Seeking ideas to recondition stubborn batteries

R

rubicon

Registered
I've got two batteries for my TiBook which I've owned for the last 18 months or so. Traditionally, I have always plugged in the AC adapter unless I needed to be untethered. My batteries were always being charged.

I recently discovered that my batteries have lost their memory. Both discharge rather quickly (one moment the time till empty is 45 minutes then it jumps to 20 minutes). About 15 minutes ago I was given the "running on reserved power" warning. It seems to have plenty of juice left but the indicator is stuck on 3 minutes.

I've reconditioned both batteries a few times. I run the laptop off batteries until the computer goes into sleep mode. Then I plug in the AC adapter and charge up. This is supposed to reset the memory of the battery but it doesn't seem to be working.

Ideally I'd like to get battery indicator back to its original accuracy. Any suggestions on reconditioning a battery more effectively than I've already done?
 
Hi rubicon.
I would suggest to seek for those ideas via the 'search' option of this forum. We had a lot of threads on reconditioning batteries. Look for 'reset PMU'.
That will help you out. Good luck!
 
Take a look at the Battery Univerity web site for good information on prolonging battery life. This is not specific to Apple computers, but it did clear up some of my misconceptions about preserving battery life.

While you are at it take a look at Apple Knowledge Base article 14449 on resetting the PMU and 120281 on the Battery update, and finally 86284 on calibrating your battery.
 
I've done the PMU reset and I'll see how it works. Low battery levels and warnings are still not accurate but they are improved since the PMU reset.

I've attempted the discharge/charge calibration a number of times without the PMU reset - no improvement. I'm doing more calibration since the PMU reset - I'll see what happens.

The Battery University web site mentions a discharger/conditioner which might help. Problem is I shouldn't have to buy a $295 unit get my battery meter working properly. Especially since these are supposed to be "smart" batteries.

Worst case, I'll not worry about the inaccuracy of the batter meter. If I find anything useful related to this issue, I'll post it here.
 
Follow up...

I've read about every article out there on PowerBook batteries and followed the suggestions including full drain, rechage, reset PMU, etc. I've determined the batteries are just worn out. Interestingly, there wasn't really a gradual decline in charge - they just tanked.

I found a shareware app called iBatt (http://www.raynersoftware.com/ibatt/) which provides details about your battery's health. It displays the max charge for your battery and in my case it was well below the "average" level gathered from other iBatt users.

FWIW, I'm not sure if the "max charge" results are fully accurate or if they are influenced by the SmartChip and/or PMU. Apple Support told me that most batteries last about 2 years with constant use then need replacing. In all, I guess it's time to buy a new battery.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top