[SOLVED] Almost-new battery occasionally fails to charge

Sometimes my three-month-old Vizio CT14-A4 fails to charge and misreports charge level. Specifically, my adapter LED blinks, acpi gives
Battery 0: Unknown, 98%
and then the battery proceeds to last for, say, one hour when I expect four. I know the battery isn't dying because usually it does hold and dispense a full charge (and it's quite new). I haven't figured out how to reproduce the problem yet, but it's happened a few times this month. Removing and putting back in the charger plug doesn't help. My naive gut guess is the battery is somehow overcharging when the laptop spends too long plugged in. I'm looking for a solution that does not involve removing the battery (which I haven't tried yet but will at next opportunity, for troubleshooting's sake).
Here's my current acpi -V, now that I've plugged in following a complete discharge and all is normal:
Battery 0: Charging, 58%, 00:53:40 until charged
Battery 0: design capacity 6970 mAh, last full capacity 6949 mAh = 99%
Adapter 0: on-line
Thermal 0: ok, 56.0 degrees C
Thermal 0: trip point 0 switches to mode critical at temperature 100.0 degrees C
Thermal 0: trip point 1 switches to mode passive at temperature 110.0 degrees C
Thermal 0: trip point 2 switches to mode active at temperature 60.0 degrees C
Cooling 0: x86_pkg_temp no state information available
Cooling 1: LCD 4 of 10
Cooling 2: Fan 1 of 1
Cooling 3: intel_powerclamp no state information available
Cooling 4: Processor 0 of 3
Cooling 5: Processor 0 of 3
Cooling 6: Processor 0 of 3
Cooling 7: Processor 0 of 3
For reference, this issue resembles old threads. Any suggestions?
Edit: Looks like it was a battery problem, not a Linux problem. When I called the manufacturer they immediately told me to hard-reset the battery with a paper clip, which worked (though I have to do it again every month or so). Marking solved.
Last edited by chikinn (2015-05-25 17:16:06)

It's fairly common for the pre-MacSafe power connectors on the computer to loosen due to stress. The points where the barrel-shaped chrome connector assemble is soldered (or flowed) to the logic board lose contact and you get intermittent charing at best.
If you connect to A/C adaptor and gently wiggle it up and down, can y ousee charging start again/ "Up" is the position where the contact should again meet.
My 1Ghz 17" MBP will not start on A/C alone until the battery has a little charge. I don't know it's the dead internal backup battery (common) of something else that causes two good 65W power supplies to report in Profiler as 45W.

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Macbook not charging, almost new battery?!

Hi all,
Ive got a white macbook from 2009 with 10.5.8 software.
The battery is not charging anymore! But its an almost new battery (only 5 cycles).
The green light is on, but the battery is not charging.
I've tried doing a smc reset. - nothing happend.
Below I've posted the battery info.
Please... can anyone help?!
Thanx,
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number:          DP-ASMB016-3c67-96d
Manufacturer:          DP
Device name:          ASMB016
Pack Lot Code:          8249
PCB Lot Code:          1222
Firmware Version:          1401
Hardware Revision:          1100
Cell Revision:          c810
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh):          0
Fully charged:          No
Charging:          No
Full charge capacity (mAh):          4756
Health Information:
Cycle count:          5
Condition:          Good
Battery Installed:          Yes
Amperage (mA):          0
Voltage (mV):          8375
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss:          No
Wake On AC Change:          No
Wake On Clamshell Open:          Yes
Wake On LAN:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          5
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          1
Wake On AC Change:          No
Wake On Clamshell Open:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
Reduce Brightness:          Yes
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed:          No
AC Charger Information:
Connected:          Yes
Charging:          No

I'm having the same problem. I got my battery replaced about 2 months ago because my Macbook Pro (got it in 2008) would keep shutting down after a minute or two of being unplugged, so I figured the battery was on the verge of death. Last night I noticed that when I had it unplugged the battery life was wavering between 1% and 2%. I plugged it in and it says "Not Charging". It was fine a few days ago, showing me a life remaining time.

How many hours does a brand new battery last after fully charged. I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro.

How many hours does a brand new battery last after fully charged. I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro.

clintonfrombirmingham is right, there is no way to exactly tell. But from personal experience, a new battery on a 2008 will last for about 2 1/2 hours with a higher screen brightness and doing something taxing to the battery (like gaming or running lots of 3D programs). But if you're just listening to music with the brightness all the way down, and no programs running, you could get up to 12 hours. So for average use, it should last you a whole business day (assuming you don't use it more than 30% 0f the time). Hope this kind of gives you more of an idea of what to expect:)

I run hard hardware test on my macbook white an found error like this 4SNS/1/40000001:VPOR-0.578 and i replace my new battery but it not charging,help me!!

i run hard hardware test on my macbook white an found error like this 4SNS/1/40000001:VPOR-0.578 and i replace my new battery but it not charging,help me!!

Bring it in for service. Anytime hardware test detects an error, that's an indication the service department needs to fix it.

Almost new battery won´t charge, does not work on AC

After spending a few days in Taiwan (110V) the battery of my PB G4, A1138 won´t charge any more. Power connector lights amber.
After coming back to Austria, i connected the PB for 2 days and it would charge again and worked proper. Now, 2 months later, the battery again refuses to charge, coconut battery & system profiler say that there is no AC power connector & battery is not charging. It won´t power up with AC connected. I did the PMU reset and PRAM reset - no effect.
The battery is an original Apple replacement and has only 40 loading cycles. i´ve measured the voltage at the battery connector in the battery slot (3V & 6V depending on the pins), so the charger provides voltage.
Can anybody tell, if the DC-in board is faulty or if it´s the logic board or something else?
I´m thankfull for any advice!

It's fairly common for the pre-MacSafe power connectors on the computer to loosen due to stress. The points where the barrel-shaped chrome connector assemble is soldered (or flowed) to the logic board lose contact and you get intermittent charing at best.
If you connect to A/C adaptor and gently wiggle it up and down, can y ousee charging start again/ "Up" is the position where the contact should again meet.
My 1Ghz 17" MBP will not start on A/C alone until the battery has a little charge. I don't know it's the dead internal backup battery (common) of something else that causes two good 65W power supplies to report in Profiler as 45W.

New Battery Replacement Refuses to Charge

I just installed a new battery in my MacBook Pro 15". It's around 2-3 years old. It's been working great, holds a charge, recharges fully, etc. I tried to charge it today after using it in classes, but it won't charge. The first indicator light is flashing, the adapter light is orange, the percentage says 92%.

"I just installed a new battery in my MacBook Pro 15"."
Did you calibrate the battery afterwards? It's recommended that you do so.
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!http://i45.tinypic.com/jl0z95.jpg!

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Hello everyone
I recently purchased a used HP nc6230 computer without a hard drive or battery. After putting a new battery and a hard drive into it I charged the battery installed the OS, windows XP pro, and used the system a few days and it worked fine. I followed the guidelines of the battery manufacturer to burn in or sync the battery pack without incident. Now a week later I turned the system on and it loaded windows, stayed on for about 2 minutes and then shut off. I hooked the charger to the system to charge the battery and the indicator light did not come on to show the battery was charging. I left it connected for about 20 minutes and tried to turn it on again with no success. Could this just be a defective battery or is there a problem withe this particular model computer? Any ideas? Thanks.

You just have an older battery that has limited runtime. Losing 32% in 30 minutes indicates you might get maybe 1:20 runtime which is about normal for a 2 or 3 year old battery. I suspect what happened before is that the battery completely discharged which is not really good for it and sometimes causes the whole system to lock up. If it ever happens again, remove the battery and do the hard reset before plugging in the AC adapter. I suspect you just need a new battery. Where did you get this battery? It may be "new" in the sense that it was never previously installed in a laptop but batteries for that laptop might be as much as 4-5 years old and they do lose power and capability just sitting on a shelf.

New Battery does NOT hold Charge

I just received my new battery from the Battery Exchange Program - the battery is actually worse than my original, it is still HOT, and holds a charge for about 20 minutes - maybe 30 at the most - ?
What do I do? Does anyone else have this problem??
thanks, Mark

My replacement battery did not even last one calibration cycle, as it never held a charge again at all.
Here is a link to another thread. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=678318&tstart=0
Both of ours were replaced for a very similar issue, so it may be worth a try to give AppleCare a call.
If you already sent the recalled battery back, get a case I.D. from AppleCare for the defective replacement battery. If possible, ask someone at your local Apple store if they have any in stock instead of waiting for Apple to expidite one to you. Apple retail staff are able to expidite the exchage at the store level, but you must have a case I.D., since it is not the recalled battery they are replacing. I only suggest this route, because there is an estimated four to six week wait for replacement replacement batteries; however, it only took a little over three weeks for mine to ship.
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Troy D
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Last weekend I purchased a new 85w power supply and a new battery at the Apple Store for my 17-month old MacBook Pro. The battery will not charge (though it is recognized), and the green light on the charger will not illuminate. I'm pretty confident that the power supply is not the issue, as the one I replaced was only 4 months old (because the green light did not illuminate, oh well..).
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To Apple Discussions!
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Thank you both. Yes I know the battery needs to be calibrated, but as you say, to calibrate, you need to charge, which is a non-starter. I'm going to take the whole thing in (again). I suspect the problem that led to the battery needing to be replaced possibly dealt a death blow to something inside. I don't know whether this is relevant, but before replacing the battery, the charger started to make a loud buzzing noise (I understand - I wasn't here), and with the old battery in place the PB kept freezing and/or rebooting. Only with the battery out and just the power supply in would the PB work. The PB is seeing the new battery, it just wont charge it. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else I could do before taking it in.
Jennifer

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Hello guys,
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hi MlodyDziura,
Welcome to Lenovo Community Forums!
Can you Verify that when the Computer is Plugged in and Turned on the battery icon on the lower right states that it is Plugged in not Charging.
And how many Percent it says on the status.
Thanks
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[SOLVED] Almost-new battery occasionally fails to charge

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