Battery isn't charging, what's the problem?

Question

I'm having problems with my battery again (3rd time, yay!). This started yesterday, everything was peachy the day prior. Can anyone assist? (hoping this is some silly operator error...)
-The power is failing when the AC adaptor is unplugged, but the menu bar says I have 10% battery charge left.
-The battery is not charging when the AC adaptor is connected. The light is on, but I checked in System Profiler. It recognizes the battery is installed but says it isn't charging. (yes, the outlet is live)
-I tried both cords for the AC adaptor.
*Battery Info from System Profiler*
Full Charge mAh: 2444
Remaining Charge mAh: 256
Cycle Count: 149
This is my 3rd battery for this notebook. The first one was recalled, the replacement failed shortly after and I bought the current one in May '08. (Serial: 3K8080HJT70C) What am I doing wrong?
Oh yeah, and my AC charger is new (6 months).

Answer 1

First, the battery. The recalled battery replacements have not held up well, and, unfortunately, feedback on the Apple site isn't what I would call complementary about their batteries. When I replaced mine, I got a Newer Technology battery from OWC at http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/BAP17AL60RS/ . Mine has 104 cycles on it and 4113 mAh capacity.
Now, charging. There are only 4 components in the charging circuit: Power adapter, DC-in card, battery and logic board. It sounds like your power adapter, being newer, is probably fine. Where the power adapter plugs into the computer, is that jack loose? If you put a pen or pencil on it and push it a little, gently, does it wiggle side-to-side? If so, your DC-in card may be bad. Assuming the battery stats are good and the battery is good, it should charge. Sooo, last but not least, is the logic board. Probably the best thing you can do is find a friend with a Powerbook or visit an Apple store or Apple authorized service provider to use another power supply that they know works (just to be sure) and a substitute battery (again, to be sure). If indeed yours are good, and I went through this a few months ago with one of our Powerbooks, you can replace the DC-in card, and if that doesn't work, then the logic board.
If you want Apple to do that, have them send it to the Apple depot, where they'll do whatever is required to put the Powerbook in close to new condition. Put an old, bad, Apple battery in it, so they'll replace it. Cost runs around $350 if the case isn't banged up, and if it is, the price can go up. When ours went in, they replaced the logic board and put a new battery in. Of course ensure your data is backed up, and if anything is really confidential, move it onto an encrypted disk on your hard drive or back it up and delete it.
If you have the store replace the logic board, it will run you more than double what they charge to send it to the depot.