2009 & 2011 17" Battery problems - best replacement ?

[ron1004]

In March 2019 I replaced the batteries on our 2009 and 2011 17" MacBook Pro's.

They are NewerTech bought from OWC, and when first installed they could run on battery for a respectable time.

Both 17" now have the same battery stamina issues - they'll run for about 20 minutes and then shut down completely without any low battery warning.
The battery level is around 70% at the time they shut down, and when the power is reconnected and the computer started, the battery level shows 0%, and slowly climbs to around 50% and in a short time shows 100%.

The cycle count on the 2009 is 40, and on the 2011 its 13 - they are both predominantly used on power.

I did a SMC reset on both and no change.

These NewerTech batteries didn't last anywhere near as long as the original batteries, so should I look at buying replacements from Apple, or do you recommend something else?

 

[MBAir2010]

how along have you owned these batteries?
I'm debating getting my supplies from them,
since their HDs as lasting over 10 years

 

[ron1004]

how along have you owned these batteries?
I'm debating getting my supplies from them,
since their HDs as lasting over 10 years

In March 2019 I replaced the batteries on our 2009 and 2011 17" MacBook Pro's.

 

[MBAir2010]

In March 2019 I replaced the batteries on our 2009 and 2011 17" MacBook Pro's.

ouch!
thanks for the reply

umm how much battery did you use (ave per day) and did you calibrate these batteries?

 

[SpotOnT]

Apple does not sell these batteries, since both the 2009 and 2011 17" MacBook Pro's are labeled as obsolete.

It is kind of a bummer Apple does not provide batteries. I have not found a reliable alternative. All 3rd party batteries fail pretty quick in my experience..

 

[ron1004]

@MBAir2010
Yes, I tried everything that Google came up with, but I don't think the calibration did anything to improve things.

 

[MBAir2010]

@MBAir2010
Yes, I tried everything that Google came up with, but I don't think the calibration did anything to improve things.

they say one needs to calibrate the batter the first day.
how was the battery performance in 2019-2020?

 

[ron1004]

they say one needs to calibrate the batter the first day.
how was the battery performance in 2019-2020?

OWC batteries come with the calibration procedure, which was done when installed.

They are NewerTech bought from OWC, and when first installed they could run on battery for a respectable time.

 

[MBAir2010]

OWC batteries with the calibration procedure, which was done when installed.

thanks again,
i dont know anyone other source, OWC does have a guarantee but for a year
and expect 3-5 years lifetime on these batteries.
hopefully someone else might.

at least these were easier to replace than the retina ones!

 

[toke lahti]

I have the same problem with my 17” & nt-owc-battery.
I suspect the caps on the mb has gone dry.

I’m just about to order new m1pro-mbp and maybe look at this old one when I have time in next year...

 

[GMShadow]

This usually happens when there's one or more shorted cells in the batteries. Your best option is just to replace.

 

[toke lahti]

This usually happens when there's one or more shorted cells in the batteries. Your best option is just to replace.

If I suspect the problems might be the caps in mb's power delivery, should I measure the caps when power is on or off?
(I have no experience on this.) Capacitors on wide variety of electronics have limited lifespan.

 

[ron1004]

If I suspect the problems might be the caps in mb's power delivery, should I measure the caps when power is on or off?
(I have no experience on this.) Capacitors on wide variety of electronics have limited lifespan.

The caps in these machines are the Tantalum type which aren't like the electrolytic caps that have a limited lifespan.

My wife first noticed this on her 2009, which prompted me to check it on my 2011 only to find it behaves the same, which makes me confident that its the batteries that are near their end of life.

Our usage, on mains power 99% of the time, day and night, isn't good for batteries, but then again the original batteries lasted three times these did, and the old ones would give the low batt warning and go into sleep mode, whereas with these the machine just dies.

 

[SpotOnT]

It isn't the caps and yes they are indeed Tantalum. Recallibrating the battery will not bring it back to life. It is probably just a shorted cell in the battery itself, which also explains why you get no notice from the OS right before the power cuts out.

The quality of third party batteries just aren't at the same level as Apple OEM batteries. You can get them for $20 direct from China. You can get them for $100 from iFixit or OWC. You can get them at all prices in-between from eBay, Amazon, etc. None of them hold up as well as those from Apple.

A couple years from an OWC battery is as good as you will get. Many only last a few months before you start getting random shutdowns when stressing the system. Apple no longer sells or will service batteries on these devices, so the only options are to just replace it every few years from OWC or just keep it on mains only.

Eventually you will get to the point where when you push your computer, the battery will start draining, even when plugged in, and eventually cut out. Then you will have no choice but to replace the battery, as MacBooks either run at reduced clockspeeds, or won't boot at all without the battery.

 

[MBAir2010]

Then you will have no choice but to replace the battery, as MacBooks either run at reduced clockspeeds, or won't boot at all without the battery.

i have a spare MacBook air Mountain Lion that runs on power only, no battery
hopefully  won't mess wit that forever.
OWC seems like the best battery bet!
plus they have an actual address and phone number compared to amazon or eBay thugs.

 

[Fishrrman]

Replacement batteries are a crapshoot.
They seldom last as long as did the factory-originals.

For an obsolete model such as the 17", you'll just have to "get what you can", put it in, and hope for the best...

 

[SpotOnT]

i have a spare MacBook air Mountain Lion that runs on power only, no battery
hopefully  won't mess wit that forever.
OWC seems like the best battery bet!
plus they have an actual address and phone number compared to amazon or eBay thugs.

Ya, Apple isn't messing with these older devices anymore, so you should be fine. A lot of the older (pre-retina) MBP will boot fine with no battery - they just run at reduced clock speed. The power supply in the laptop can't handle the loads when both the CPU and GPU are ramped up, so the firmware automatically throttles everything down. Newer MBP won't even boot without the battery (although there are some, less than ideal, workarounds).

I agree, OWC is probably your best bet, especially in terms of convenience. They are easy to order from and have good customer service, if the battery turns out to be a particular dud in that first year.

Some people have had good luck ordering batteries from Rewa in Hong Kong (as far as I can tell, these are factory refurbished OEM batteries). But given the hassle of ordering from HK (the shipping costs more than they charge for the battery, which means dealing with a replacement, if you get a dud, is also expensive), I tend to stick with OWC myself.

 

[profcutter]

I wonder if it would be possible to make a dummy battery, AC powered. This would go inside the machine, but not have any batteries inside, just provide the machine with sufficient power so it doesn’t go into limp mode. For a machine that’s always tethered, that could be an interesting option.

 

[toke lahti]

I wonder if it would be possible to make a dummy battery, AC powered. This would go inside the machine, but not have any batteries inside, just provide the machine with sufficient power so it doesn’t go into limp mode. For a machine that’s always tethered, that could be an interesting option.

Mine works just fine with power cable, even with a "bad" battery inside.

I just checked that I replaced the battery way longer ago than I thought: it was in 2014.
I haven't used the mbp much with battery until I went to school last year.
I guess that the sudden-power-off-problem arrived sometimes in 2016-2017.

Right now I can't decide, if all small use this 17" will get anymore, would justify a new (crappy) battery. That would be €84+vat+p&p. New apple original batteries might be valuable now...

 

[ron1004]

I wonder if it would be possible to make a dummy battery, AC powered. This would go inside the machine, but not have any batteries inside, just provide the machine with sufficient power so it doesn’t go into limp mode. For a machine that’s always tethered, that could be an interesting option.

Mine works just fine with power cable, even with a "bad" battery inside.

Both my 17" MBP's work without a battery installed, so no need for a dummy battery pack for AC operation.
I replaced the batteries in our 17" MBP's when they had swelled and started effecting the touch-pads.

Update:
I ran my wife's MBP completely down on the battery about 8 times, and it can now run on the battery for about 1.5 hours compared to 20 minutes before doing that.

The OWC could go well over 3 hours when new - I think us using it almost permanently on mains power is shortening the life of the batteries.