battery does not charge and laptop will not run without battery

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battery does not charge and laptop will not run without battery

If I use a fully charged battery (charged with another powerbook) I have no problems with my 17" powerbook G4. It boots happily and all is well.

However I cannot charge the battery or I cannot run just on AC power.
The orange/green light does come up as it should but obviously no current is coming through.
Any suggestions?
Sorry if this was already discussed. I do not seem to find the right thread.
Thanks.

Message was edited by: afruscione

Message was edited by: afruscione

Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1.33 GHz 1GB SDRAM

Posted on Dec 2, 2009 6:32 AM

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Answer 1

afruscione Author

Level 1

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Dec 2, 2009 8:20 AM in response to afruscione

A few more data.
If I plug in the adapter, the icon DOES change from battery to AC but the battery is definitely not charging (cannot calculate time until full, and lights are not blinking on battery).
If I unplug the adapter from the laptop and then plug it back again, it does not light up. I need to somehow reset it, by unplugging it from the wall first.

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Answer 2

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,678 points

Dec 2, 2009 10:18 AM in response to afruscione

If you can get it started, probably the best first step is to post your "Battery Information" from System Profiler's "Power" section. It will look something like this (from my MacBook Pro running Leopard):

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 3946
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5037
Health Information:
Cycle count: 38
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1445
Voltage (mV): 11676

The format may be slightly different in Tiger but the needed numbers are still there.

While looking at the Power info, attach the charger and look for two things:

1) That Profiler "sees" the charger.
2) What power rating does it show for the charger? A 17" PBG4 uses a 65W adaptor; if yours says 45W, then you ended up with the adaptor from a 15" PowerBook G4. That could cause problems.

Get this info and post back, then we have a good jumping-off point for troubleshooting.

System Profiler is available by doing "About this Mac" from the Apple menu and, in the resulting window, click "More info..."

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Answer 3

afruscione Author

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Dec 3, 2009 8:45 AM in response to Allan Jones

Thanks for answering. Here is the info I get.
The charger is not seen at all despite the fact that the lights turns orange when I connect it. The AC charger information remains the same.

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6348
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 4616
Amperage (mA): -1992
Voltage (mV): 11207
Cycle Count: 44

AC Charger Information:

AC Charger (Watts): 0
Connected: No
Charging: No

I tried the same on another 17" powerbook and it correctty reports 65W, connected and charging. So the AC Charger is working properly

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Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,678 points

Dec 3, 2009 11:44 AM in response to afruscione

Something seems amiss with the battery info. The Full Charge Capacity at 6348 is higher than the original capacity which is in the ballpark of 5400 for a 17" PowerBook. It is, in fact, at the high end for the original 17" MacBook Pro (pre Oct 2008).

Get this utility and run it to see what it claims for "original battery capacity":

http://coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/index.html

Assuming the battery and the adaptor are OK, then that leaves two rather unattractive failure modes. The DC to DC Power board (where the power jack mounts) or the logic board itself.

Let's see what the battery utility shows before worrying about those two.

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