MacBook Battery Logevity

[hagios1972]

Maybe I should calibrate. I think I've only done it once since I got my MB back in July/Aug last year.

I'll calibrate it this week and report back my findings on what calibrating will show after.

Here is what the Finder search says about calibrating the MacBook battery calibration:
"
Repeat the calibration process every two months or so to keep the battery fully functioning. If you use your MacBook or MacBook Pro infrequently, it’s best to recalibrate the battery at least once a month."

 

[symondavis]

Oh this makes my battery look aged.
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4485
Cycle Count: 144
Battery health 89%(taken from iStat)

Maybe I should calibrate. I think I've only done it once since I got my MB back in July/Aug last year.

I'll calibrate it this week and report back my findings on what calibrating will show after.

Well I have now done a full discharge and recharge. Here below are my results.

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4429
Cycle Count: 145
Battery health 88%(also from iStat)

So battery is bad! Oh well.

 

[Richie_Gecko]

Here are my stats...

cycles: 174
age: 9 months old
current battery capacity: 3484 (67%) :radioacti
So what the heck gives? Doesn't Apple estimate 300 cycles before any significant loss occurs?

 

[gilesjuk]

Letting a lithium ion fully discharge is a bad thing.

I would read this section:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion#Storage_temperature_and_charge

And the section above on usage.

They degrade naturally over time, it's not something Apple can do anything about.

 

[Richie_Gecko]

Here are my stats...

cycles: 174
age: 9 months old
current battery capacity: 3484 (67%) :radioacti
So what the heck gives? Doesn't Apple estimate 300 cycles before any significant loss occurs?

Wow...one day later, and I am now at 58% capacity. What???

 

[JuJuBeee]

to people that are constantly plugging in their laptops to main power..you are killing your battery by doing this

 

[skye]

i never calibrate. i have 250 cycles and 4135 mha

 

[ToddG]

Wow...one day later, and I am now at 58% capacity. What???

When is the last time you calibrated your battery?

In what manner are you charging/discharging the battery?

What are the environmental conditions in which the battery is being kept?

 

[Richie_Gecko]

When is the last time you calibrated your battery?

In what manner are you charging/discharging the battery?

What are the environmental conditions in which the battery is being kept?

I calibrated my battery last month.

I'm usually plugged in whenever possible. My understanding is that the battery is bypassed once fully charged, so this shouldn't hurt anything.

I live in a warm, dry climate (Las Vegas, NV).

 

[Richie_Gecko]

to people that are constantly plugging in their laptops to main power..you are killing your battery by doing this

I don't believe this is the case, because the battery is bypassed once fully charged.

 

[Zoolook]

I don't believe this is the case, because the battery is bypassed once fully charged.

In theory that's true, but long term storage in a fully charged state, partcularly when warm, doesn't suit the battery.

My battery dropped 500mAh last night to 4100 as the maximum capacity (it's had 73 cycles), so I did the following as a bit of an experiment.

- I ran the battery down until the Macbook went to sleep
- I took out the battery and reset the power management (hold down thre 'on' button for at least 5 seconds with the battery removed)
- replaced the battery and connected the machine to the mains
- The machine comes back to life from its snooze. Reboot resetting the PR Ram
- The machine then reported 700mAh charge in the battery which I ran down again.
- Repeat the process when dead again and then fully charge
- Battery now reports 4900mAh

Now this is the 2nd time I have done this, so I think my battery has a faulty monitoring chip possibly. However it has worked both times.

 

[JuJuBeee]

I don't believe this is the case, because the battery is bypassed once fully charged.

hate to post this again but it seems the topic comes up very often

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

The worst condition is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures, which is the case with running laptop batteries. If used on main power, the battery inside a laptop will only last for 12-18 months. I must hasten to explain that the pack does not die suddenly but begins with reduced run-times.

 

[cxjr25]

to people that are constantly plugging in their laptops to main power..you are killing your battery by doing this

Can someone validate this statement? i have heard similar things before. Apparently my sony viao's battery was completely fried because I always kept the laptop plugged in.

 

[JuJuBeee]

look right above your post...that site i referenced is an excellent resource

 

[Richie_Gecko]

In theory that's true, but long term storage in a fully charged state, partcularly when warm, doesn't suit the battery.

My battery dropped 500mAh last night to 4100 as the maximum capacity (it's had 73 cycles), so I did the following as a bit of an experiment.

- I ran the battery down until the Macbook went to sleep
- I took out the battery and reset the power management (hold down thre 'on' button for at least 5 seconds with the battery removed)
- replaced the battery and connected the machine to the mains
- The machine comes back to life from its snooze. Reboot resetting the PR Ram
- The machine then reported 700mAh charge in the battery which I ran down again.
- Repeat the process when dead again and then fully charge
- Battery now reports 4900mAh

Now this is the 2nd time I have done this, so I think my battery has a faulty monitoring chip possibly. However it has worked both times.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely try this.

Hopefully this helps, as my battery health now registers at a paltry 35%.

Update:
I just tried this (once, not twice) and my battery capacity once again reads 90% (4716 mAh). Interesting to say the least.

Thank you for the help.

 

[Shinji]

Using "Temperature Monitor", the battery in my iBook sits at temp of 30 deg C all day in the air-conditioned office.

The Battery University say keep the battery at above 45 deg C is bad, how about 30 deg C?

Cheers

 

[XMARLTONX]

How does one cycle/calibrate the battery? I have had my macbook for around and it currently shows i only have 2 cycles, is that bad?

 

[XMARLTONX]

Nevermind, although I am still unsure about the cycles thing.


Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.

Disconnect the power adapter with the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.

Continue to keep your computer on until it goes to sleep. Save all your work and close all applications when the battery gets very low, before the computer goes to sleep.

Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.