In accurate power remaining reading

Hello guys,

This morning my MBP did something I've never seen. It powered itself on when I raised the screen. Then I got the "running on low power" warning. Yet the rating on the top right corner said I was near 100%. I used the laptop for a few minutes. Then it should off.

So I plugged the MBP back in. The battery reading quickly read 100%. I have now unplugged the laptop. Battery power reading is still 100%. I know it was fully charged last night before I shut it off. Had it fully charged and using it plugged in for about an hour before I went to bed.

What gives? Is the battery near dead? Seems it can't hold a charge. And the dot charge light indicator on the cable (where it attaches to the MBP) is looking orange and not red as usual...or has it always been an orange color...thought it would be red when charging and green when done.

The charger LED is orange when charging, green when fully charged. I have never seen it go red. But it does seem that your battery is not holding its charge. How old is the machine and how many cycles are on the battery?

Regards.

DarkDTSHD said:

What gives? Is the battery near dead? Seems it can't hold a charge. And the dot charge light indicator on the cable (where it attaches to the MBP) is looking orange and not red as usual...or has it always been an orange color...thought it would be red when charging and green when done.

Click to expand...

Try this program:

coconut-flavour.com - [coconutBattery 2.6.5]

Pay special attention to the "Current Battery Capacity" value & the % on the bar below it.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

chscag said:

The charger LED is orange when charging, green when fully charged. I have never seen it go red. But it does seem that your battery is not holding its charge. How old is the machine and how many cycles are on the battery?

Regards.

Click to expand...

My laptop battery has only gone through 531 cycles. Condition is good. And my MBP is just over 1 year old. I'm thinking this might be software related if the battery is still in good shape. For some reason Mac OS X thinks the battery is running on empty when it's not. Or near empty. Don't know why this just began happening this morning when I lifted the screen to access the power ON button.

Will try that program. "Coconut___". But what about this "calibration" that was suggested? Will that help? And what are the steps? Failing that I might try the other suggestion which was to unplug the AirSafe and remove the battery. Then press the power button for 10 seconds. Does that reset the settings or things related to the battery?

This only happens when the laptop is unplugged. When running on the battery only.

And now the time remaining is displaying "Finishing Charge..."...

I think the light on the AirSafe was always orange. Depends at what angle you look at it. And lighting in the room. Any how...will run that program now...

Update: Ran the Coconut Battery program...Said current battery capacity is 65486 mAh and original 5500 mAh. The bar reads 100%. Something tells me I don't have a 65486 mAh battery. My computer is 15 months old. Shall do unplug the AirSafe and remove the battery and press the power button for 10 seconds? Any other ideas before I try that?

Thanks.

531 cycles? Apple states the average life of their battery is 300 cycles. Seems like you got your money's worth. May be time to purchase a new battery but if you wish to experiment with it a bit more....

Regards.

chscaq,

If that's the case then yes. And then some already. Time flies when you're going through so many cycles.

And I solved my problem. Had my MBP plugged in, loosened the battery, popped it back in, and that was that. I got my normal battery power readings back. JOY!

Any how thanks for your advice guys. On to other things.

There is a sequence to reset the battery accuracy. Google it for the details. If I remember you must run the battery till the low warning comes on. Then keep using it until it shuts down. Then hit the power button to shut it completely off. Then put it on a charge until it is fully charged. This may take a few hours. That resets the battery accuracy. They recommend doing this once a month.