Cycle Count Increased without Charge?

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Level 1

1 points

Cycle Count Increased without Charge?

I keep a pretty good track of my cycle counts, and usually charge my laptop at 50%, so I can get at least 2 charges, before I use the laptop off of battery.

I'm currently on my second 50% charge, and started to work off of battery this past weekend. It is down to 60%, and I will charge it back up to 100% which will count at 1 cycle count, but for some reason, my cycle count went up by 1, even though I haven't charged it yet. Is there a reason for this?

And before this, I had previously charged my macbook at 60% to a full 100% charge and that counted as 1 cycle. Is there a problem with the way its keeping track of my cycle counts, because I would normally have at least been able to charge it one more time at 40% for a full 1 cycle.

Checking both power, under system profile, and coconut battery, show that the cycle count did increase by 1, even without charging my laptop. Please let me know if this has happened to anyone else, thanks!

Unibody MBP 15", Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Oct 27, 2009 8:25 PM

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Answer 1

JasonFear

Level 5

4,965 points

Oct 27, 2009 9:49 PM in response to Ph3nyX

Hi Ph3nyX,

The cycle count feature in System Profiler is usually pretty darn accurate. One thing you might want to try is running the battery completely down and then giving it a full recharge to see if it reports another cycle. I find that trying to understand cycles when you're constantly discharging and recharging at various intervals can be a little tricky. If after a full 100% discharge/recharge it's still inaccurately reporting cycles then it might be worth having the machine (and battery) looked at to make sure something isn't off.

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Answer 2

Ph3nyX Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 29, 2009 1:16 AM in response to JasonFear

Hey JasonFear,

Thanks for replying to my post. I had just fully recharged my laptop, and it is now at 100%, but the charge cycle did not increase this time. It still is the same number it was, before the problem (cycle count increased without charging MBP) happened.

I've never heard of cycle counts increasing without actually charging it. Do you have any more tips? Should I take it into a store, or would calling not be as helpful.

Thanks again for responding, this is my first mac, just want to make sure, I'm getting good use out of it, especially since it cost a lot!

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Answer 3

Oct 29, 2009 3:56 AM in response to Ph3nyX

One cycle is a full charge followed by a full discharge. The charge controller keeps track of charge time and discharge time. When the sum of the two reaches the value for your particular battery it increments the cycle count. There is nothing wrong.

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Answer 4

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Oct 29, 2009 4:22 AM in response to Ph3nyX

The first "cycle" will have been the initial charge before you bought your computer, perhaps?

I wouldn't get too obsessed with "cycle counts". Many other factors matter at least as much when it comes to battery life. Temperatures, speed of charging, the age of the battery , the kind of work they do, etc. etc.

Two of our family members' "old style" MacBook batteries, which live a less stressful life than my own MBPs, are well into the +400 "cycle count" realm and still going strong. They take far less notice of such things than I do, and I still generally get around three years life out of my own batteries (the old removeable ones with a far shorter life expectancy than the current variety) but they never do as well as wife and daughters "stay at home" notebooks when it comes to "cycle counts".

When your computer first reached 100% how long before you took it off the charger? It will discharge to the mid 90% range and then recharge repeatedly until you disconnect it, adding a little to your "charge count" each time, but, in reality, having very little effect on your battery life.

Enjoy your new Mac, Ph3nyX, and truly, don't stress too much about cycles and the like. From what I can see the completely "ad hoc" approach of my wife and daughter, with a mix of use on battery and power based completely on what is convenient to them, works at least as well or better than my own , in theory more "scientific" and controlled , approach to the matter.

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 5

Ph3nyX Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 30, 2009 6:05 PM in response to Rod Hagen

Thanks everyone for your input! I guess your right, I will not stress too much over the cycle count, and continue to use it as I'm currently doing.

I just found it weird that time the cycle increased on it own, and I didn't even charge it, as it was working off battery. But I'm enjoying my mac a lot, and thanks for the advice, I greatly appreciate it.

Ph3nyX

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