[markw10]

I am having trouble with a battery charging on a MacBook. It appears either it's not charging or is not holding a charge since I can only use the MacBook while it's plugged in. The light doesn't come on on the charger when it's plugged into the Mac. Is there any idea what could be going on? Unfortunately the nearest Apple Store is not that close so I'm hoping to be able to solve this without going to the Apple Store.

[seanc]

Turn the lights out so you're in the dark. Is the chargers green light on very dimly?
If it's like my 2nd MacBook, it'll run off of AC or battery but not charge it. I have no fix for it, everyone else seems to have gotten their logic boards replaced. Have you got AppleCare?

[Eug]

For my MacBook they didn't touch the logic board. They replaced the battery... twice.

[markw10]

I don't have AppleCare but since it's less than a year old (until Christmas) it's under warranty. Sounds like it will be worth that drive to the Apple store. I'm hoping for good news but at least whatever it is hopefully will be no charge.

[Simon]

It's the battery. MB batteries seem to suck plain and simple.

I'm about to have a replacement battery replaced again after just 10 months. At 130 cycles it's down to 30% of it orignal capacity. And besides, it shows this seemingly random "charge for 20 min and then idle for 2h behavior". It's a PITA. I wish Apple would finally put more emphasis on reliable batteries.

[Simon]

BTW, batteries are explicitly exempt from AppleCare. They are only covered within the regular warranty period.

However, I have also experienced Apple service reps that have kindly agreed to exchanging a battery under AC that was otherwise out of warranty. But it is definitely not standard procedure.

[seanc]

I guess you're not having the same issue as me then. Swapping batteries and chargers between MacBooks results in everything working fine on MacBook 1 but still no charging on MacBook 2. Right now it doesn't work anyway because I broke a ribbon cable.

[02bfoot]

On my PowerBook G4 12 inch the battery recharges overnight to 99% or somewhat lower on sleep. After 3 to 4 hours, it's down to 50% and steadily decreases even though it's plugged in via the power adaptor. This was not one of the recalled batteries. After reading through the forum on battery problems others are experiencing I wondered if it might be the adaptor rather than the battery. I tried removing the battery and the computer would not power up. Opinions or advise sincerely appreciated. Thanks.

bgb

[seanc]

It could be the DC input board. Does your charger light up when you plug it into the PB? Green or Orange?

You could try resetting the PMU http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

[Maflynn]

since you're within the one year period, I strongly advise you to pick up applecare. Especially since you are now having some problems. If you start having problems after december and don't have applecare, you are in deep weeds as I'm sure you can guess. Repairs to a laptop are quite pricey.