Battery health 'suddenly' went to Zero

Question

Level 1

10 points

Battery health 'suddenly' went to Zero

I had my Mac Book Pro (Penryn) on standby for a few days. The battery is less than a year old.

I noticed that the battery had drained completely while in standby so plugged in my charger.

It reported that it was 'Not Charging' and when I checked, it showed that battery health (iStat Menu) was 0%!

Previously, I think it was around 70% or so.

Any ideas what may have happened, and if there is some way of 'resetting' the battery health?

Thanks.

MBA - MBP 15" (Penryn) - MB - iMac 21.5" i3 - iPad 3G 64GB - iPhone 3GS, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 24, 2010 3:55 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,380 points

Dec 24, 2010 4:41 PM in response to azsharom

You can try an SMC reset, described here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Note the reset method varies with when the MBP was made. From "Penryn," it's not clear whether you have a Early 2008 or earlier (with silver keys and the subject of this particular forum) or a Late 2008 or newer (has black keys and gets a different forum) because the Penryn processor was used on either side of the "break in design. The later ones have different battery specs and behavior.

Launch System Profiler from your Utiltiies folder. The first page has a Model Identifier as the second line. If it says "MacBookPro4,1" or a lower number value, you are in the correct forum, If numerically higher, your computer is newer and has forum support here:

http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=251

Showing the identifier's numeric value in posts more precisely identifies your model for posting purposes that describing the processor type. Not you fault--Apple have chosen less-than-intuitive names for these forums. We all think we have "original" MacBook Pros! 🙂

I had the "Not Charging" indication today and an SMC reset set it right. However, my battery (the second in less than three years) is bad so I have to reset a lot.

Reply

Answer 2

azsharom Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 24, 2010 5:35 PM in response to Allan Jones

Hi Allan,

Thanks for the suggestion. Oh, I checked and my model is 4,1.

Unfortunately even after doing the SMC reset, the battery is not charging, and shows Zero health.

Is it possible that it truly is dead?? :-0

Reply

Answer 3

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,380 points

Dec 25, 2010 1:00 AM in response to azsharom

4,1 means you are in the proper forum.

If the reset didn't change anything, the battery can be dead. However, there are three other components of the charging system: the A/C adaptor; the DC-in power board; and the logic board. If you have the original optical disks that came with your MBP, use them to run System Profiler. If any tests report a problem, contact an Apple Store or AASP for an interpretation of the error code and suggestions for how to proceed.

Reply