Battery Problem: SR MBP

[amusiccale]

I purchased a SR MBP (2.2) from Apple in June 2007, just after they were announced. I have had few problems on it, but I may have a more serious battery issue at this time.

I have noticed a sudden decrease in battery 'health' on iStat Pro, Coconut Battery, etc. Right now, iStat Pro indicates a 30% battery health. At first, this did not bother me as I assumed that all batteries have a natural lifecycle and fluctuation in charge levels over time. Instead, while on battery power, the listed amount continues to decline and the computer powers off suddenly (hard power off, no 'safe shutdown'/hibernate), at around 15-20% battery life and at about a third of the length of time that I used to get out of the battery (Around an hour and a half now). This happens on both OSX and windows XP.

I have 42 battery cycles on my battery and have been faithfully keeping it away from extreme temperatures. I initially 'conditioned' the battery by running it the whole way down and letting the computer rest in sleep mode for some time. I have already used my one technical support call to Apple troubleshooting a kernel panic issue that turned out to be my USB hard drive. I am not sure how to pursue warranty assistance without being able to call Apple.

I am looking for suggestions, but I don't really know how this could be anything other than a battery problem. I cannot run the computer unplugged right now for fear of losing data.

Thanks for your help. (I will be away for the weekend, but will hopefully be back online to check suggestions or give any further information sometime Sunday evening)

 

[Mydel]

Best you can do is call Apple. They are good with replacing defected batteries.

 

[coledog]

Have you looked in your "About this Mac" stats? (under power) It'll have maximum capacity, cycles, etc... The battery is supposed to be 5500mAh. I just got mine replaced with 100 cycles on it and the maximum charge was 4900mAh. Just call Apple, they might have u run a quick test but they'll ship a new battery out to you through DHL (you'll need a credit card so they can put a hold on it (no charge) and then charge it if you don't return the old battery) and all you have to do is switch batteries and follow any other instructions on the box: schedule a pickup, packing...

Hope this helps!

 

[amusiccale]

Yeah, here are the power stats from 'About this Mac.'

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 1686
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 920
Amperage (mA): 1395
Voltage (mV): 12508
Cycle Count: 42

 

[CJRhoades]

My G4's battery had 431 cycles on it and it still has 76% efficiency. It's a 4200 mAh battery at it lasts about 2 hours and 30 mins on full charge.

 

[Consultant]

Phone support is 90 days. That's for help setting up an app, printer, etc.

Warranty is different. 1 year. You can call them for warranty issues.

This is what works for me.
- If running on battery, run it down all the way, and recharge fully.
- Do not run for 5 minutes on battery, and plug in.
- Keeping battery plugged in 100% of the time has a detrimental effect on battery capacity, so discharge at least a couple times a month. Run on battery once in awhile!

 

[amusiccale]

New battery arrived today; hopefully this will fix the problem.