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White Macbook runs on AC power (no battery) but not on battery

H

hellfire88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 28, 2008
385
10
Hi Guys,

Just wondering if anyone has ever encountered this or if any experts out there know of the issue.

I have a spare White Macbook (late 2008: Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz, 1GB, 120GB) that I'd like to set up for my brother to use to introduce him to the wonderful world of Macs. The problem it is having is that when I have a battery connected to it (I tried 2 different ones included a known-good one that is brand-new just purchased from Apple) it powers on and gives me the chime, but then immediately shuts off unexpectedly giving that little "whine" sound like if it just lost power all of a sudden. However, when i take out the battery, and just plug it into the Magsafe AC charger it works fine. Also when just trying to run on battery it does not turn on at all. Here's some cliffs:

1) Macbook with just battery does not turn on
2) Macbook with battery + Magsafe AC charger connects powers on, gives the chime, but then immediately shuts off making the "whine" sound as if the power was suddenly cut off
3) Macbook with no battery connected and just the Magsafe AC charger connected works fine.

Do you guys think this is either:

A) battery connector issue (the little piece with the metal wires that the battery connects to. ~$50 part)
B) Logic Board issue

I already tried resetting the PRAM and SMU to no avail. Thanks for any insight/advice!
 
It's either A or B, hard to say. If you're ready to spend money on those metal wires, try it. It could be the issue as it works fine with cord
 
maceleven said:
is the battery is charging? it could be a dead battery, My battery was dead and if left in it would screen shut off . without battery it will work just fine.
Click to expand...

"I tried 2 different ones included a known-good one that is brand-new just purchased from Apple"

Nah, it's not the battery
 
Thanks Hellhammer & maceleven

Yea its not the battery since I tried 2, one being a brand-new one which works fine in another white macbook. I'll probably try to swap the battery connector this weekend with another white macbook I have that's known to be good. If it fixes it I'll order the $50 part. If not I guess its the logic board and I'll have a pseudo Mac Mini now heh.
 
hellfire88 said:
Thanks Hellhammer & maceleven

Yea its not the battery since I tried 2, one being a brand-new one which works fine in another white macbook. I'll probably try to swap the battery connector this weekend with another white macbook I have that's known to be good. If it fixes it I'll order the $50 part. If not I guess its the logic board and I'll have a pseudo Mac Mini now heh.
Click to expand...

If it is the connector I would buy it through eBay. As it is usually much cheaper for Macbook parts there rather than through the parts stores. Just search using the Apple part number and have eBay search item descriptions.
 
hellfire88 said:
Hi Guys,

Just wondering if anyone has ever encountered this or if any experts out there know of the issue.

I have a spare White Macbook (late 2008: Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz, 1GB, 120GB) that I'd like to set up for my brother to use to introduce him to the wonderful world of Macs. The problem it is having is that when I have a battery connected to it (I tried 2 different ones included a known-good one that is brand-new just purchased from Apple) it powers on and gives me the chime, but then immediately shuts off unexpectedly giving that little "whine" sound like if it just lost power all of a sudden. However, when i take out the battery, and just plug it into the Magsafe AC charger it works fine. Also when just trying to run on battery it does not turn on at all. Here's some cliffs:

1) Macbook with just battery does not turn on
2) Macbook with battery + Magsafe AC charger connects powers on, gives the chime, but then immediately shuts off making the "whine" sound as if the power was suddenly cut off
3) Macbook with no battery connected and just the Magsafe AC charger connected works fine.

Do you guys think this is either:

A) battery connector issue (the little piece with the metal wires that the battery connects to. ~$50 part)
B) Logic Board issue

I already tried resetting the PRAM and SMU to no avail. Thanks for any insight/advice!
Click to expand...

Have you tried a different battery? Could just be a brick... I've seen this before also, I call it "poisonous battery syndrome"... if it does the same thing with multiple batteries, it could be one of three things:

1) Internal magsafe connector
2) Internal battery connector
3) logic board

Has anyone opened up and tinkered with the machine bychance? If your internal battery connector was replaced with one from an incompatible machine your MB will exhibit symptoms just like you are describing.
 
Good Call velocityg4, eBay prices are like 50% off.

Yea quantum003, I'll try swapping the battery connector. if its a no-go its either 1 or 3 of which I'll just sell the macbook for parts. Thanks guys.
 
Cool. You can get them for $10 on Ebay, as the other poster pointed out. Just make sure you get the right one, I believe you want the Energy Star version? It has the empty row of "teeth" on the end that connects to the logic, the older version doesn't have that empty row...
 
hellfire88 said:
The cheapest one I found was for about $20:

1
http://cgi.ebay.com/APPLE-13-MACBOOK-BATTERY-CONNECTOR-922-8275-Tested-/120560590878?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motherboards&hash=item1c11f8a01e

Would you mind posting a link for where you see them for $10? Thanks.
Click to expand...

It depends on the exact model of 13inch. As I saw some battery connectors for $10, 2006/2007 Macbooks. But for the Santa Rosa the cheapest was $20 (probably the same with Penryn).
 
Sorry, I didn't actually look at current prices. I bought a used, guaranteed functional one from an Ebay seller for $10 shipped late last year. He had many, many, many of them. Actually I will take a quick look, hold on...
 
Here homey. There's a ton of them...

Link

Search for Macbook Battery Connector, 5 of the first 10 results I see are all under $10 w/ shipping and may be the model you need...
 
Thanks quantum003. I ended up borrowing my sisters battery connector from her 100% working Macbook and swapped it in. Same deal so looks like its a Logic Board issue, not worth the $400-ish repair cost. Oh well I'll use it as a pseudo-Mac Mini in the family room. Thanks again everyone for your insight!
 
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