Powerbook G4 A1095 Battery Question

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weeman1973 Author

Level 1

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Powerbook G4 A1095 Battery Question

My A1095 Powerbook G4 is behaving strange when under Power Adapter source. It will charge the battery (original) but only up to about 57% tops - after this it goes to Not Charging status. Then after a while the charging icon comes on but goes back to Not Charging after a few seconds.

Is this because this is as far as the battery will charge or is there a problem with the charging circuit of the machine? Don't want to buy a new battery if it isn't that.

Message was edited by: weeman1973

Powerbook G4 A1095, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jan 1, 2011 12:27 PM

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Answer 1

BGreg

Level 6

17,558 points

Jan 1, 2011 1:35 PM in response to weeman1973

Welcome to the Apple discussions.

Please post your battery information: Click on the apple on the menu bar, click about this mac, more info, power, and post what it says under battery information.

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Answer 2

weeman1973 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 1, 2011 1:48 PM in response to BGreg

Hi, thanks for the welcome. The battery info is as follows:

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 858
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 1893
Health Information:
Cycle count: 509
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 11981

Hope this helps with your diagnosis!

Russ

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Answer 3

BGreg

Level 6

17,558 points

Jan 1, 2011 2:06 PM in response to weeman1973

A Powerbook battery is normally good for 300 to 500 charge/discharge cycles, so yours is towards the end of that range. Doesn't mean it dies an automatic death at 500, however, any use past that is really good.

The symptoms you've described could be due to issues with the battery, DC-in card, or logic board (3 of the 4 power-related components, with power adapter being the 4th). Given the high number of cycles on your battery, I'd lean towards replacing that. The battery has it's own circuitry that tells the system what the battery capacity is, and it's not unheard of for the battery electronics to become scatter-brained.

Unfortunately, there's no diagnostic software available that tests the charging circuitry, so you proceed based on symptoms and replace parts. Our local Apple store told me that when they can't nail down a power issue, the start replacing the least expensive part first and move up from there.

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Answer 4

eww

Level 9

53,052 points

Jan 1, 2011 5:42 PM in response to weeman1973

Your battery's capaity is significantly less than half what it was when new, and most batteries are due for replacement before they're run down that far. Yours is due now.

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