01-09-2008, 01:52 AM

hey guys. i'm having a problem with my battery staying charged. awhile ago i somehow managed to roll over my charger (the part that plugs directly into the computer) causing it to "smoosh". it wouldn't fit in the computer, but after some reshaping..it fit. but the computer would only stay charged up for about 50 or so minutes. so i ordered another charger thinking that would solve the problem, but nope. it still only charges for about an hour or so. is there anything i can do to get it back to lasting for 2+ hours of battery life??

01-09-2008, 01:56 AM

It's an iBook? How old is it? See if you can install the iStat Pro Widget for Dashboard and look at what it rates your battery's health at. It may just be time for a new battery.

01-09-2008, 01:58 AM

yep, its an ibook. its two years old. i'll install the widget and see what happens. thanks!

01-09-2008, 02:08 AM

ok it says health:21% cycles:311 charge:20
time for a new battery?

01-09-2008, 02:13 AM

Hahahaha yeah. Health of 21% means it can only hold 21% of its original charge capacity. I think you're lucky to be getting any decent time off the charger. Batteries degrade significantly after 200 charge cycles, and you've trumped that number BIG time.

01-09-2008, 02:17 AM

haha thank you for your help! it was weird though, before the charger got all deformed it would hold charge for a long time. oh well!

01-09-2008, 02:25 AM

hmm cheapest place to get a replacement?

01-09-2008, 02:35 AM

eBay. Maybe MacMall.

Also, the deformed charger MAYBE was causing a short between the positive and negative terminals in the adapter port. If that's the case, the battery was continuously charging/discharging, which will KILL its cells.

01-09-2008, 09:29 AM

Welcome to Mac-Forums, sophie.

As a precaution, verify your serial number and check to see if it isn't listed in this battery recall program.

Keep us up to date on the outcome. Good luck!