I have spent a great amount of time researching this issue and troubleshooting and I am stumped. I would love you forever if you could help!
I'll try to keep this short:
Specs:
Mid 13" 2010 MBP 7,1
2.4 Core 2 Duo
Upgraded to 16GB Ram
Samsung 850 Pro SSD
OS: X El Capitan 10.11.6
Battery Health Information:
Cycle Count: 980
Condition: Normal
Okay yes I realize my cycle count is very close to the 1,000 mark... but if there was an issue wouldn't it show replacing soon?
Problem:
LED indicator on Magsafe charger is sometimes weird. It will indicate at the top the lightning bolt showing its charging yet the LED is green. Then it might change to orange after a while. Just some weird things. Sometimes The LED won't turn on at all and takes a few time of plugging/unplugging to get it to work.
That was my first indication something wasn't right but then it got worse. Sometimes it wouldn't charge at all, no LED, no charge or anything.
Okay so battery is likely bad but maybe the charger is too... took it to Apple and tried one of their chargers. Again, it was temperamental. You plug either of them in and the LED would sometimes turn on and sometimes wouldn't. Apple told me I needed a new charger when clearly there was no difference between their one used to test and mine.
How I Have Tried To Resolve My Problem:
First I tried SMC resets. Not much luck there. My fan has been noisy for a few months now, also a sign of a need of SMC reset, so I figured this is likely.
Yesterday, I decided to unplug my battery and leave the cable off for about a half hour. Then reboot with an SMC reset again. SUCCESS! worked like normal. Today back to square one. Unplugging the battery and SMC resets had to be done a few times and eventually it would work, but something just doesn't seem right.
Ideas/Experience sharing/Recommendations? HELP ME PLEASE:
I am debating buying a new battery. Of course OEM ones are basically obsolete. It seems like there are some decent aftermarket ones out there. I mean its an older unit so they've had time to reverse engineer and get it working as it should. Read some great stories of people replacing batteries, even cheap $20 ones, and they work fine for months with the only downside being that they don't hold enough of a charge and you get a short battery life, that I don't care about since I'm usually by an outlet.
My Thoughts (take this with a grain of salt):
-Could be an issue with the logic board
-Could be a bad battery despite diagnostics saying its okay
-Could be my OS as I have heard of people having battery issues with it.
-Maybe a loose connection or something with my port on the computer?
I don't know what to do.. I came so close to buying a $3,000 15" MBP yesterday due to my frustrations despite not having the money and needing to finance it. I would want a new one but bleh. I've heard they aren't any good. And I have a very good SSD and more RAM than most base units, and I need 16GM RAM as I do a lot of web work and utilize a lot of intensive programs for my work.
I see prices online for batteries fluctuating from around $20-100. And I understand there are trusted sites that will sell quality ones. But regardless of price or reputability of the brand, reviews are all mixed.
I also find it strange that anytime I open my computer from sleep or off mode a battery removal and SMC reset will usually work.. so I don't know.
Is it worth ordering a new battery? Can those cheaper ones damage my unit? Any recommendations on what to try? Or do I just give up on this computer and buy new. I'm beginning to lose my mind over this!
I'll try to keep this short:
Specs:
Mid 13" 2010 MBP 7,1
2.4 Core 2 Duo
Upgraded to 16GB Ram
Samsung 850 Pro SSD
OS: X El Capitan 10.11.6
Battery Health Information:
Cycle Count: 980
Condition: Normal
Okay yes I realize my cycle count is very close to the 1,000 mark... but if there was an issue wouldn't it show replacing soon?
Problem:
LED indicator on Magsafe charger is sometimes weird. It will indicate at the top the lightning bolt showing its charging yet the LED is green. Then it might change to orange after a while. Just some weird things. Sometimes The LED won't turn on at all and takes a few time of plugging/unplugging to get it to work.
That was my first indication something wasn't right but then it got worse. Sometimes it wouldn't charge at all, no LED, no charge or anything.
Okay so battery is likely bad but maybe the charger is too... took it to Apple and tried one of their chargers. Again, it was temperamental. You plug either of them in and the LED would sometimes turn on and sometimes wouldn't. Apple told me I needed a new charger when clearly there was no difference between their one used to test and mine.
How I Have Tried To Resolve My Problem:
First I tried SMC resets. Not much luck there. My fan has been noisy for a few months now, also a sign of a need of SMC reset, so I figured this is likely.
Yesterday, I decided to unplug my battery and leave the cable off for about a half hour. Then reboot with an SMC reset again. SUCCESS! worked like normal. Today back to square one. Unplugging the battery and SMC resets had to be done a few times and eventually it would work, but something just doesn't seem right.
Ideas/Experience sharing/Recommendations? HELP ME PLEASE:
I am debating buying a new battery. Of course OEM ones are basically obsolete. It seems like there are some decent aftermarket ones out there. I mean its an older unit so they've had time to reverse engineer and get it working as it should. Read some great stories of people replacing batteries, even cheap $20 ones, and they work fine for months with the only downside being that they don't hold enough of a charge and you get a short battery life, that I don't care about since I'm usually by an outlet.
My Thoughts (take this with a grain of salt):
-Could be an issue with the logic board
-Could be a bad battery despite diagnostics saying its okay
-Could be my OS as I have heard of people having battery issues with it.
-Maybe a loose connection or something with my port on the computer?
I don't know what to do.. I came so close to buying a $3,000 15" MBP yesterday due to my frustrations despite not having the money and needing to finance it. I would want a new one but bleh. I've heard they aren't any good. And I have a very good SSD and more RAM than most base units, and I need 16GM RAM as I do a lot of web work and utilize a lot of intensive programs for my work.
I see prices online for batteries fluctuating from around $20-100. And I understand there are trusted sites that will sell quality ones. But regardless of price or reputability of the brand, reviews are all mixed.
I also find it strange that anytime I open my computer from sleep or off mode a battery removal and SMC reset will usually work.. so I don't know.
Is it worth ordering a new battery? Can those cheaper ones damage my unit? Any recommendations on what to try? Or do I just give up on this computer and buy new. I'm beginning to lose my mind over this!