Battery Problems with MacBook

I've been following the various threads about battery problems with MacBooks.
I too have experienced a problem with my battery on a 2 month old MacBook.
It suddenly refused to charge. It showed a battery icon with a black X through it.
I followed various suggestions that I found through various posts and support pages - eg. resetting PMU etc., even downloading the deep sleep widget which I found difficult to get to work - but nothing solved the problem.
Yesterday I went in to the Apple Store in Birmingham and waited until I could talk with one of the tec experts (incidentally, they were very helpful even though very busy and I didn't have an appointment). The tec guy said he though that the battery was faulty. It didn't work in another MacBook they had. But another battery would work in my MacBook. So, I was given a new battery, which seems to work fine now.
However, I have read in various posts that people have had the same new battery solution which works, but then the problem reappears with the new battery over time. I will wait and see. If that is the case, then I think it will point to the problem not being with the battery, but rather with the system, PMU, OS X, motherboard or whatever. So, I think it makes sense for us to post any difficulties we have so that Apple can see that there might be a problem with the batteries in MacBooks and start working on a solution. Otherwise, it will probably cost them a lost of money providing replacement batteries !
Intel iMac 24 inch (size matters...!) & Intel MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  
Intel iMac 24 inch (size matters...!) & Intel MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  
Intel iMac 24 inch (size matters...!) & Intel MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Hey Christopher...
I posted the same in another thread. I'm not a big fan of duplicate posts... but it seemed appropriate in this case. Take a look at the last paragraph regarding discharging lithium ion batteries. I'm not sure if it would be the electronics in the battery that tell the MacBook it's time to charge, or the MacBook's power management unit...
"Talk about a jinx! I've had my MacBook since shortly after they came out (week 9). Never had any problems. I've calibrated my battery about once a month or so. It seems after my last calibration, I got the dreaded "X" in the battery indicator. My MagSafe indicator was green. System Profiler showed that there was no battery. I reset the PMU and the SMC firmware... also tried reseating the battery (one of those things you're sure won't work... but ya just have that little bit of hope anyway). Alas, nothing would bring my battery back. Took a trip to my local Apple store. I had made an appointment online, but still had to wait over an hour (they really need to enlarge their Genius area now that they have so many more machines out there). Told the Genius what the problem was... he swapped out the battery... but the one he tried was fully charged because he took it from a machine that was plugged in. So the tension was mounting... would it charge or not (I was hoping it was just the battery and not something else). He had me use my MacBook for a bit to drain the battery. I ran Parallels and did a Windows virus scan (that should drain the battery pretty fast)... After I got the battery down to about 90%, the Genius plugged it back in. To my delight, the MagSafe indicator went orange and started to charge the battery. With that, the Genius went in the back and got me a new battery. He had me stay there for a little bit just to make sure everything was okay. I'm sort of afraid to calibrate my battery now... at least properly as in letting it completely drain. I had done a few calibrations in the past without a problem, but it seems this problem tends to occur after someone does a calibration. I'm just happy it was just the battery.
I came across this little tidbit from the Battery University webiste:
Some lithium-ion batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. If discharged below 2.5 volts per cell, the internal safety circuit opens and the battery appears dead. A charge with the original charger is no longer possible. Some battery analyzers (Cadex) feature a boost function that reactivates the protection circuit of a failed battery and enables a recharge. However, if the cell voltage has fallen below 1.5V/cell and has remained in that state for a few months, a recharge should be avoided because of safety concerns. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.
I wonder if there is a fault with some of the batteries that is allowing them to discharge below this minimal level, making them impossible to recover."

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