BBouhoud

Q: I have to take out my battery before I can charge my Macbook...

It seems I have a very rare problem, since no one knows what the problem is, but I still hope someone can send me in the right direction on this forum:

 

I have a non-charging Macook A1181 (2009) with an official Apple licensed adapter, of which I thought it was broken a while back, but it turned out the adapter works fine since it charges my friends' Macbook without a problem. So someone told me I could fix the charging problem by resetting the SMC, which I did. I took out the battery, pressed the on/off-button for 5 seconds, then placed the battery back in my laptop and voila... the Macbook was charging! I thought my problem was solved, but the very next day the same thing happened again: I plugged in the adapter and nothing happened, my Macbook didn't charge. So of course, I did the SMC reset again, and yes, it did work again. I did this for a couple of days, but obviously, when you have to reset the SMC every time you want to charge your Mac, it starts getting annoying really fast. So I wanted to know if the SMC really did fix anything, or perhaps there was a different issue here. I took out the battery again, but instead of performing a SMC reset (pressing the on/off-button for 5 seconds), I immediately placed the battery back in the laptop without doing anything else, and guess what... The Macbook was charging! This is bad news to me, obviously, because it means the SMC didn't do anything. The reason my Mac started charging again, is because I took out the battery for a couple of seconds, and not because I performed the SMC "ritual". And whatever the Macbook does, whenever I take out the battery, it only takes effect for a couple of hours or so, because the next day I have to do the same thing all over again. So now I have a few obvious questions: Am I doing the SMC "ritual" wrong? Does the fact that I have to take out my battery every day mean that I have a faulty battery? Has anyone else encountered this problem, or does anyone know how this could possibly be fixed?

 

To summarize: Whatever I did, I did it right, but at the same time, I did it wrong, because I have to do it again the very next day. What do I do now?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Feb 11, 2016 3:23 PM

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Q: I have to take out my battery before I can charge my Macbook...

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  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Feb 12, 2016 3:43 AM in response to BBouhoud
    Level 6 (17,261 points)
    Apple Watch
    Feb 12, 2016 3:43 AM in response to BBouhoud

    What does System Profiler report as the battery health and cycle count? How old is the battery?

  • by BBouhoud,

    BBouhoud BBouhoud Feb 12, 2016 10:44 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 12, 2016 10:44 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Battery health: Normal

    Cycle count: 8

     

    I haven't had this Macbook for a very long time. I got it in refurbished condition a few weeks ago, so I assume the battery is just as old as the Macbook itself.

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Feb 12, 2016 11:55 AM in response to BBouhoud
    Level 6 (17,261 points)
    Apple Watch
    Feb 12, 2016 11:55 AM in response to BBouhoud

    With only 8 cycles it appears to be a new battery. I would contact the seller and see what they have to say.

    Dispd you follw this procedure to the letter?

    1. Shut down the computer.
    2. Disconnect the MagSafe power adapter from the computer if it's connected.
    3. Remove the battery.
    4. Press and hold the power button for five seconds.
    5. Release the power button.
    6. Reconnect the battery and MagSafe power adapter.
    7. Press the power button to turn on the computer.