3rd Party Battery Quirk?

As reported on MacFixIt.com Oct. 26, 2005: "Although they sometimes offer a higher purported capacity, the downside of many third-party batteries is that when the system reaches a point of low power where it would normally automatically go to sleep and preserve unsaved data (with an Apple battery), third-party batteries will allow the machine to simply shut off causing you to lose unsaved data if you aren't careful enough to put the machine to sleep manually when power is running low."
IS THIS TRUE ? ? ? ?

Hey Terrell. Yes you did and your reply here makes me feel less lonely. {:-> Your's is the first here.
I've been, by virtue of this post and others, trying to get some help in deciding the pros and cons of different batteries and their suppliers.
Because of the so called "3rd Party Battery Quirk?" I've been hesitant to just jump in the water, so to speak.
Finding that you aren't having this particular problem is reassuring.
If you can't find the MacFixIt.com article (Oct. 26, 2005) I could send it to you. I archive many of their articles.

Similar Messages

IBook shuts down without warning with 3rd party battery.

Can you iBook G4 folks with battery savvy please check out my iBook G3 question:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1743983&tstart=0
To summarize, my brand new 3rd party battery causes the battery icon to go red after 3.5 hours run time with 1 hour left (23%). The iBook shuts down with 13 minutes left (4%) but doesn't get to 10 minutes so no warning message.
The distributor said some G4 iBook owners also reported the same strange behaviour.
Does anyone have any ideas or has anyone else experienced this? Yes I reset the PMU - no difference.
Mrs H

All the literature from Nu Power says I should get the warning - it's just that the battery shuts down before it gets to 10 minutes left when the warning SHOULD (they say) appear. Another conversation with the techies confirms that the message should appear.
I have recalibrated it thrice, each time it runs a little closer to the 10 minute mark for time left. I'll keep trying.
Trouble is we are leaving for a trip very shortly and don't have time to return this 2nd Nu Power and try for another brand.
I get about 5 hours of run time when trying to discharge the battery fully as quickly as possible by having screen at its brightest, while running iTunes with visualizer on and receiving a radio broadcast.
How much time do you get on your new Apple battery? (on a G4?) We are going places where we will be without electricity for a day or so and the long charge and run time are our prime necessities.
Thanks for your reply,
Mrs H

Just bought 3rd party battery, after 5 cycles, the MacBook gives me service battery.

It really frustrates me because I just bought it about two days ago and it's already at service battery
I run Mac OS X Lion
is there any way for it to go away, or at least make my battery run normal again?

I have downloaded it, because of searching the problem before hand.
That is what it says, it doesn't say anything on that program that it needs to be serviced...

New 3rd party battery randomly reports 0%

Works fine most of the time, but occassionally will read 0% when running from battery before going back to it's actual charge. It has had one unexpected shutdown when it's done this. The battery is still in the return window with Amazon, but I'm concerned it may be a problem with the battery connector, as the problem occurs less often on sturdy tables. No warranty, and I've installed new hinges at home from Powerbook Medic, so if it's a loose battery connector, I'm sure I could tighten the screws.

Took out the battery- it had a 1mm wiggle at the connector which the old swollen battery didn't mind- tightened as much as I could and got it down to a .25mm wiggle. Took off the topcase and found a cable that wasn't routed properly... The display power. Only time will tell if these are the issues to cause the shutdown and the 0%, but it's been fine for ten minutes atleast. We'll see over the next couple days I guess.

How I fixed my random shut down from 3rd party battery

So I bought an ebay battery after my original battery died. All went well, and I was in the process of calibrating this battery. As it was charging, it would get held up at 99% (although when I unplugged the power cord, the meter said 100%). After a while, it finally turned green and I was thrilled. Soon after reaching 100% and a green LED light, the computer shut off. I tried to turn it back on but it would shut down again before reaching my login screen, and sometimes after. I plugged in my old battery and used it with the power cord to see if I could find a fix....
I didn't really find anything to help me, so I just left the new battery out, and went to bed.
This morning I took the new battery, held down the button on the bottom ( the power indicator button or whatever) for 15 seconds, put the new battery back in, and started it up. After it started up, I closed the computer and it looked like it shut down again, however, when I opened it back up ( and pressed the power button), it resumed like the battery had been completely drained. After that, the battery started working normal again, and when I close it, wait, and open it, it just resumes as normal.
So, I don't know if this is a permanent fix, but it worked for me.
Anybody have any thoughts?
Thanks.

Hi Bluey
Thank you for your post and offering your help to the users having the same problem. It makes sense, worth to have a try.

New battery is lower capacity compared to old MBP... 3rd party upgrade?

I find that I don't get as good of battery life with my new unibody mbp, compared to my old macbook pro, I found out that they lowered the capacity of the battery... does anyone know of 3rd party battery that fits in the mbp but has a higher capacity?

No. You should explore why you are getting shorter battery life with the new MBP. How much shorter? Have you checked Activity Monitor for runaway processes? The capacity of the new batteries is lower, yes. But, the machines are also more power efficient, so they should actually have slightly longer run times than the older machines.

3rd party batteries on VIXIA

I ordered an extra battery with my VIXIA HFG10 because the one it comes with does not last long enough. However the extra battery I received is a 3rd party battery and it WILL power the camera, but shows me a message that it cannot communicate with the camera. That means I cannot know how much time I have on the battery before it needs recharging. Is this something I just have to live with? Or is there a firmware update that will communicate with my spare battery.
Thanks
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi stahld!
Welcome to the Canon Forums, and thanks for your inquiry! Canon does not support third party batteries since Canon can't control the quality of battery that other companies produce. Our batteries are "smart" batteries that communicate with your camcorder so that it knows exactly how much charge is remaining. It seems that your third party battery does not support this communication and this could be why the camera shows the error message. We recommend only using Genuine Canon batteries for this reason, and for the safety of you and your camcorder! You can learn more about using third party and counterfeit batteries here: http://bit.ly/CanonCounterfeit
We hope this helps!

HT201304 does anyone know if there is an free or inexpensive app that will let me mange some 3rd party apps on my IPAD 2 that are soundiing pretty scary??? Im still green behind the ears after 8 montth. Acutally, what are those apps (found by Battery Do

I mean, why shouldn't those apps show up when I look for them, since they are from 3rd parties and if they must be there, how about an idea of who they are and whate they do. I would expect as the owner to have some sort of explanation of who the 3rd party is, why there apps are apprearing on your ipad without permission, and maybe the ramifications of taking off or at least turning them off. Its not rocket science, people. It really about our rights as pople, right???

Edgy44 wrote:
I mean, why shouldn't those apps show up when I look for them,
Most likely because they are not apps. They are background processes the OS is runnning.
I would expect as the owner to have some sort of explanation of who the 3rd party is, why there apps are apprearing on your ipad without permission, and maybe the ramifications of taking off or at least turning them off. Its not rocket science, people. It really about our rights as pople, right???
I suggest you sell your iPad and not worry about it any longer.

3rd party apps from someone other then Apple

Does anyone now if you can get 3rd party apps without jail braking and without using Apples application store. I found a website that offers apps that I really want and was very disappointed to see none of the in the Apps store and dont know why nobody made them or offered them there. For $24.99 I can get all these apps that I was really looking forward to seeing in the apps store but werent:
NES System : Nintendo with all the games
Customization : Were I can custom every aspect of the I-Phone from I-cons to backgrounds
Screen shot : A app where I can take a picture of anything that my I-Phone is viewing at that time like from a game or a website ETC.
Video Recorder : I cant believe there was no video recorder in the apples web app release it is just something every phone should have
MMS : Picture messaging, I mean I dont know how many times I recieve a picture message and have to wait till I get home to go on my computer to go to a website just to see them. How long it takes also with normal broadband just to see a simple picture.........This is a must have app
Ringtone: Now all you have to do is select a song from your music library and put it to you contacts that easy no cutting or editing it down to size, no extra programs to make them with and no money to spend to make them
Also much more that I dont feel like describing like:
Instant Messenger
YouTube Downloader
Books
VNC
<post edited by host>

Wow don't try to send a MMS to someones cell phone from the e-mail option this was a nightmare. I tried it to see if it would work and I received a message that the attempt didn't succeed so it kept trying and trying automatically. Then I get a phone call from the person I sent it to telling me it work but for me to quit sending it. I said I only sent it once then he said I have like 15 already so I check out my phone and it is really warm I looked at it and the battery went from fully full to a little less then half empty. So I am like what the heck so I go into my e-mail account and I see there is an e-mail demon meaning there was an attempt to send a e-mail but it didn't succeed. Normally when this happens it will make another try just to make sure it wasn't a service error well apparently my cell phone is continuing to retry to send the message so I have the phone trying my e-mail account trying while the person who the message is being sent to is receiving everyone........So I had to delete every message being sent on my e-mail account, I had to delete my E-mail account on my phone, and I had to shut it off for 30 minutes to see if this works it not I don't know what to do and my nightmare continues as well for the person who's phone keeps blowing up with the MMS message and I am wasting all of his text on his plan.......
Thanks for the bad advice

"3rd Party" display iPhone 5

I recently went inside the apple store here in texas to see as to why my iPhone wouldn't charge correctly. Last year I had the same problem and someone was able to just clean the phone and tried it out and it worked fine. This time it was fairly busy, and one of the apple reps decided just to help me without an appointment. I told him the problem and he asked around for what looked like a sim card remover. After receiving one and started to use it to clean the charging port. I asked him if that was safe for the phone since it was a pointed metal tool. He stated, "It's fine, as long as I don't hit the charging prongs". Afterwards he did not bother to test to see if this in fact fixed my problem. Since it was back to school, he seemed very busy and just let me go on my way. Arriving home, several hours later I needed to charge my phone since it had died. Trying to charge it it did not work at all. Prior to going to the apple store, my phone would charge with the charger at a certain angle. A little frustrated I was wondering if the guy at the store had made me fry my phone since usually if the phone dies it still displays the battery asking to be plugged in. The display was completely black. The next day, I went back to the same apple store and asked about my issue. They took my phone to the back and eagerly tried to tell me my phone had a 3rd party display. The serial number on my display box was not the same as the one apple uses. I was confused because I have never fixed my phone in the whole two years that I have had it. I bought this phone from best buy on September 21st, the day the iphone 5 first dropped. I had it reserved and bought brand new with apples wrapping packaging stil on it. They said that they could not help me at all since it was a 3rd party display even though I have never gotten my phone fixed. They even stated maybe I had "forgotten" that I had it fixed. Already frustrated he even said that what his apple rep did would not have effected my display. My question is, has there ever been any issue with having a different serial number on the parts that apple uses or the phone it self?

Most likely used. Apple does not sell parts exect to AASPs who are not allowed to resell them.

3rd Party Power Adapter that works properly?

My original Apple power adapter has failed like many others do prematurely - the cord breaks down where it enters the block. I bought a 3rd party adapter from ebay (a Delta electronics one, in white and wearing official Apple markings) Although it is a 65w, when my 15" PB battery flattened, and went to sleep, the power adapter failed to start it up again until the battery had had chance to recharge some. So, this adapter is no good, and is going back to the seller. Does anyone know of a cheaper (Apple's own is ridiculously expensive at nearly £60) adapter that really does work with the PowerBook? By "work" I mean will it start up the machine from flat-battery-induced sleep.
Many thanks - if not, it looks like I'll have to pay for another Apple-Short-Life Charger!
Cheers
Chris
4 iMacs,PB15,PB12,6iPods,2iBooks,4XP PCs Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I have used three different adaptors, other than Apple's. Unless you are lucky, I suspect you will get what you pay for. Try:
http://www.psaparts.co.uk/ (1)
http://www.laptopshop.co.uk (2) I addition I have used Kensingtons fancy brick. Note they have adaptors for aircraft etc so make sure you get the right one.
I have just got and started using a 90W device from "(2)" I like having the spare power and that you can buy extra tips. For 90W and changeable tips (only one supplied as standard) the basic price of £45 plus VAT seems OK. They have smaller power devices.
The adaptor from "(1)" also has spare capacity and kept a Titanium (I know it needs less) alive for days. I have never had to start from a completely dead battery but the power is there with both.
The best supply I have is a Sagem powering my fax. It has been on for two years. I am reconciled to all these supplementary heating devices. My fridge does the same.

3rd Party AC-Adapter Question

I bought a 3rd Party AC-Adapter for my iPhone and I have a quick question.
I know the iPhone is required to charge w5 volts and not more, but it says on the box that the *Output DC* is 12V, but it also says 5V DC (regulated). Is this okay? Can I trust it to charge my iPhone? Will it affect the battery meter in anyway?

Apple was very slow to license its proprietary MagSafe connector to other manufacturers, though it appears they've finally done so now. For the longest time, it was just impossible to find anyone selling third-party MagSafe adapters, and those who did were clearly buying Apple adapters at full price and cutting the plugs off them. It made their products exorbitantly expensive. That's no longer the case; you can find junk MagSafe adapters online now for less than $25. I wouldn't buy one, but you may want to consider that option.

Third-party battery & charger?

Hi all,
Has any of you had any experience with 3rd party camera batteries & chargers? Would it cause any damange to the camera? Would it cause problems when doing repairs via BB or the manufacturer?
I'm considering this option because BB is making me extremely frustrated by making a simple battery replacement difficult & time-consuming (the whole story: CLICK HERE)
But I don't want BB or Panasonic to deny my right to repair the camera within the warranty due to using a third-party battery/charger.

To my knowledge, no manufacturer covers damage caused by using third party accessories under any circumstances (that would be silly).
In the US, the manufacturer cannot forbid you from using third party acessories and it cannot directly change your warranty status, and there are similar laws in most other countries; only if the third party accessory damages your camera.
For batteries and chargers, there is little downside, as even if the cells contained within are of a low quality, they would undervolt the camera, which it is designed to handle safely (although you wouldn't LIKE it, it won't damage your camera), not overvolt it, which would cause damage - and even overvoltage will only cause damage if it's significant. The camera has to be pretty tolerant of batteries acting up, because even the best Li-Ion frequently have trouble.
I'm a former Geek Squad employee, and I've spent my entire life and career taming technology. Kudos appreciated.

Archive & Install leaves 3rd Party Apps (some with probs)

I've been on the phone with AppleCare two times about this. Here's the bottom line:
I installed Leopard (just the default upgrade) and the 10.5.1 upgrade. All was ok for a while. All programs (including 3rd party) were working. Then I took the laptop in to the Genius bar because I thought I had a battery problem and the system seemed sluggish. They ran Disk Utility from their store server which was NOT running Leopard and repaired permissions on my laptop from there. Then they ran Disk Utility from my computer (Leopard 10.5.1) and sent me on my way since the disk verified ok. Then the problems started:
1. Desktop Wallpaper was discarded and replaced by default
2. Printers disappeared and could not produce PDFs via an Adobe PDF printer
3. A 3rd party wordprocessor (Mellel) would not open existing documents and would not open a new document (no blank page, no error, nothing)
AppleCare instructed me to re-install Leopard with "Archive & Install" but warned that I would have to reinstall (most) third party programs. Trouble is, all my programs remained. The Adobe PDF printer problem was resolved, but the Mellel problem persisted. I called AppleCare again and they were perplexed as to how an Archive & Install could still have all the apps in the regular Application folder (and of course the icons in the dock too). The "Previous Systems" folder from the Archive seemed incomplete to them, so they suggested that the install was compromised somehow and to do another "Archive & Install." The goal would be to have another "Previous System" folder from the archive, and a clean Application folder with no third party software in it.
Well, 3 hours later, I have a re-installed Leopard and I still have all my applications (and of course, Mellel still does not work).
So, any suggestions out there? Are my installation disks messed up or should I go ahead and wipe the disk and start completely from scratch? I've got my library archived and my documents backed up. Anything else I should do if the recommendation is that I wipe it clean?
Karyn

OK, here is the "resolution" of the issue.
1. The issue was finally decided to be the fact that the Genius Bar used a non-Leopard system to do the Permissions Repair on a Leopard system. Apparently, 10.4 and 10.5 handle the repairs differently. Leopard actually also takes much longer. Apple Support (phone) said that 10.4 checks things differently and can alter/repair items that can make them unable to be understood by 10.5. This was the original issue which then led to me not being able to use my third party applications and to losing network settings and printer settings. Then because Apple Support kept having me do an Archive and Install preserving User settings the corrupted information kept perpetuating itself. The solution (unfortunately) was to do an Erase and Install and lose all the user settings. I called the Genius Bar at the retail location where I went last Monday to make sure they were aware of this issue so that other people do not waste as much time as I did this week on computer issues. I am mostly upset because this was a very preventable issue and I didn't need to lose so much work time right before the holidays. The Genius folks should have known better!
2. An option when doing Erase and Install is to migrate a backup from Time Machine. Since I had nothing to lose the Apple Support folks suggested that I use that option, so I tried that. I used a Time Machine backup which was prior to the issue with the Genius Bar. Unbelievably, it seems to have worked. At least I am back to just the issues (sluggishness) that I had when I started going to the Genius Bar.
Thanks for all your ideas and help in narrowing down the issue.

Third party battery grip

I have a third party battery grip for my t2i. For some reason, I cannot adjust the aperture or f/stop when it is connected. I disconnect it and presto chango, the manual settings go like butter. How come?

The battery grip does two things:
1) It holds two batteries instead of just one. Doubling your battery capacity. The batter power is always available to the camera.
2) The battery grips also have a few extra controls so that you can hold the camera in a "vertical" orientation (aften referred to as "portrait" orientation) and you get an extra shutter button, main dial, etc. However, those controls will only work if the power switch on the battery grip is switched to the "on" positioon. The controls on your main camera body (not on the grip) should work regardless of whether the battery grip's power switch is on or not (assuming your main camera is switched on.)
Do you lose ability to control the aperture and shutter settings even when using the controls on the main camera when the grip is attached?
Is the switch on the grip in the "on" or "off" position when you have this problem, or does it matter?
Since this is a 3rd party grip, Canon wont be able to do much to support you (other than to suggest you buy the Canon brand grip, which they do support).
Tim Campbell
5D II, 5D III, 60Da

3rd Party Battery Quirk?

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