My Macbook won't charge unless the battery is completely empty

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Level 1

9 points

My Macbook won't charge unless the battery is completely empty

I have a Macbook A1181 (2009) which was delivered to me with an adapter that seemed faulty at first sight (blue tape all over it). On the first day it charged my Macbook just fine, even when I was using it. The next day, when I connected the adapter to the socket, both my Macbook and the adapter did not respond. From what I understood off some forums on the internet, the adapter is supposed to give a small green light when it's connected to electricity power, even if it's not connected to a macbook yet. Mine did not give any light at all. But somehow, everytime my Macbook runs completely out of power (which the Macbook already does at 25% remaining battery power), the adapter DOES work, and the orange charging light comes on, right after it gives me that small green light for a second. So, what I need to know: where is the problem? Is it the adapter? The Macbook? The battery inside the Macbook? If anyone knows how to solve this problem, I would appreciate it.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Feb 7, 2016 11:58 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

82,965 points

Feb 7, 2016 6:22 PM in response to BBouhoud

For one thing I would never trust an adapter with electrical tape on it. As I found out the hard way, Radio Shack which can be an expert at building your own notebook power adapter has never managed to compress the circuits enough to make a non-bulky adapter like Apple's. So you'll need get a good quality one from sources listed on my tip*:

http://www.macmaps.com/frayguide.html

The new Magsafe 2 will not work with your Mac.

The green light can be flaky on older models when the battery needs to have the SMC reset every so often. Eventually the battery dies, and no SMC reset will allow you to use the battery. Sometimes you are lucky, and batteries can last more than 4 years, but it really depends on use.

Also look for signs of expansion near where the battery is. After identifying which 2009 model you have:

http://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6413

If it is an all in one model the battery location is generally given on http://www.ifixit.com/

If there are no signs of expansion, your real issue is just getting a proper power adapter. There was an exchange program which some authorized service centers had for battery expansion issues. Whether or not they'll honor it really depends on Apple. This is just a user to user board, and I've heard mixed stories depending on service center for honoring exchange repair programs when they are getting long in the tooth.

* Links to my pages may give me compensation.

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