Help! - New Battery is Not Charging

Hi all, I've had my black macbook (model# - A1181) for a few years now, and the original battery stopped holding a charge, so I bought a new one from Amazon. I thought I had chosen the right battery - it certainly fits fine, and currently displays a charge of 77%, but does not recharge at all.

Next to the power symbol on my screen, it plainly says "(Not Charging)."

Here is the battery I ordered: Amazon.com: 5600mAh 6 Cells Replacement Apple MacBook 13 MA254 A1181 MA472 Laptop Battery MA254B/A MB062X/A MA472B/A MA472CH/A MA472F/A MA472J/A MA472LL/A MA472SA/A MA472TA/A series w/a USB2.0 SD Card Reader as a free gift Replacment ": Electronics

I have tried two methods suggested in other forums to fix this, neither of which had any effect. The first was to reset the PRAM By resetting and holding Apple+Option+P+R keys. The second was to reset the power management system (or something) by shutting down, removing the battery and power cable, and holding the power button for 5 seconds.

The power cable light is always green when plugged in. If anyone could help explain what is going on here and how I can fix it, that would be awesome. Thank you!!

Generally speaking, Amazon sells good stuff. Unfortunately, the battery you purchased was from a third party who sells on Amazon. The price you paid was way below what a genuine Apple battery sells for and is probably a cheap imitation. Send it back, get a refund, and go to OWC and buy a genuine replacement battery for your Black MacBook. The price is going to be around $99, but it will work.

Thanks for that info. Rats. Thats the first time I've been burned through amazon, I guess.

So, not that I won't check it out, but what exactly makes OWC so much more trustworthy than amazon? I haven't heard of them.

Shouldn't an imitation battery at least do something?

Anyone else concur with this diagnosis?

Maybe

It could be a bogus power supply, yes.

I'm getting "not charging" in a few situations. So far, diddling with the power cycles has managed to get mine to charge so we're probably not seeing the same issue.

However, I've also noticed that macs need to be calibrated to a new battery before the percentage indication is correct. And the percentage indication will often be incorrect.

For example, my macbook pro often reads 95% all day even though it's plugged in. Other days it reads 98% and occasionally it reads 99% or 100%.

When switching batteries, you either just have to live with the inaccurate indication, or you need to force it to recalibrate. To force it to recalibrate, run it down completely and then recharge it. There are instructions with official mac batteries that tell about this, I think. (I remember reading it somewhere when I needed it.)

So it's possible that your new battery is just fine and fully charged, even though the display reads something else in percentage.