Georgi.Vasilev

Q: Charging problem - no light on the connector and slow charging.

Hello,

I have problem with my MacBook Pro A1278, Late 2008. From yesterday I had problem with charging. The light on the connector is not showing either green/red color. I get icon on the battery with a service key on it and message: Condition - Replace now, Battery is not charging.

In fact for 2 hours charging the battery, which is plugged in the electricity, moved from 18% to 31%, but really slowly. If I plug out the cable, the mac stops imediatelly.

My question is: It is possible the problem with the lights (green/red) to refer to the old battery, because yesterday it was showing me colors? I also try different charger and the same thing. Or the problem could be on the motherboard, some fault? I measured the Voltage and on the charger and in the Pins inside the mac it is around 16,7V. Till yesterday the mac stayed on battery for 1, sometimes hour and a half before next charge. Other thing is that if I remove the battery from mac, it won't start anyway.

Can I test something?

 

Here is some info of the battery:

 

Battery Information:

 

  Model Information:

  Serial Number:           6N907125X13CB

  Manufacturer:            SMP

  Device Name:             bq20z951

  Pack Lot Code:           0

  PCB Lot Code:            0

  Firmware Version:     002a

  Hardware Revision:   000a

  Cell Revision:             100

  Charge Information:

  Charge Remaining (mAh):       482

  Fully Charged:                           No

  Charging:                                   No

  Full Charge Capacity (mAh):   1599

  Health Information:

  Cycle Count:   652

  Condition:       Replace Now

  Battery Installed:         Yes

  Amperage (mA):          86

  Voltage (mV):               11827

 

System Power Settings:

 

  AC Power:

  System Sleep Timer (Minutes):                     60

  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):                          10

  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):                     60

  Automatic Restart on Power Loss:              No

  Wake on AC Change:                                     No

  Wake on Clamshell Open:                             Yes

  Wake on LAN:                                                  Yes

  Current Power Source:                                  Yes

  Display Sleep Uses Dim:                                Yes

  PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:   0

  Battery Power:

  System Sleep Timer (Minutes):   10

  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):        10

  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):   5

  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

  ID:                         0x0000

  Revision:             0x0000

  Family:                 0x0000

  Serial Number:   0x00000000

  Charging:    No

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), A1278 Late 2008

Posted on Mar 15, 2016 2:44 PM

Close

Q: Charging problem - no light on the connector and slow charging.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Previous Page 2
  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 16, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    I downloaded and made an aht flash drive and had to use the command d keys to get it to run. Had to hold down for a couple of minutes.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 16, 2016 1:07 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 1:07 PM in response to my ginger

    I run the test several times (also extended), but I get: No trouble found.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 16, 2016 1:10 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 1:10 PM in response to my ginger

    What should I look for:

    With charger plugged in I get:

    Loadcycles: 652

    OS X Battery status: Fair

    Charging with: 7.8 Watts

    Battery State: Discharging...

     

    Without Charger I get:

    Loadcycles: 652

    OS X Battery status: Fair

    Charging with: 1.2 Watts, sometimes 0.3 Watts

    Battery State: Discharging...

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 16, 2016 1:36 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 1:36 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    The charge rate with magsafe plugged in. Yours is doing better than my daughters. Her's was only at 1.4 watts. Your shows 7.8 watts. When needing to charge, the battery the rate should start out being a higher amount. When it gets close to the full charge it starts to taper down. That does not happen till you get to about 90%. The amount of max charge on yours has deprecated down a lot. And you only showed 499 remaining. my full charge capacity is 5016 mAh and remaining is 4782 mAh. Yours is far below this. You are getting a charge, just not at the rate you should. Getting a new battery would be a first step and may even improve the charge rate.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 17, 2016 11:13 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 11:13 AM in response to my ginger

    Hi guys,

    So I've manage to run the Mac without battery and it is working (only the fan is working on max and is noise ). Here again I had no LED light on the charger.

    As I told you I had tried with different charger on my Mac and it also was not showing LED light.

    Now I know for sure that the problem is not in the battery.

    I had run the AHT without the battery and I have no problems showed.

    Maybe there is some problem with the logic board in fact, but I will have to go to diagnose the MAC.

    It is difficult for me because I am in Bulgaria, and there are not a lot of apple services in the country.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 17, 2016 2:09 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 2:09 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    Two things. Did you run the hardware test with the battery installed. The Macbook is designed to run with a battery installed. It can run without one, but it will not run at full power to the CPU or GPU. It cuts it in half. Which makes it slower. Du to the state of the battery, you need to replace it. You can run a pram reset. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063 Usually when you get a runaway fan, you do a SMC reset to fix it. If this will not do it. Then download and run SMC FanControl.  https://www.eidac.de/ You can adjust and control the fan from it.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 18, 2016 3:49 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 18, 2016 3:49 AM in response to my ginger

    I Want to ask, if I am using the notebook without battery, should the charger LED show some light (green/red), because mine is not showing color, it stays dark?

  • by my ginger,Helpful

    my ginger my ginger Mar 18, 2016 8:14 AM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 18, 2016 8:14 AM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    Normally, the magsafe shows green for power and orange for charging. If the battery is removed it should be showing green.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 18, 2016 8:14 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 18, 2016 8:14 AM in response to my ginger

    Ok, but I don't think the problem is in the charger, because I tried with another one and it also did not show any light.

    Ive measured the voltage on the cable, and also inside on the logic board on pins 1&2 and 3&4 with turned off and working notebook and the voltage was the same: 16,72 V.

    I don't think the battery is the problem also, because the LED light is not working also when I was using the notebook without the battery.

    Maybe the problem is in the logic board - some defect, but I am not sure how to find it

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 19, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 19, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    Even if you could trace it down, it would require a replacement of the logic board. Unless you are very good at electronics repair.I have repair many Mac's, but this only goes as far as replacing components. The way that the various components of the logic board are soldered on is different that just using solder and a soldering gun.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 21, 2016 2:15 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 21, 2016 2:15 PM in response to my ginger

    i've tried with another battery, but it also was charing slow and the charge LED did not show any colour.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 21, 2016 2:29 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 21, 2016 2:29 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    If before you installed the other battery, you did a SMC reset by unplugging the power cord and holding down the power button for 10 seconds, and nothing changed. Then it most likely is the logic board.

  • by Georgi.Vasilev,

    Georgi.Vasilev Georgi.Vasilev Mar 21, 2016 2:30 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 21, 2016 2:30 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    IS it possible even when the magsafe female connector on the mac shows 16,7V like the power cord also shows this voltage, with pluged on the electricity, the connector to be faulty?

    And if it is, why I managed to run the mac without the battery, and to charge the battery even slowly with the same charger? If it is faulty I think one or all of those two wont be able. Am I right?

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 21, 2016 3:41 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 21, 2016 3:41 PM in response to Georgi.Vasilev

    I don't know how you tested the DC-Inboard. But if you have tried more than one magsafe connector with the same results, then it is most likely the logic board. Since you are getting power thru to the logic board . It is process of elimination. Outside chance could be the internal battery cable, but I would not bet on it.

Previous Page 2