

How will I even know if it's calibrated? As far as I'm concerned my battery readings are accurate at the moment, but I guess not since I have had it for about 5 months and it hasn't gone through this process.

Sorry for the excessive amount of questions.
Click to expand...

If you put it to sleep before the battery drains, it will take longer to drain the battery and will take longer to calibrate. Just leave it running. You can use Caffeine to keep it awake so it will drain faster. Just follow the exact steps for calibration and you'll be fine. They're quite clear. If you take the time to read it carefully, this should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
 
Okay I just installed Caffeine and put it in my Apps folder. When I click on it though, it doesn't appear in the menu bar. I suppose it's running if I click it?

EDIT: It's in the menu bar now, but only after opening it in the applications folder and then clicking on the spot on the menu bar where it is suppose to be.

So basically this application will make it so that my laptop will never go to sleep? Am I able to still put it to sleep manually if it is running (don't want to try since I am calibrating). Would you recommend using this at startup at all?
 
' r i S e n said:
So I can put it to sleep at any time during the process and it won't mess with anything?

How will I even know if it's calibrated? As far as I'm concerned my battery readings are accurate at the moment, but I guess not since I have had it for about 5 months and it hasn't gone through this process.

Sorry for the excessive amount of questions.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can put it to sleep whenever you want, then you can wake it up and resume using it as you usually do until the battery drains. As stated above your best option is to leave it running all the night until it shut down by itself, in the morning just plug it and use it like you normally would (just make sure you don't unplug it until it is fully charged), it shall be calibrated by then.
 
' r i S e n said:
So basically this application will make it so that my laptop will never go to sleep? Am I able to still put it to sleep manually if it is running (don't want to try since I am calibrating). Would you recommend using this at startup at all?
Click to expand...
Yes, if you have Caffeine running, it overrides your Energy Saver settings and will not let your Mac go into sleep mode on its own. Of course, you can always manually sleep it by closing the lid. I have Caffeine launch with startup, so it's always available on the menu bar. Then it only takes a mouse click to turn it on or off.
 
GGJstudios said:
Yes, if you have Caffeine running, it overrides your Energy Saver settings and will not let your Mac go into sleep mode on its own. Of course, you can always manually sleep it by closing the lid. I have Caffeine launch with startup, so it's always available on the menu bar. Then it only takes a mouse click to turn it on or off.
Click to expand...

Very cool - thanks a lot for your help GGJstudios and everyone else that has posted. : )
 
in the first step to charge the battery does the computer have to be on? or can you just charge it with the computer off? also, the second step of resting it for 2 hours after it is fully charged, does it have to be on also or can you turn off the computer with the charger plugged in?
 
exbauer said:
in the first step to charge the battery does the computer have to be on?
Click to expand...
No, but if it's not on, how will you know when it's fully charged?
exbauer said:
also, the second step of resting it for 2 hours after it is fully charged, does it have to be on also or can you turn off the computer with the charger plugged in?
Click to expand...
If you know it's fully charged, I suppose you could turn it off, but why? It's easier to leave it on.
 
Just judging by the green light. I'll start the process of dispelling the battery now. Time to watch some Hulu. Thanks for the answers.
 
So I am now at the process where I hit 0%, it went to sleep, and it is now 5 hours later (yes, I need a life) and I am beginning to charge it back up again.

When my battery level hit 0% earlier, it went to "sleep" but there was no indicator light that it was sleeping, and when I woke it up a few minutes ago - I had to hit the power button instead of just lifting the lid. After hitting the power button, a horizontal load bar appeared and then I was prompted for a password as if it were a regular waking procedure.

Does that load bar mean I did it correctly or completely screwed it up?
 
' r i S e n said:
Does that load bar mean I did it correctly or completely screwed it up?
Click to expand...
You're fine. It simply saved the contents of RAM to your hard drive before shutting down due to lack of power. The progress bar you saw was your system reloading RAM from the hard drive.
 
Phew, thanks for the reassurance.

I guess now all I have to do is wait an hour and change to see how accurate it is. (!)

Hope it works out. : )
 
' r i S e n said:
Yeah, it says an hour and 20 minutes on the display.

Shouldn't that be accurate after this supposed calibration?
Click to expand...
Remember that the time shown on the Menu Bar, both for charging and discharging, is an ever-changing estimate, based on the moment-by-moment power demands of your system, as stated in the Battery FAQ. It will fluctuate as you put more or less demand on your system.
 
GGJstudios said:
Remember that the time shown on the Menu Bar, both for charging and discharging, is an ever-changing estimate, based on the moment-by-moment power demands of your system, as stated in the Battery FAQ. It will fluctuate as you put more or less demand on your system.
Click to expand...

Oh, of course - me saying that it would take about an hour was assuming just using Safari - or even just leaving it be - so I'm sure it will take about that ... hopefully, anyway.
 
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