My MBP 15 m2104 (OCLP 2.2/Ventura) is on its 3rd battery. The previous one, a Newertech, replaced the original one in 2020, and I had that done through an Authorized service center because I wasn't too confident to replace it myself. Later on though, I did replace the stock SSD with a higher capacity, but that's a different story.
The main reason I wasn't confident was because I looked up tutorials on how to replace the battery, and the first that came up was a step-by-step from iFixit.
It was too complex, involving removing the entire series of parts up to the motherboard, to avoid damaging those parts just to remove the battery.
I am kind of savvy with electronics, having tinkered with a few stuff here and there, and I am no stranger to installing and replacing parts on certain Macs. My previous laptop, a 2011 with the dreaded Radeongate issue, had undergone software surgery to disable the malfunctioning dGPU so I can continue using it. I have also replaced its HDD with a higher capacity drive, which was much simpler, but again, another story.
I realized, with the sheer amount of steps needed to disassemble the sheer amount of parts, I might damage it if I replace the battery myself.
So, on that occasion, I brought it to a service center, and I spent about $200 for the Newertech replacement, including labor.
I assumed it would have taken them at least a couple of hours, but, it took them less than 30 minutes. I asked the tech how he managed to do it that fast, and all he said was "there's a short cut."
I didn't pay any mind to it until a week ago when my m2014 shut down fully drained. It was on Al Dente, I was discharging it back to 80%, but it shuts down after a minute or so. When I restarted it, it was fully drained, it started charging, but it only took a few minutes to charge up to 100.
I tried draining it by unplugging; same thing. Battery settings / Battery Health 2 shows it still normal, but I was pretty sure it was kaput even though it was only 4-5 years old at less than 300 cycles. The trackpad, though still working, wouldn't <click> anymore. The battery started to bloat, I placed a straight edge on the surface of the keyboard assembly and it's no longer straight.
So I ordered a replacement a few days ago, looked up the tutorial again, but this time, it had several comments that described bypassing the initial 30++ steps to disassemble the motherboard and simply jump into removing the battery.
The original tutorial called for removing everything because of the risk of getting the adhesive remover solvent (probably a mixture of acetone and alcohol or some other mix of ketones) in to the electronics which could damage it. There were comments indicating that, or they missed a step backwards that damaged connectors rendering the machine unusable.
Of course, it's not without risk. The alternative method involved a length of dental floss or slippery nylon cord thin enough to slip underneath the battery, cutting out the adhesive. The original tutorial was tedious, presented a lot of ways the laptop can get damaged by the solvent alone.
With the floss method, a solvent wouldn't be necessary, but it does help softening the adhesive. The risk would be minimal, and the only major risk would be static.
I spent an entire afternoon looking for twisted nylon cord (used to make fishing nets) used by a couple of people in youtube (one guy used a crochet cord, it's too thick for comfort), and the only place I am sure I can find one was very far away which I didn't have the luxury of time nor energy to go to.
I realized cobblers have those cords, so I went to one and bartered a few meters of it, only to realize later that I wasted all afternoon to find it.
Just a few hours ago, the battery arrived. I proceeded to open the underlid of the laptop, disconnected the battery from the receptacle, removed the screws, had the cord ready, then started what I though was going to be a long, tedious activity.
I started inserting the cord around the first cell to the left, but I noticed it wiggle as I was examining it. I propped it up with a finger and saw that it was already loose. I checked the other side cells, and they were all loose and easily popped out.
I checked the middle cells, they were still firmly in position, but with a little more forceful prodding with my index fingers it came loose quite easily. I was able to lift the entire battery without even breaking a sweat in under 5 minutes.
How?
The Newertech's adhesive was too weak and didn't engage on the metal surface. When I flipped the battery, it was basically intact. Only the leftmost cell (rightmost when flipped) showed a little damage. I proceeded to clean some residue, which I suspect was from the original battery, with 99% electronic grade IPA.
The battery isn't even that bloated unlike the original one previously when I can barely close the lid because of how deformed the trackpad area was.
I'm calibrating it now, and the good thing is, the MBP's running 10-20% cooler than with the Newertech when it was newly installed. I'm now running it without any cooling fan, then again, I'm relegating it to a lighter workload since I got a (second hand) MBP 16 2019, a week shy before the Tahoe announcement.
The main reason I wasn't confident was because I looked up tutorials on how to replace the battery, and the first that came up was a step-by-step from iFixit.
It was too complex, involving removing the entire series of parts up to the motherboard, to avoid damaging those parts just to remove the battery.
I am kind of savvy with electronics, having tinkered with a few stuff here and there, and I am no stranger to installing and replacing parts on certain Macs. My previous laptop, a 2011 with the dreaded Radeongate issue, had undergone software surgery to disable the malfunctioning dGPU so I can continue using it. I have also replaced its HDD with a higher capacity drive, which was much simpler, but again, another story.
I realized, with the sheer amount of steps needed to disassemble the sheer amount of parts, I might damage it if I replace the battery myself.
So, on that occasion, I brought it to a service center, and I spent about $200 for the Newertech replacement, including labor.
I assumed it would have taken them at least a couple of hours, but, it took them less than 30 minutes. I asked the tech how he managed to do it that fast, and all he said was "there's a short cut."
I didn't pay any mind to it until a week ago when my m2014 shut down fully drained. It was on Al Dente, I was discharging it back to 80%, but it shuts down after a minute or so. When I restarted it, it was fully drained, it started charging, but it only took a few minutes to charge up to 100.
I tried draining it by unplugging; same thing. Battery settings / Battery Health 2 shows it still normal, but I was pretty sure it was kaput even though it was only 4-5 years old at less than 300 cycles. The trackpad, though still working, wouldn't <click> anymore. The battery started to bloat, I placed a straight edge on the surface of the keyboard assembly and it's no longer straight.
So I ordered a replacement a few days ago, looked up the tutorial again, but this time, it had several comments that described bypassing the initial 30++ steps to disassemble the motherboard and simply jump into removing the battery.
The original tutorial called for removing everything because of the risk of getting the adhesive remover solvent (probably a mixture of acetone and alcohol or some other mix of ketones) in to the electronics which could damage it. There were comments indicating that, or they missed a step backwards that damaged connectors rendering the machine unusable.
Of course, it's not without risk. The alternative method involved a length of dental floss or slippery nylon cord thin enough to slip underneath the battery, cutting out the adhesive. The original tutorial was tedious, presented a lot of ways the laptop can get damaged by the solvent alone.
With the floss method, a solvent wouldn't be necessary, but it does help softening the adhesive. The risk would be minimal, and the only major risk would be static.
I spent an entire afternoon looking for twisted nylon cord (used to make fishing nets) used by a couple of people in youtube (one guy used a crochet cord, it's too thick for comfort), and the only place I am sure I can find one was very far away which I didn't have the luxury of time nor energy to go to.
I realized cobblers have those cords, so I went to one and bartered a few meters of it, only to realize later that I wasted all afternoon to find it.
Just a few hours ago, the battery arrived. I proceeded to open the underlid of the laptop, disconnected the battery from the receptacle, removed the screws, had the cord ready, then started what I though was going to be a long, tedious activity.
I started inserting the cord around the first cell to the left, but I noticed it wiggle as I was examining it. I propped it up with a finger and saw that it was already loose. I checked the other side cells, and they were all loose and easily popped out.
I checked the middle cells, they were still firmly in position, but with a little more forceful prodding with my index fingers it came loose quite easily. I was able to lift the entire battery without even breaking a sweat in under 5 minutes.
How?
The Newertech's adhesive was too weak and didn't engage on the metal surface. When I flipped the battery, it was basically intact. Only the leftmost cell (rightmost when flipped) showed a little damage. I proceeded to clean some residue, which I suspect was from the original battery, with 99% electronic grade IPA.
The battery isn't even that bloated unlike the original one previously when I can barely close the lid because of how deformed the trackpad area was.
I'm calibrating it now, and the good thing is, the MBP's running 10-20% cooler than with the Newertech when it was newly installed. I'm now running it without any cooling fan, then again, I'm relegating it to a lighter workload since I got a (second hand) MBP 16 2019, a week shy before the Tahoe announcement.
