"L" style magsafe on 2008 Macbook Pro

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Hi all. The original magsafe stopped working the other day. My Macbook Pro is August 2008 and came with the 85W "T" style magsafe. I looked online and it seemed I was ok to purchase the "L" style 85W magsafe for my laptop. It seemed to be working at first but within a day or so the computer would randomly start shutting down. The battery is still in but doesn't hold a charge for more than about 10 minutes.

Should I not be using the "L" style? Is it something else?

Thanks
Justin
 

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The battery is still in but doesn't hold a charge for more than about 10 minutes.

Should I not be using the "L" style? Is it something else?

How many charge/discharge cycles on the battery?

- Nick
 
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Oh man. Lots, it's old and tired. I'm not at the computer now. I'll see if my wife can tell me. She said it started working today again and has stayed on for about 30 minutes so far.
 

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Is it just me, or is that mAh rating really high? That is not a huge number of cycles, but the condition shows a lot. It has been a long time since I have seen "replace now".

Also, the L shaped connector can work on the machines that originally had the T connector.
 

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Thanks for the battery cycle count info. As "JohnCL" mentioned...203 cycles is not that high...but that battery mAh @65000+ is way out of wack. My 17" MacBook Pro battery (the biggest Apple uses) has a max capacity of 8302 mAh.

And of course that "Replace Now" is an indicator that something is wrong (battery needs replacing).

- Nick

p.s. Did you do the SMC reset?
 
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Not sure if this is relevant/related since you said you got the same power level adapter (85w) as you had...

I recently had problems with my 2007 MPB not turning on, even while plugged in. I realized I had been using my girlfriend's adapter for her MB and it was not the same power level. My original charger brought it back to life, but the battery acted screwy for a bit, holding no charge (said "replace now"). It got over it and is acting ok now... it now has gone back to "replace soon"
 

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Both of you should replace the battery now.
 
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My battery takes forever to charge, and the light on the magsafe does not turn on anymore, green or amber. Do you think it might be the magsafe that is bad, or the battery? Mid-2009 13" MBP running 10.8.2.

Screen%2520Shot%25202013-01-05%2520at%25201.58.56%2520PM.png
 

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Mid-2009 13" MBP running 10.8.2.

Technically speaking...there is no "Mid-2009 13" MBP" (the only Mid-2009 MBP's were 17" models)...so we need more info to properly identify what you have. This is important since...2009 was a transition time when Apple went from "user-replaceable" batteries to "non-user replaceable" batteries.

For this discussion the exact model info is not critical if you can tell us what battery type you have (flip the laptop over...and see if you can remove the battery without taking the laptop apart).

- Nick
 
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The battery is sealed inside of the aluminum case. According to "About this Mac" it IS a Mid-2009 13" MBP.

Screen%2520Shot%25202013-01-05%2520at%25202.39.42%2520PM.png
 

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The battery is sealed inside of the aluminum case. According to "About this Mac" it IS a Mid-2009 13" MBP.

Some info websites I use don't list this model as a "Mid-2009 13" MBP"...but anyway.;) Sounds like you have the "non-user replaceable" battery. These are supposed to be good for 1000 cycles (yours has 438)...but strangely your "System Report" is saying "Service Battery".

As far as the MagSafe Charger. It's kind of odd that you're getting no light (green or amber)...my first thought would be the MagSafe charger is bad.

So there are two issues here:

- no light on the MagSafe charger
- battery with 438 cycles is saying "Service Now"

My first question is...how is the battery being charged if the MagSafe adapter isn't working? The screenshot shows the battery is almost fully charged (3822mAh out of 4174mAh).

Second question...Have you tried doing an SMC Reset (instructions are linked earlier in this thread).

- Nick
 
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My first question is...how is the battery being charged if the MagSafe adapter isn't working? The screenshot shows the battery is almost fully charged (3822mAh out of 4174mAh).

Second question...Have you tried doing an SMC Reset (instructions are linked earlier in this thread).

- Nick

The MagSafe charges, but VERY slowly. It will take 10+ hours to go from 5% to 100%. I did attempt the SMC reset, it didn't do anything. Could the MagSafe's issues be causing the "Service Battery" issue?
 

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The MagSafe charges, but VERY slowly. It will take 10+ hours to go from 5% to 100%.

This info plus the fact that the MagSafe doesn't light up would seem to indicate that there is something wrong with the MagSafe charger.

I did attempt the SMC reset, it didn't do anything.

Too bad...it would have been nice if it had helped.

Could the MagSafe's issues be causing the "Service Battery" issue?

I would sort of think not...since if the MagSafe is the propblem...and it is unplugged from the computer...then the computer + battery are isolated from the potentially bad MagSafe charger.

Now if the MagSafe charger before now (before this discussion in this thread)...was going "wacky" for a while...maybe it was doing something to the computers charging system (such as over-charging...wrong amps...or something). Then maybe the battery could be involved in the problem...and a reason for the "Service Battery" message.

You can try three things:

1. Find another person with a MacBook/MacBook Pro...and try your MagSafe charger on their computer to see if it operates properly. Or maybe go to an Apple Store...and maybe they will let you test it on one of their computers.
2. You could purchase another charger to test things out.
3. You could replace the battery.

I would suggest #1 first...no expenditure of $$$...and you will know immediately if it's the charger.

I should also mention one other thing. You're really supposed to be using a 60 watt MagSafe adapter with a 13" MacBook Pro (you mentioned 85 watt in post #1). I'm not 100% sure this is "bad"...but it is a discrepancy of sorts.

HTH,

- Nick
 
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Now if the MagSafe charger before now (before this discussion in this thread)...was going "wacky" for a while...maybe it was doing something to the computers charging system (such as over-charging...wrong amps...or something). Then maybe the battery could be involved in the problem...and a reason for the "Service Battery" message.
It has been doing this for a few months. I'm not sure which came first, "Service Battery" or the MagSafe light not illuminating.

You can try three things:

1. Find another person with a MacBook/MacBook Pro...and try your MagSafe charger on their computer to see if it operates properly. Or maybe go to an Apple Store...and maybe they will let you test it on one of their computers.
2. You could purchase another charger to test things out.
3. You could replace the battery.

I would suggest #1 first...no expenditure of $$$...and you will know immediately if it's the charger.
My neighbor has a 13" MBP. I'll try her's.

I should also mention one other thing. You're really supposed to be using a 60 watt MagSafe adapter with a 13" MacBook Pro (you mentioned 85 watt in post #1). I'm not 100% sure this is "bad"...but it is a discrepancy of sorts.
That was the OP. I'm not sure what wattage my MagSafe charger is...

Helped a lot. Thanks, Nick.
 

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That was the OP. I'm not sure what wattage my MagSafe charger is...

Sorry...it gets confusing sometimes when two folks with similar problems are posting in the same thread.;)

Please let us know how things go.:)

- Nick
 

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