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theyoda3 · Sep 30, 2006, 11:02 PM

I'm having some issues with a battery that is NOT in the recall. Normally I can get between 3 and 4 hours of battery life. Just last night I noticed my battery died really fast. Today it's last about 2hours on 2 occasions when it should have lasted 3-3.5 based on previous recent experience. At 5:27 PM it said 1:37 left and at 5:54PM the battery died and the computer shut off. I got a warning, but it did not sleep. I had been using it since around maybe 4:00 or so. I was only using Word, iTunes, and AIM, but had Safari and Mail open in the dock doing nothing. I called Apple and they had me reset PMU and PRAM and recharge my battery. At this time Coconut Battery said I had 3488 of the 4400 mAh of my original capacity with 94 load cycles. As it was charging it was going fine until it got to 59% charge. At this point the battery estimate shot up to 7 hours and at 60% it estimated 8 hours and 40 minutes. This was at 8:12 PM. At 8:15PM the battery was magically charged and I tried drainging the battery again. It estimated 3:30 battery life at 8:15 PM and things looked good. At 9:07 PM it estimated 2:21 battery left, still looking good. Then, BAM, all of a sudden at 10:07 PM the battery died. I got the warning and then it shut off again instead of sleeping. This time I was using the same apps, but Word was used half the time then I quit it and the other half of the time was mostly Adium. My battery capcity dropped from 3488 to 3232 mAh in one discharge cycle. The battery timer for both periods of usage was off by around 50-60%. AppleCare is closed right now, so any suggestions you have for me? Do you think I'm ina position to ask for a replacement? I've had this computer 1.5 years and this battery problem happened suddenly.

Thanks
-Chris

theyoda3 · Oct 1, 2006, 02:45 AM

Things are getting worse, each time I charge and discharge fully I lose 256mAh of my battery capcity.

himself · Oct 1, 2006, 04:34 AM

Well, batteries don't last forever. You may have a defective one, but it seems to me that your battery is simply dying the way they tend to... the charge capacity will drop off dramatically, and the battery will get "confused" when reporting it's charge. Time to buy a new one.

theyoda3 · Oct 1, 2006, 05:02 AM

Does it matter at all that I have 94 charge cycles? I know they don't last forever, but I thought I'd get at least 2-2.5 years from it.

JKT · Oct 1, 2006, 05:20 AM

While batteries do die, they shouldn't after only 94 load cycles (treated well, they start dying after around 300 or so). How old is your PB? If it is really old and it only has 94 load cycles then that could be the problem - not discharging it often enough can also shorten the life as much as discharging it often. If it is relatively new (less than 1 and a half to two years old), then you have a defective battery and I would try to get it replaced.

For comparison, my just over 3 year old PowerBook is getting 92% of its maximum capacity after 197 load cycles. I have taken care to ensure that the battery is run down to (near) empty and then fully charged at least once each month as per Apple's recommendations.

JKT · Oct 1, 2006, 05:35 AM

Btw, each time you charge, you will lose some capacity on the battery - that's just the nature of Li-ion batteries. However, more than a few mAh per time is too much. 256 mAh is far too much.

air · Oct 1, 2006, 09:39 AM

yeah. my battery on my 2005 powerbook g4 12" is completely shot. almost as soon as I remove the power adapter the battery, cut out. almost a minute. im happy a new new is on the way from apple via their battery replacement program.

theyoda3 · Oct 1, 2006, 01:33 PM

Yea I've had the computer for 20 months and coconut battery says it's 22 months old. I'll see what Apple says.

theyoda3 · Oct 1, 2006, 03:15 PM

Ehh, it has to go CompUSA for testing. I'd rather just get a replacement battery lol, but we'll see where this goes. Make sure it's not a bigger problem than just the battery.