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White MacBook 3,1 charges battery but can't run of it.

I

iDutchman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 9, 2010
676
32
Amsterdam, NL
Hi,

I have a rather weird issue: The MacBook 3,1 (mid 2007) model sees and chargers the battery just fine. I can see the cycle count etc.
However, when I remove the AC charger, the MacBook shuts down. It also can't boot of only the battery alone. It seems, the MacBook can't run of just the battery,

Does anyone know what might be the issue?

A summary of the problem:

* Macbook sees the battery, will charge the battery until full but will shut off immediately if it is unplugged from the AC adapter.

* Macbook will not boot up unless plugged in.

* Battery shows up fine in the computer and fully charged. I can run another laptop off of the battery and it works fine.

* If I put a new battery into the broken MacBook I have the same issues.

* I tried swapping out magsafe adapters and same problems.

* Resetting SMU and PRAM does not help.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
iDutchman said:
Hi,

I have a rather weird issue: The MacBook 3,1 (mid 2007) model sees and chargers the battery just fine. I can see the cycle count etc.
However, when I remove the AC charger, the MacBook shuts down. It also can't boot of only the battery alone. It seems, the MacBook can't run of just the battery,

Does anyone know what might be the issue?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'll go with dead/dying battery it has just enough life left the OS sees it but not enough to actually run the machine.
 
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MacUser2525 said:
I'll go with dead/dying battery it has just enough life left the OS sees it but not enough to actually run the machine.
Click to expand...

No, that's unfortunately not the case. The battery installed has 97% health and 350 cycles. The battery functions flawlessly in a similar Mac.
 
I'd say it is a problem with the logic board. If you want you can disconnect all unnecessary cables/components from the logic board and see if something else is causing a problem, but most likely it is the logic board itself.
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
97% and 350 cycles doesn't even sound right. I suspect that either you need a new battery or your logic board is going out.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought as well. I just used the MacBook 3,1 battery in another Macbook (mid 2009 model <-- last non-unibody one) and it ran for 4 hours straight. So, the battery is indeed 97% healthy.

Hell, the MacBook 5,2 (mid 2009) has a battery of with 799 cycles en 94% health.

--

I'll assume it's the logicboard at this point as well, so I will open it up.
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
Have you tried this?

or Resetting NVRAM and PRAM
Click to expand...
PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with battery/power/charging issues. Resetting it will not help. Only resetting the SMC addresses such issues.
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
iDutchman said:
Yes, I indicated this in the first post. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
Click to expand...
It sounds like there may be a problem with the connection between your battery and your Mac's logic board. Apple may be able to diagnose the problem and give you a quote for repair expenses, if any.
 
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