2012 Macbook Air - Battery overheating at 100% charge on wall power

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Level 1

8 points

2012 Macbook Air - Battery overheating at 100% charge on wall power

Hi---

I have a mid-2012 Macbook Air that has run like a dream. Recently I have noticed that the battery begins to heat up at full charge when on the wall power. The battery life is considerably lower than it was up until very recently - 2 hours to 20% vs. 5 hours only a few months ago. The battery icon in the dock never shows the 'plugged in' status bar, only the 'lightning bolt'-charging status battery even at 100%. I have tried reseting the NVRAM and the SMC to no avail. I have also changed the battery, but it did not help. Is there a patch or something that might fix the battery controller? Otherwise, I'm concerned that it will require an expensive motherboard replacement.

Thanks for any help!

rhc1000

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 22, 2015 9:03 PM

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Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Mar 23, 2015 3:35 AM in response to rhc1000

Open System Information>Power and post this from your MBA:

(make certain that the charger is connected)

Ciao.

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Answer 2

rhc1000 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2015 9:24 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thanks for the response. I have included the Power-System Info below. I also ran a Hardware check and it turned up a battery error code: 4BAT / 6 / 40000005

Battery Information:

Model Information:

Serial Number: W01107AW7D3BA

Manufacturer: SCDA

Device Name: A1377

Pack Lot Code: 3230

PCB Lot Code: 30db

Firmware Version: ddae

Hardware Revision: dac2

Cell Revision: 2b39

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 6369

Fully Charged: No

Charging: Yes

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6700

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 1

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 820

Voltage (mV): 8305

System Power Settings:

AC Power:

System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0

Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0

Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2

Wake on AC Change: No

Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes

Wake on LAN: Yes

AutoPowerOff Delay: 14400

AutoPowerOff Enabled: 1

Current Power Source: Yes

DarkWakeBackgroundTasks: 0

Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes

PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep: 0

Standby Delay: 4200

Standby Enabled: 1

Battery Power:

System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 6

Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10

Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 3

Wake on AC Change: No

Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes

AutoPowerOff Delay: 14400

AutoPowerOff Enabled: 1

DarkWakeBackgroundTasks: 0

Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes

Reduce Brightness: Yes

Standby Delay: 4200

Standby Enabled: 1

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes

ID: 0x07a1

Wattage (W): 45

Family: 0x0085

Serial Number: 0x001695d1

Charging: Yes

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Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Mar 23, 2015 12:58 PM in response to rhc1000

It appears to me that you have a non-Apple battery installed based on the manufacturer ID. It is not one that I am familiar with. That may be the source of your problem as validated by the AHT battery error. Many non-Apple batteries have had a poor reputation when installed in a Mac.

My suggestion is to take the MBA to an Apple store genius bar for a FREE evaluation. If there is an internal hardware problem, it is not likely that the logic board has to be replaced. It may be the battery and/or the I/O board, a much less expensive proposition.

Ciao.

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Answer 4

rhc1000 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2015 1:04 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thanks for the suggestion. I had an identical issue with the factory battery, and I just thought it was failing. I will replace the new battery with the original factory one and take it to Apple. Hopefully, it's not a big ticket repair.

Thanks!

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