MacBook Pro battery draining completely while plugged in

Question

I&#x27;ve researched this problem myself as best as I could but most people seem to be experiencing a drop of ~5% and none of the solutions (resetting PRAM + SMC, verified/repaired disk permissions) have worked. Context: I had to bring my MBP (15", early 2011, OSX 10.6.8) in a few weeks ago because of a harddrive failure.  They replaced it and cleaned out my vents and whatnot, and when it came back it was OSX 10.7.5 for whatever reason.  They must have assumed that&#x27;s what I had originally?  I don&#x27;t know.  Anyway, I only just got it back a few days ago and since it was already Lion, I decided to upgrade to Mountain Lion.  I&#x27;ve had some battery issues before, with Snow Leopard, in the vein of the battery just not charging sometimes, only to magically recover, but since I&#x27;ve upgraded to ML, it literally drains before my eyes while the MagSafe is in (nothing wrong with the MagSafe - tested it on another computer).  Sometimes the light will be green while it drains and it&#x27;ll say "not charging", sometimes it&#x27;ll be orange and say "calculating time until full" but it will be draining.  It&#x27;s never gone to 0% but it will consistently get to 5%.Today, while running video conversions, I had an inkling that maybe running many intensive programs at the same time would be the issue and sure enough, as soon as the videos were done converting, the battery started charging again (albeit slowly).So I guess my question is - is this absolutely an ML problem (it sounds like it but I&#x27;ve had mild issues with the battery before) or is it a battery defect or...?  And if it is an ML problem, what are my options for downgrading back to Lion since I never actually owned it myself?  Can I do the restore option I&#x27;ve seen around because it "came with the system" (kind of)?  Thanks in advance for any help!The numbers under the hood:Battery Information:  Model Information:  Serial Number:          D861124068JDGDMAN  Manufacturer:          SMP  Device Name:          bq20z451  Pack Lot Code:          0  PCB Lot Code:          0  Firmware Version:          406  Hardware Revision:          2  Cell Revision:          157  Charge Information:  Charge Remaining (mAh):          3634  Fully Charged:          No  Charging:          Yes  Full Charge Capacity (mAh):          6305  Health Information:  Cycle Count:          343  Condition:          Normal  Battery Installed:          Yes  Amperage (mA):          3139  Voltage (mV):          12117System Power Settings:  AC Power:  System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10  Wake on AC Change:          No  Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes  Wake on LAN:          Yes  Current Power Source:          Yes  Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes  GPUSwitch:          2  PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:          0  Standby Delay:          4200  Standby Enabled:          0  Battery Power:  System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          15  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          5  Wake on AC Change:          No  Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes  Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes  GPUSwitch:          2  Reduce Brightness:          Yes  Standby Delay:          4200  Standby Enabled:          0Hardware Configuration:  UPS Installed:          NoAC Charger Information:  Connected:          Yes  ID:          0x0100  Wattage (W):          60  Revision:          0x0000  Family:          0x00ba  Serial Number:          0x003e7711  Charging:          Yes

hobbesocrates · Answer

I have the EXACT same problem with almost the exact same specs.  I think the problem we&#x27;re both having is with the charger.  MBPs require an 85W charger, and we&#x27;re both on 60s.  (Here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2346) Is it possible you&#x27;re not using the charger that came with your computer? I haven&#x27;t been able to retrieve my charger yet to test it, but I think that&#x27;s the problem.  For now, try the steps listed HERE, and I&#x27;ve found that selecting  Automatic Graphics Switching under Sys Pref &gt;Energy Saver helps a bit.  Hope this helps.

FlyEvolution · Answer

This is entirely due to defective design on apple&#x27;s part.  The 2011 macbook pros are engineered poorly and when they are given enough work to do, they will drain the battery  for extra power because even the 85w adapter is insufficient to power the i7 and the GPU.   The CPU and GPU draw more like 95w together.  The only thing you can do to make it stop doing that is this use Xcode to limit the number of CPU cores your system will use to just one.The steps are different depending on the OS you&#x27;re running.10.6.8 - download this program CPUPalette (its part of xcode, and can also be extracted from a 10.6.8 dvd using pacifist) and use it to disable all but one core of your cpu, as well as hyperthreading. no matter how hard you push the system with 3/4 cores disabled, it will not drain.  This will not persist through boot and needs to be done every time you restart.  You also have to keep cpu palette open.https://mega.co.nz/#!YUohlQ7a!WDRrImiMN1fxJyrFvfJ8IFCYCfUZLxRGlx_YR_Ktq9A10.7 -  10.9 - install xcode from mac app store:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?mt&#x3D;12Once installed, open up Instruments, and look in it&#x27;s preferences window.  It should have a slider in there to adjust cpu cores and a checkbox to disable hyperthreading as well.  Use this the same way as cpupalette to disable cpu cores.Until apple owns up to their defective design and does something about it, this is all you can do.I wouldn&#x27;t hold my breath on that one though.