Strange Battery Behavior - Battery or PB Problem?

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spiff72

Guest
Hey all...

I have been having some strange problems for the last couple of days with my 17" powerbook (latest non-high res version - Rev D I think)...

When I sleep it overnight (or for any amount of time, for that matter), it tends to shut down. I also have noticed that when it is supposed to be charging, the time remaining until charged is being reported as "calculating", or I have seen it show ever increading times (starting around 3:30, and climbing as high as 15 hours to go).

I also run "X Resource Graph" all the time, and it shows battery stats all the time in a bar graph. At one point, it gave a message like "battery not found". When it did that, I pulled the battery out (while it was plugged in), and reinserted it. This got it to recognize the battery, and it appeared to start charging again. After a while, the time climbed up again, and eventually the battery "disappeared" again.

While I was watching the battery time left to charge, I tried to call applecare (around 8:45 pm EST). I got put on hold for what was supposed to be 15 minutes or less. Well, 25 minutes later, the indicator in the menu bar said "Charged". I thought this was odd, so i pulled the plug to see if it was really charged. It seems to be working just fine now....I hung up the phone in frustration. I suspect it will happen again, though...

Has anyone experienced something like this?

Do you think that they are related? I am also curious whether this might be related to the latest airport and OS upgrades...

I reset the PMU and I thought it helped, but when I went to charge it again, the same behavior started again.

Thanks!
 
OP
J

jn4jenny

Guest
That's really bizarre behavior. Did you try getting rid of the "com.apple.PowerManagement.plist" file from Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration? If not, try trashing that, then restarting and see what happens.
 
OP
S

spiff72

Guest
Thanks for the reply...

I ended calling applecare, and they decided that it was probably more than just the battery. I sent it in on Friday so I guess I will have to wait and see what they find.

By the time that I sent it in, the PB refused to acknowledge the battery at all. I think it might have been a bad battery, since the capacity had dropped to about 80% of original after only 7 months (and just 81 charge cycles). The only thing that makes me think there was something else wrong is the fact that the power adapter light actually turns a brighter shade of orange when you push it slightly downward while it is plugged in. It also gets very hot when you do this. It isn't the adapter, since the one from my wifes 15" PB does the same thing.

I told them about this, along with some other non related issues (loose screen hinge and a sticky latch). I hope they take care of ALL of it. I already miss it!

Thanks,
Jeff
 

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