battery health 27% after 27 cycles! what should I do?

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Level 1

0 points

battery health 27% after 27 cycles! what should I do?

Hi All,
I got my Macbook pro 15" in March 2008. Normally I use it by plugging in power, and I haven't used battery power for 2months. I remember the battery health was still about 89% one month ago. but 3 days ago I checked it from istar, it shows the health is 30% after 25 cycles! Then I used the battery till the computer sleep automatically then full charge it twice to try to make it better ( the battery is only last 40 minutes now), but now my battery is 27% health only after 27 cycles! What should I do to make the battery health better? or should i go to apple store to change it? thanks.

system show the batter information:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1490
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 1490
Health Information:
Cycle count: 27
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 142
Voltage (mV): 12598

macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.5.5), iphone 3G

Posted on Jul 17, 2009 1:13 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Jul 19, 2009 10:44 AM in response to lyliamac

I'm in the same boat except I've got a 2007 Macbook and 0% (not even detected) battery after 60 cycles - unfortunately neither of us is going to get it replaced by Apple even though the batteries are clearly defective.

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Answer 2

Soft Reset

Level 4

1,790 points

Jul 19, 2009 3:16 PM in response to lyliamac

Hi Lyliamac,

Sorry to hear you're having an issue with your battery. Do you have Applecare on the computer or did you just have the one-year limited warranty? Applecare does offer protection on the battery if it's considered defective and 1490 mAh after 15 months is certainly not normal. I'd recommend bringing the unit into an Apple Retail Store or Authorized Service Provider to have the appropriate diagnostics run on the unit.

Regarding the charge cycles and battery health, there isn't a way to improve the full charge capacity of the battery inside your machine... other than to replace it (at this point).

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Answer 3

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Jul 19, 2009 5:42 PM in response to lyliamac

Condition: Check Battery = Call Apple

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Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,134 points

Jul 19, 2009 9:21 PM in response to lyliamac

If health plummets dramatically over a short timeframe, check the battery for leaks or bulging first. However I suspect the cause of your problem is contained in this sentence:

Normally I use it by plugging in power, and I haven't used battery power for 2months.

A battery is like a muscle; if you don't use it, it atrophies and dies. See this Apple article on notebook batteries:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

especially this part:

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time.

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Answer 5

Jul 22, 2009 5:25 AM in response to Allan Jones

It's funny really. Lithium Ion batteries have a fixed number of charge cycles and do not have "memory". So discharging them completely once a month will actually reduce the capacity of your battery as it wears it down.

However, Lithium Ion batteries leak charge when stored at 100% capacity and this can also reduce the battery capacity. It's recommended that your store unused batteries at 40% capacity in a cool place or if a batter is going to be in storage for a really long time, then discharge it and recharge it to 40% every so often.

If you follow the silly advice of fully discharging it every month you will only lose capacity and have to purchase a new battery much sooner. But maybe that's what Apple wants?

zoz

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Answer 6

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Jul 22, 2009 3:23 PM in response to lyliamac

Definitely take your battery to the Apple Store as it is defective. There is nothing that you can do to restore it to health. It sounds like a cell may have failed.

Good luck!

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Answer 7

lyliamac Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 24, 2009 2:59 PM in response to lyliamac

Hi, thanks to all of you guys who replied my message. This week I went to apple store, the staff checked my batter, from the screen shown " battery bad". He said although my MBP has been 18 months old and no applecare, but he still give me a Free new battery replacement!! Because It shows the battery itself has had problem for a while. I am so happy! I asked him to check the new battery, it is fine. but as it has only 3 month warranty , I will be back to apple store to check the battery after 2 and half month. Hope it will still be fine at that time.

Now my new battery can last 5 hours, if playing video, will last at least 2 hours. so far so good!!

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Answer 8

Jul 25, 2009 5:22 PM in response to lyliamac

Thanks for the update! I've had my MPB for a year and a few months, and my battery only lasts around 40 minutes now. My System Profiler says "Check Battery" so I know it's bad, but I was worried I had to buy an expensive replacement battery so soon because a battery is usually considered a consumable (and not covered usually). It's definitely not normal. I'll make an appointment for the Genius bar this week!

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Answer 9

Weejitz

Level 1

0 points

Jul 31, 2009 1:03 PM in response to lyliamac

See this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2092046&tstart=0

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