PowerBook G4 Won't Charge or Run on Battery

I've got two PowerBook G4s, both FireWire 800 models and one of them is behaving very oddly. The computer boots and runs perfectly. If the battery is discharged then the power plug shows amber and the battery indicator shows that it's charging but VERY slowly (about 1% every 15 minutes) and only to about 13% charge. At that point the battery indicator says "Battery is not charging" and the power plug shows green. Pull the power plug and the computer instantly shuts off, even though it allegedly had a partial charge.
I have tried:
Completely clean OS install (10.5, fully updated).
Reset the power manager (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431).
Replaced PRAM battery with a known good unit.
Replaced laptop battery with a known good unit.
Replaced DC-IN board with a known good unit.
Replaced AC power adapter with a known good unit.
The known-good units came from my other PowrBook G4 which operates perfectly with both DC-IN boards, both PRAM batteries, both laptop batteries, and both power adapters.
Before I call it quits on the motherboard, does anyone know what else could be the problem?

There's only 4.5 components to the charging circuit: Power adapter, DC-In card, battery, logic board, and .5 for the PRAM battery (since it can influence the power circuit).
Unfortunately, there's no test for the charging components, you have to replace them until you find the offending part. You've replaced everything but the logic board, and as long as you're satisfied that the replacement parts from you other PowerBook are good, that only leaves one choice.

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PowerBook G4 won't charge battery

Hi all
My last-generation PowerBook G4 won't charge its battery. It will run fine off of its power adapter, but it won't attempt to charge the battery, which the system states as having a 0% charge.
I don't think it's the battery; the last time I ran the PowerBook off the battery a few weeks ago, the battery was still holding a charge for over an hour. The battery has been used for 179 cycles; iStat Pro describes the battery health as being 87% (this may be wrong, of course, since it is also describing the battery as charged). The PowerBook just isn't trying to push a charge to the battery.
I only use my PowerBook every so often; usually it spends its time off, and not plugged in. Last time I found the battery had completely drained, to the extent that the clock has lost its time, so I put it on to charge, and left it. The next time I tried to use it was when I realised it wasn't charging. The notebook hasn't taken a knock that I'm aware of (at least, a new one), so I'm not sure why this is suddenly happening.
Any help or ideas would be appreciated. I don't want to waste time and money dropping £100 on a new battery if the issue lies with the PowerBook itself.
Cheers!
(PowerBook specs: 1.67GHz PB G4, 2GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.11)

Well, I left the laptop unplugged (and with the battery out - not that it would've made a lot of difference, since it doesn't currently have enough juice to highlight ANY of the charge indicator LEDs) for and hour and a half, booted the machine, and the clock kept its time. I'm not sure what that proves at this point, if anything.
As for the charging circuit, well the computer still isn't charging the battery (the main battery, not the PRAM battery). From your suggestions, the socket seems fine, maybe a touch lose, but then it's not exactly new, and my old adapter used to be worse. The only similar charger I have to hand is an adapter from an iBook that's about a year older, so I'm not sure the wattage will match. That said, surely since the adapter is actually powering the computer, it won't be the adaptor or the DC-in board, since I assume they are also responsible for getting the power to the computer itself?
I assume (and I am assuming here) that it is either a knackered battery or logic board. This machine has already had its logic board and DC-in board replaced, for what its worth, back when it was only 5 weeks old (probably irrelevant).
Thanks for your help thus far!

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This is not an unusual problem with notebook computers. The solder joints at the DC-in jack work loose. Anyone with basic soldering skills could resolder the pins. You can find disassembly guides, for example, at ifixit.com. Repair instructions regarding this very issue on the PowerBook 5300 can also be found on the Internet.
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My Titanium Powerbook G4 will not charge the battery or run with the power adapter plugged in. When plugged in the power adapter doesn't change to amber showing its charging. Instead it has a green light that flashes off and on. I thought it was a defective power adapter but when its plugged in to another powerbook its seems to be working properly. I reset the PMU but that didn't help. I have been unable to find anything that would tell me what a flashing green means.
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Hi, Marshall. With no power being supplied to the Mac for several months, not only has your main battery gone flat (and may never again be able to take a charge), but your internal backup battery has also gone flat. A Tibook with a dead backup battery generally will not start up at all, even with AC power connected.
Try this: remove the main battery and leave the AC power adapter connected overnight in an attempt to recharge the backup battery. If the Powerbook won't start in the morning under AC power, the backup battery is shot, has lost the ability to be charged, and must be replaced.
If the PB starts up in the morning on AC power, set the date and time correctly, shut the computer down, insert the main battery, and allow 48 hours with AC power connected in an attempt to charge the main battery. Then disconnect the AC adapter and try to start up under battery power. If that doesn't work, and no lights or only one flashing light appear when you press the power-indicator button on the battery, you'll have to replace the main battery.
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

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Hi All, I own 4 Macs including 2 G4 1,67ghz 15" Powerbooks. I can't get one of the units to CHARGE or run OFF GOOD batteries.(Batteries charge fine on the other unit). I have tried the following:
1) PMU and PRAM NVRAM resets (Open Firmware)
2) Used the same power chord on both units. Both run fine off the power chord.
3) When I do the PMU reset, I need to reset the DATE/TIME preferences.
4) In System Profiler, the unit recognizes both batteries, one at 99%, the other @ 87%
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6) Cleaned the battery contacts o the machine
When I take the power chord and battery off the GOOD unit as if I'm doing a PMU reset and hook either the battery or power chord back on it also needs a DATE/TIME preference reset. I SEEM to recall both units always doing this, but I do have a faulty memory. The good unit holds the Date/Time with the battery installed.
The simple questions : Do the need for Date/Time resets with the batteries out of both units mean bad PRAM batteries on both computers?
The harder question: Any ideas/suggestions as to what might be wrong with the bad unit? I'm guessing ? that the PRAM alone is not the issue since the GOOD machine starts up fine despite a potentially??? bad PRAM battery.
I realize the logic board might be an issue, however the machine runs fine with AC power. I did take the computer apart to replace a faulty logic board awhile back but can't remember if the problems manifested immediately and as a consequence of that since I put the unit on a shelf and didn't use it again for 6 months or so. Is there anything besides the logic board that might be faulty/disconnected preventing the computer from utilizing battery power.
Again, it SEES a perfectly fine battery. It just can't use the battery.
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Curtis

I happen to have two G4 1.67Ghz 15" PB's sitting in front of me too .... However, to answer your question ... If you remove the power and you remove the battery, and, when you put the power or battery back in and restart the system, and it resets the date to 1969 or some other ancient date, then yes, the PRAM battery is bad.
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The least expensive way to fix the logic board is to take it to the Apple store. For $350 or so (costs around 2X if done in store), assuming the case isn't banged up, they can ship it to the Apple Depot, who will replace whatever it takes to bring the system up to close to new. Comes back with a 90 day warranty. On the system we used this for, they replaced the logic board and battery, and it's worked fine, except it's recently developed the bad memory slot. For it's use, 1GB is OK, so it's not a big deal, although a bit disappointing (likely used a refurbished board that tested well at that moment in time).
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I've reset the PMU (several times), zapped the PRAM, and reset the nvram. The battery contacts look clean (no obvious dirt or corrosion).
I don't see the Battery Info in "About this Mac..." (it's not listed at all; is this because I'm in OS 10.3.9 or is something else wrong here?) but using ioreg at the command line I get
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Hi, m.g.h. Have you ever tried a different, known-good AC adapter, just to eliminate the possibility that the problem resides there? If you plug the adapter in and the adapter ringlight glows green, turn the Powerbook over and press the button on the battery. The lights on the battery should glow green and stay on if the adapter is working correctly.
I don't see the Battery Info in "About this Mac..." (it's not listed at all; is this because I'm in OS 10.3.9...?
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I love my 2009 MacBook but whenever I use it I have to have it plugged into the wall and if it ever comes slightly unplugged the laptop shuts off at that instant. I have checked the charge on the battery from the battery and my laptop says that it is charged to 96 percent.

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Hope John Mitchell doesn't mind if I piggyback on his thread.
I just noticed a similar problem on my Powerbook G4 12". It's more than 3 years old and I recently installed Leopard. I pretty much leave it plugged in most of the time; in fact, I think it's been a few months since I used the battery.
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Please refer to the details below:
Device: iPad (4th Gen) WIFI + Cellular 32GB (No External Damages)
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Isolations Made:
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PowerBook G4 Won't Charge or Run on Battery

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