Charging Macbook Pro: Magsafe Light Green But Battery Not Fully Charged

As roadwarrior (of sorts) and recent Mac convert I thought I should spend the extra money on a second battery for my MacBook Pro 15.4".

I noticed that when I use this recently purchased second battery, the light on the Magsafe plug glows green right from the start, even if the battery is virtually empty.
The battery appears to be working normally and the charge indication on the desktop shows an increasing charge. Fully charged, the battery lasts about as long as the original that came with my MacBook Pro - as far as I can tell.

When ordering through an Internet vendor, I had failed to notice that this battery was a A1281 replacement battery manufactured by Dekcell.

Apple goes to some lengths explaining on the website why their battery technology is superior to others and now I am having some doubts whether I should continue using this A1281 replacement battery from a different supplier - even if it was made for the MacBook Pro.

Has this been discussed before and is there a knowledge base about the use of replacement batteries not manufactured/distributed by Apple that I could tap into?
Is a repeated battery calibration likely to solve this riddle?


Thank you for sharing your insights with me.




Kurt

I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Pop the problematic battery in and reset the SMC:

Apple Portables: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

See if it charges then.

cwa107 said:

I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Pop the problematic battery in and reset the SMC:

Apple Portables: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

See if it charges then.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Unfortunately, it didn't help me with my problem.
The battery does charge.
This percentage next to the battery symbol on the desktop is steadily increasing.


What throws me off is the the small green light on the MagSafe plug that glows green right from the start - even on an empty battery.

(The other day I thought I had a problem with my MacBook.
It wouldn't start.
The small MagSafe light glowed green. "Fully charged" I thought.
Nope; battery was empty and I was fooled by that little green light on the MagSafe.
That's when I realized that with this particular battery the indicator light in the MagSafe plug glows never amber, but always green - right from the start.)




Kurt