what is wrong with my battery?

hey i have the rev A macbook pro 2.0 ghz and ive had it since about september. i downloaded coconut battery because ive heard about it and wanted to check my battery. when i opened it, it said my battery capacity was 83%, while other people ive heard have high 90s with a laptop of similar age. it also says that my mac 24434 months old which means my laptop seemed to have lived before christ!!! ***??? (see screen grab below) any thoughts?
also whats the best way to use the macbook's battery? on apples site is says an ideal user would be a commuter who uses it on the go and then charges it when new a poer point. while on the apple rumors forum many people say that you should mainly keep the ac in and calibrate the battery once in a while to keep the cycles down and therfore keep the battery life up. i know any battery using any method will slowly lose it life but which is the best way to look after my battery? thanks and cheers

Thats when your battery will need to be replaced. i think

OK I was wrong, my battery says 4 months old which is right. Man you have a super MacBook Pro Steve Spilberg maybe interested in that.

Have you tried anyother software?

Maybe I'm on drugs but people spend 2500$ on a laptop and worry about 100$ battery, if your battery goes, get another one. I would be worrying about the heat issue.

um i payed for it using the student discount with my own hard earned money and im not gonna pay 100 bucks for another battery if it is screwed when it can be just replaced under the warranty. anyway what other software can i try? did u guys look at my question about the best way to use the battery by any chance?
and apparently my battery is fine after i complained about a random shutdown and the battery swelling a little so i cant get it out when my ram was replaced under warrenty... arrgghhh so many probs

^^ agreed!

who wants to throw 100$ away on a new laptop, after already spending 2k?

NO ONE

Battery levels and charging

Hi.

That is a neat app you found. I think the age of your Mac is somehow based on an internal clock possibly run by the motherboard battery. I am assuming this, as I have had 3 new batteries since purchase and it says my Mac is 10 Months old (which is correct). So I am assuming your mac is confused as to how long it has been running. This MIGHT point to a problem with the logic board perhaps?

I think from what you said about the battery swelling that you are well within your rights to have a new battery sent out to you. A battery shouldn't swell if it is made right.

As for the best way to charge a battery... here is what I do. I keep it plugged in wherever I go if I can. If I do run it from the battery, I keep doing so until it goes to sleep, then plug the charger back in. So what I mean is if I am at an airport, and I swtich it on and use the battery for 10 minutes, then I get to my hotel and I have a power point at hand, I just keep running it on the battery. Then plug it in when it runs out.

There is so much crap about charging and maintaining batteries, I find it a load of fuss to be honest. However, here is what I think SHOULD be followed, seriously...

1) If you have the time and the patience, do calibrate the battery like Apple say for your model of laptop. If you don't, it's not going to blow up. Your computer will just be able to understand more accurately how much power is left in the battery, and therefor run it down more, giving you a longer running time

2) If you are not going to use the laptop for a while, say 2-6 months straight, or longer, try your best to run the battery low, not flat, and then remove it from the laptop. I have dealt with many customers who come in with a camcorder which they got for Chirstmas, got it out for the summer holidays, and the battery is dead...because they left it in and hadn't used the camcorder for months.

3) Don't bugger about with the AC cord when it is switched on. I have seen friends and other idiots jiggle it in and out to show off to their friends the new magsafe connector. I even seen one t**t hold it so he could show his friend that he could make it make a 'buzz' noise. Good grief.

I hope those things help, and try to not get to panicky about the laptop. I have a lovely MBP 1.83 revision A (week 11 production) and I want it to be perfect all the time (to the point of wanting to take it appart to see if the fans are dirty as I hear them come on louder than they used to and SMC fan control registers the left one spinning slower than the right one)

BUT!

I have slowly learned to take a deep breath and use it as a computer and not an expensive ornament. I would seriously phone Apple and say "Look, I know my 30 days phone help has expired, I know I don't have apple care, but I am seriously worried about my battery, it is randomly shutting my computer down as the laptop runs fine off the power supply, AND the thing has a bulge in it, is there any way you can swap me a new one out? Please?"

If they refuse after that, they need shot.

My friend has a Powerbook G4 and she has zero clue about maintaining the machine, but uses it every day ALL THE TIME and when I come round and she goes to the loo, I quickly get it to check for updates and there are a bazillion updates required. As for her battery- HA HA HA - the pooor thing doesn't even know what the word callibration means! It's over 2 years old and still going strong.

Hope some of this helps. Sorry to go on and on, but I a) know what it's sometimes like to get a limited response to a question, and b) I have to pack and get sorted to fly home tomorrow, and this is a great way of procrastinating

HAPPY HOLLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

melmation said:

Hi.

As for the best way to charge a battery... here is what I do. I keep it plugged in wherever I go if I can. If I do run it from the battery, I keep doing so until it goes to sleep, then plug the charger back in. So what I mean is if I am at an airport, and I swtich it on and use the battery for 10 minutes, then I get to my hotel and I have a power point at hand, I just keep running it on the battery. Then plug it in when it runs out.

Click to expand...

This is not ideal. There is no problem with running the battery right down occasionally, but modern Li-Ion batteries are happiest when run down to around 40% charge. Yes you should calibrate the battery every now and again, but not every time you use the battery.

Also, Li-Ion batteries don't like to remain charged constantly. So if you only ever use your laptop at home, it is wise to run the battery every few weeks to keep the battery in good condition.

Having said that, there is way too much fuss around battery maintenance. Even if your nurse it and read it bedtime stories every night, within 18 - 24 months it will probably lose 50% of its capacity.

HAPPY HOLLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

Click to expand...

You too! :yinyang:

It's also perfectly ok to take the battery OUT of the computer and run it purely on AC, which won't put any wear & tear on the battery at all. Then, when the battery hits 50-30% (as Zoolook pointed out) you can charge it again. This is the ideal solution for someone who uses their notebook as a desktop replacement or uses it a large percentage of the time within reach of an available outlet.

hey again. my battery does swell but only a tiny bit when the laptop gets really hot and i cant get it out. but no major swell like some pics i have seen. i thought that the battery should swell up a little because the battery is metal and should swell a little.... but should it be replaced? my logic board has also already been replaced when it gave me a kernel panic and the original ram has also been replaced. so your telling me coconut battery says my lappy is ancient because i have logic board problem.... but i just got it replaced!!

i bought the laptop with my own money but my parents are really thinking of complaining to apple as its had too many problems and even more if i have another logic board problem. also to add to the problems coconut battery says that in one day my battery capacity has gone down 3%!!!
so if the battery does not have a problem, you are saying to get the most out of its capacity you sould not keep it fully charged all the time and plug back in the ac at about 40%? and then re-callibrate the battery every couple of months (which i have an ical reminder)??

also one more thing when my lappy was serviced for the ram and logic board i told them about the shutdowns without the ac cord in, and they said theyll look at it. turns out theres nothing wrong with it but i took it home and then got 1 shutdown, and havent got one since... to your knowledge does anyone think theres something wrong with it? thanks for reading haha

edit: my bad i thought u said the logic board is responsible for the age of my mac but u said its the motherboard which has not be checked and might be faulty. will a apple hardware test pick this up? ill do one now