Charger LED dim, computer wont turn on

Question

Charger LED dim, computer wont turn on

Just today I was using my computer when the battery died. After this I plugged in the magsafe adapter to charge it, and it would not charge. The LED on the magsafe is very dim, leading me to believe that the charger is not working. But, I tried using two other peoples magsafe chargers, one of which had a bright light and did not charge my computer, the other had a dim light and did not charge my computer. So does my battery need to be replaced? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

13" Macbook, 2GHZ, 160GB HDD, 2GB RAM, 30GB iPod Video., Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Feb 7, 2011 1:50 PM

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Answer 1

Doc M

Level 3

785 points

Feb 8, 2011 5:11 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

Can you get me information on how old the battery is, and how many cycles it has?

Doc

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Answer 2

Feb 8, 2011 10:32 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

I'm not sure because I cannot turn my computer on to look at the battery stats.

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Answer 3

Doc M

Level 3

785 points

Feb 8, 2011 10:48 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

Okay...let me try this: since you can't give me cycles, how long have you had the battery in question?

Doc

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Answer 4

Feb 8, 2011 11:22 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

I think its been around 3 years, give or take 6 months. I have a digital copy of my receipt, but it is on my computer. ;/

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Answer 5

b leo

Level 1

135 points

Feb 8, 2011 11:56 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

Gday Anthony,

It might be an idea to reset your System Management Controller, just follow the instructions here.

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

Also, zapping the PRAM wouldn't hurt either.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

Let us know if these help!

Brendan

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Answer 6

Doc M

Level 3

785 points

Feb 9, 2011 11:32 AM in response to b leo

3 years is a decent life for a battery; it may well be time to replace it. (Especially if you take it off the charger a lot.) I've had my MacBook 2 years plus; I'm looking at possibly replacing the battery this fall. I use my MacBook hard...but leave it on the charger a lot when I do.

Resetting the SMC may not be a bad idea...but I'm not totally convinced that's your issue. (It won't hurt anything to try it, though.)

Doc

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Answer 7

Feb 9, 2011 2:19 PM in response to b leo

I tried resetting the smc, and nothing happened. And I cannot reset the pram without starting my computer. Thank you though.

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Answer 8

Feb 9, 2011 2:30 PM in response to Doc M

It may be the case that I need a new battery. But theres something else; even when I remove the battery and try to plug my computer in and start it, it won't start with any charger, which makes me think hardware in my computer isn't working properly.

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Answer 9

Doc M

Level 3

785 points

Feb 9, 2011 10:09 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

Hmmm.

The only other option is to take it in to Apple and have them look at it; it may be something hardware related has gone wonky inside.

Doc

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Answer 10

Feb 10, 2011 8:54 PM in response to Doc M

Ok this is very interesting. I was able to boot my computer by leaving the charger plugged in for a few minutes and then pressing the power button. The light on the charger is still dim. The battery meter reads 5%, but does not say that it is charging, and it does not go up while the charger is plugged in. Every time I open the system profiler, the charge in mah goes up a little bit. (The battery has 472 cycles by the way). What does this mean?

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Answer 11

Feb 10, 2011 8:58 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

Correction: The charge just increased to 6%, but took a really long time to do so, and using a friends charger results in the same activity as mine.

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Answer 12

b leo

Level 1

135 points

Feb 10, 2011 10:15 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

300 cycles is considered the useful life of a battery, your battery's seen quite a bit of use, it's probably time for a new one. Download coconutBattery, what's the battery capacity percentage at?

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

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Answer 13

Feb 10, 2011 10:28 PM in response to b leo

The battery capacity is at 100%, but the power usage says 579.6 watts, which is huge compared to the wattage shown on the screenshot of coconutbattery on their website.

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Answer 14

b leo

Level 1

135 points

Feb 10, 2011 10:42 PM in response to Anthony Lathrop

That doesn't seem right, try quitting coconutBattery, open it again, and wait a few minutes. Also, could you post your power info by going Apple Menu > About this Mac > More Info, then selecting Power from the list, and copying the information and pasting it here?

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Answer 15

Feb 10, 2011 11:09 PM in response to b leo

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: 6N8440M0013C
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: bq20z951
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 002a
Hardware Revision: 000a
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 603
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4122
Health Information:
Cycle count: 472
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 155
Voltage (mV): 11252

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: No
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: No
Charging: No

Note: It says that the AC charger isnt connected when it is. Also, coconutbattery still reads the same high wattage.

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