Battery will not charge

I'm just curious, as I have basically the same problem...

When you pull up your system profiler, has this appeared in the power menu...?

" AC adapter cannot charge battery: Yes"

(this just appeared today under Battery Information for me)

The alternate change of charging indicator lights in short intervals can be
a clue as to the state of the power adapter; since I have read of other's
experiences involving this and a replacement unit was in order.

And, if the power and battery information in the System Profiler says
your adapter is not putting out sufficient (or any) power, that is an
indication the adapter is bad, or dead.

With a dying power adapter, you may be able to charge the battery if the
computer is turned off; it would take longer to do so; especially if the out-
put voltage and milliamps of the charger have somehow been reduced
from the specifications they need to be in order to run the machine and
also charge the battery at the same time. So, a weak charger could do
one job OK, but slow; but not run the comptuer -and- charge the battery.

If a new (and tested OK) power adapter doesn't charge the
battery, and the battery (also tested OK, elsewhere if necessary)
can't get a full charge your computer may need further testing to
see if there is a defect in the DC-In board. -That could be costly.
This last idea is based on the thinking, one has also checked
and re-calibrated the battery as per Apple Support instructions.

My iBook G4 won't charge my battery, either. It'll run fine when plugged into the AC Adapter -- the one I got with the computer, or the brand-new one I just got from Apple, thinking the adapter was at fault -- but the LED light doesn't come on, and the battery doesn't seem to charge.

I got a new battery late last year as part of the recall, and made sure to calibrate it as specified in the instructions.

I've got two theories here:

- A component on the batch of motherboards that went into our computers is failing, since so many of these incidents appear to be occuring simultaneously, or
- There was something wrong with some of the batteries sent out in the recall.

Just theories, mind you. I have zero evidence to support them. But I'm not happy.

I've been have the exact same problem for months now. I took it to the local Apple Store in December but their power adapter worked in those few minutes so I bought a new adapter. I just now bought two more third party adaptors and a new battery. Nothing changed. All of them do the same thing. My battery icon switches back and forth between change and battery. I pull, twist, push and twirl until I can get it to change but in a minute or two it stops changing again.

Nothing short of sending my iBook into Apple has changed anything. Any idea what is causing this and what it will cost to fix? I might add that this all stated happening after Apple fixed or exchanged my mother board over six months ago because the firewire port stopped working.

Since the light doesn't come on, I would suspect that the adapter has failed, except for the fact that you've replaced it. It should glow green any time the battery isn't charging.

Have you tried resetting the PMU?

Will it run from a properly charged battery? If not, I would suspect the logic board is at fault.

Try your friend's battery in your iBook. Does the same thing happen? Will it charge a battery that you know is working all right?

You're welcome.

When you're having troubles with the battery and charging and resetting the PMU doesn't help, the first thing to rule out is the battery, since it is most often the culprit. You need to swap with a battery you KNOW works (which probably rules out "another battery laying around here somewhere").

Next in line for problems is the adapter, then the power input (DC-in) board, and, finally, the logic board.

Good luck.

Refer to the last "case number" or incident number for the work order on
the computer in question from when the last logic board was replaced.
You may be able to contact someone at AppleCare, with that number.

I was told an incident is only over when the problem does not reoccur.
However, I am not sure what they'd say is a reasonable time between
failures when the same thing(s) happen to the same computer.

Call Apple Support/AppleCare and give them that incident number and
ask if they can help you resolve this ongoing issue. Can't hurt to ask,
but please remember to be polite, since these people keep a generally
good attitude given the many calls a day they probably handle. A bit
of kindness and courtesy goes a long way; in any event I'd try calling.

It is more likely to be the power input board than the logic board. The power input (DC-in) board is the part of the iBook that houses the adapter port.

In my experience, when the logic board was involved, the computer wouldn't run from a charged battery.

When my husband's power input board was damaged, the computer would ONLY run from the battery, and would not run from the adapter (but it worked sporadically from the adapter before it quit altogether). I swapped batteries with him and charged his battery in my iBook until we could get it fixed.

Upon doing a little looking, I find that MicroDoc in Eugene, Oregon will do the repair for $118 ($59 for the part and $59 labor). It's the least expensive place I've found online. Maybe you can let your fingers do the walking in your Yellow Pages and see if you can find a local repair place that will meet that price.

For your nearest Authorized Apple Service Provider, check out this search page and enter your Zip Code in the box to conduct the search.

Good luck.