DssW - Power supply

Battery life

Mon, 21 May 2012 23:12:51 AZOST

In article <heaney-40E7F4.16520521052003@news.east.cox.net>,
John Heaney <heaney@SolidObject.com> wrote:

>In article <3ecb9ca7$0$199$75868355@news.frii.net>,
> Dennis Clark <dlc@io.frii.com> wrote:
>
>>John Heaney <heaney@solidobject.com> wrote:
>>[snip]
>>
>>Nicd and NiMh batteries benefit from cycling, and never store them charged
>>or they go "flat" and need to be cycled a couple of times to get them back.
>>Litium batteries prefer to be charged and trickled, but I don't know if they
>>should be stored flat or charged, I've no experience with them yet.
>>
>>DLC
>>
>>: If that is so, will deep cycling the battery now help at all?
>>
>>: Would it make sense to have one battery to use when I go portable and
>>: one to use while the machine is plugged in on my desktop? In other
>>: words, will a battery have a longer life if I keep it on the shelf?
>
>Whoa, this is kind of scary. I just got an email from DevDepot Deals
>advertising PowerBook batteries. Yikes.

Yow! They're $150! Ouch.

----
John S. Heaney
voice & fax (401) 438-4288
I don't train in Aikido to protect myself from the world, but to protect the world from me.

Battery problem on PB G4

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:31:41 GMT

DManzaluni <dmanzaluni@googlemail.com> wrote:

> Just got a 1.5GHz powerbook G4 in which isnt charging its battery. I
> did notice a very slight flicker once on the first LED plugging it in
> but havent seen it since. Records seem to show that it has had a
> battery replacement but I dont know the details. Computer seems to
> work fine apart from that (and it wont pick up an IP, though I cant
> imagine that has anything to do with the battery problem: The airport
> card can see networks and it seems to be able to log onto them but
> keeps picking up a spoofed IP on every local network??)
>
> Control option shift power doesnt seem to do the trick, nor does reset-
> defaults or reset-nvram in O. F.
>
> Turning off and on the power in the top ribbon bar doesnt seem to do
> anything, though to be fair BATTERY IS NOT CHARGING and POWER SOURCE
> POWER ADAPTER is greyed out
>
> The only other symptoms are that the unit doesnt bong on start up,
> though I can hear repeated HDD activity on CMD-OPT P R as if it IS
> bonging and it loses its date and time on shut-off even when the
> adapter isnt unplugged (after I have tried to reset the PMU unit)
>
> Is there anything left to reset? I cant believe that the internal
> battery is dead on a unit which isnt all that old, there isnt anything
> particularly suspicious in INFO and the cycle count is zero. I
> suspect that this computer has been on a desktop for most of its life

One unwelcome possibility is that the charger itself is dud.

I lately bought one (via ebay) that turned out to be a pirate copy. Very
plausible indeed, even when laid side-by-side with a known genuine
article. But it simply stopped working after about a month. The
specially annoying feature is that it *looks* like it's working - the
ring lights up in the right ways, it just doesn't actually deliver juice
to the Mac.

So if your PB is secondhand, it might also be worth trying a different
charger.

G.
--
From Gareth John
Please pull out the plug if you want to reply by email

Powerbook battery question

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:37:33 GMT

I've Powerbook G4 and would like to know if running it with the battery
out (on AC power) will do any damage? I'm aware of the limited cycles
that a battery has and as I tend to use it only with AC power would like
to preserve the battery's charging ability as long as I can.

If this is not a problem, can I remove/insert the battery safely when
the machine is plugged in?

The reason I ask is that with my Toshiba (running XP Pro) I tend to run
it always on AC power but disconnect it when removing/inserting the
battery. Is the Mac different from this? I know that I lose the clock
time when the Mac is not plugged in (in contrast to the Tosh which
doesn't seem to lose clock time).

One more unrelated question...
I'm running OS X 10.3.8 and every time I start the Powerbook the Hard
Drive icon moves to a different place on the screen. Is there any way
of keeping it in the upper right hand corner where I prefer to have it,
other than at a random place upon boot up time?

Thanks,

Karen

Battery lifespan on PowerBook?

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:08:43 GMT

How long is it reasonable to expect a battery to last? (15" PowerBook G4.)
My first battery started to show signs of aging after about a year and a
half (the computer no longer gave a "low battery" warning but just quit most
unceremoniously after a couple of hours of use). My second battery is now
showing the same signs after about year -- it says it's gone through 128
cycles. The machine is plugged in most of the time but tends to be used a
couple of hours a day on just the battery -- I have to admit I don't
remember the last time I intentionally fully discharged it, but it certainly
doesn't feel to me like it's happened a couple of times a week, which is
what that cycle count says. Right now it's fully charged but if I pull the
plug it says I only have 2.5 hours of battery usage left (full brightness,
wifi on, bluetooth off, doing nothing.) Says full charge capacity 3287mAh,
but remaining capacity (right after unplugging) 3263.

--
Ted Lee
Minnetonka, MN

PB G4 Ti Battery evaluation ?

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:15:57 AZOST

In article <48c9f859$0$17235$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
claudel@sonic.net (Claude V. Lucas) wrote:

> In article <QrWdnRzequdxblTVnZ2dnUVZ_rXinZ2d@speakeasy.net>,
> Norm <NOSPAM@gmail.invalid> wrote:
> >Is there a way to determine if a PowerBook G4 Ti's battery is gone or if
> >it is another problem?
> >
> >Battery percentage stays at 0%.
> >
> >If battery is gone, is there a "best" place to purchase a replacement?
> >
> >Thanks in advance.
>
> Presuming that you are referring to the battery charge indicator.

Yes. Sorry, not very clear.

>
> Before you spend, give this a go.
>
> Boot it on the power supply.
>
> Unplug the power supply, let it sit till the battery goes dead.

PB shut down immediately.

>
> Plug the power back in and let it charge up.

Stayed at zero battery charge indicator.

>
> This might take a few hours.
>
> See if that recalibrates the indicator.
>
> If it does, then you're all set.
>
> If not, unplug it again and see hoe long it takes to die again.

I'll try again.

>
> If you have a reasonable amount of charge time you might not need to buy a
> battery.
>
> If it dies quickly then the battery is gone...
>
> "reasonable" and "quickly" are something *you* have to decide for your
> situation.

Wallstreet PB G3 Series Battery Issue

Sat, 03 May 2008 22:14:03 AZOST

Back when my Wallstreet PB was fairly young, the battery appeared to die
prematurely. However a replacement battery had the same symptoms. It
turned out that there was a bad power control module. I ended up with
two good batteries.

Recently both old batteries appeared to be dead. After trying Battery
Reset on both, only one was recognized and took a full charge. Then
with no other action, the second battery was later recognized and also
took a full charge.

The problem appears to be intermittent. Sometimes the Wallstreet
recognizes the battery, and sometimes it doesn't. (It will work on a
fully charged battery, even when not "recognized".)

Two other intermittent problems have appeared. The fan may come on when
the computer gets warm, but it may not, even when too hot to touch. And
the computer may recognize the SCSI disk mode adapter or it may not.

Can anyone tell me if all three problems (battery charging, fan turn-on
and SCSI disk mode) could be explained by a bad power control module?
Or, is the only common factor the main logic board?

Fred

Question about iBook (A1055) Batteries ---- OEM or not?

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:13:58 AZOST

I am a pc guy trying to help a friend replace their mac g4 iBook A1005
notebook battery.

What I am not sure of is how much to trust non-genuine apple replacements.
Does anyone have any trusted supplier of genuine and/or non-genuine
batteries? I am not at all sure whether to trust the "compatible with aaa,
bbb, ccc..." business, even when genuine apple.

Further, "all things being equal", what mA rating should is recommended?
4400ish? I just am not sure in the mac world.

Thanks!

MacBook Pro Battery Life

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:25:53 GMT

My MBP battery seems to be running out of juice more than it did and
Coconut Battery monitor says it is now down to 54% capacity. At what
point is it recommended to change the replace the battery. The machine
itself is 16 months old.

The problem this evening was that I had very little time between the
low battery warning and the machine going to sleep to protect the
battery. This is what I recall happening with my 12" PBook and it
rapidly got a lot worse from that point.
--
Cheers,

Steve

The reply-to email address is a spam trap.
Email steve 'at' shodgson 'dot' org 'dot' uk

Remote shutdown

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:23:54 GMT

Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> wrote:

> I have a requirement to remotely shut down my Mac Mini (when the machine
> that's monitoring the UPS decides there's not enough battery left).
>
> Is there any reason why I (or rather, the script) shouldn't ssh to it and
> issue the appropriate "shutdown" command? Or is there a more Mac-ish way
> of doing this?

ARD will let you shut down from the Apple menu.

One way street though,

Jan

12-volt car power adapter

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 23:50:16 GMT

JohnOK <jmhufford@gmail.com> writes:

>I see that Apple offers a product, Magsafe-Airline-Adapter, for powering
>the Macbook while flying but Apple warns against using this product in a
>car.

>So, are there third-party 12-volt car power adapters for the Macbook?

AFAIK, no. Apple has refused to license the Magsafe design to anyone
that makes such adapters.

Also, that Apple unit does NOT charge the battery; it only powers
the box. I suspect it produces only one of the two outputs the usual
"elephant ears" 120V adapter/charger has.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

Battery Life and Leopard

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:12:55 GMT

In article <2008011012372816807-usenetbrightfireeu@news.nildram.co.uk>,
JackSlash <usenet brightfire eu> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed a drop in battery life
> with leopard installed. I have an original core duo macbook so the
> battery is aging anyway and im wondering if im imagining a sudden drop
> in life after installing leopard or wether the battery is just on its
> way out.

Probably a bit of both. At over a year old, your battery is likely
showing some significant degradation, but Leopard does impose a heavier
load so you're probably draining your diminished capacity faster than
you were.

iBook G4 Battery Question

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:25:58 GMT

Would a bad battery prevent the laptop from operating normally when
the AC adapter is connected, or should the laptop switch to the
external power no matter what the state of the battery?

Thanks.

Battery problems with clamshell iBook

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:33:54 GMT

About four or five months ago I replaced the completely dead battery on
our clamshell iBook with a third-party one, before the machine was
donated to extended family.

Recently it's stopped holding charge properly, but despite it being from
a Chinese eBay seller, I am not completely sure that it's just a crappy
quality battery.

Troubleshooting it, I have discovered that after a reset (using the
little penhole reset button, not just a power cycle) it will happily
charge for approx one percentage point (ie 12% to 13%) then stop. The
light surrounding the power cable goes green like it's fully charged,
and it no longer takes in more power, but both battery diagnostic
software (I forget which, now) and the battery meter in the menubar show
it as only partially charged.

This behaviour happens whether the machine is on or off. I can even have
the machine turned off on the table, watch the power ring turn green,
hit reset, and see the power light turn orange and stay orange for a few
minutes. Doing this and then turning on will show it to have increased
charge by two percentage points.

This machine has a history of funniness with charging. Sometimes it
won't power on unless the reset button is pressed and held for a few
seconds while connected to power, and the power ring is always glowing
slightly green when unplugged from the power (a short somewhere?).

Aside from resetting the PRAM (which I have already done) or throwing
good money after bad by buying a new battery only to find the fault lies
with the iBook, an anyone suggest what I might try to either fix it or
at least work out whether the problem is with the battery or the iBook?

-z-

--
No 3G. Fewer megapixels than an N95. Lame.

12-volt car adapter

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:52:20 GMT

In article <Xns9A23726C6C2E1okj@140.99.99.130>,
JohnOK <jmhufford@gmail.com> wrote:
>I'm seriously considering replacing my Windoze based Dell laptop with a
>MacBook. One of the things I do with my laptop is use it as a navigation
>device while driving my RV back and forth across the country. I have a 12-
>volt adapter that I plug into the 12-volt accessory socket to keep the
>laptop perking along for the 8 to 10 hours I'm on the road each day.
>
>I see that Apple offers a product, Magsafe-Airline-Adapter, for powering
>the Macbook while flying but Apple warns against using this product in a
>car.
>
>So, are there third-party 12-volt car power adapters for the Macbook?

Google. "Magsafe car adapter". HTH. HAND.

--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

MacBook Pro Battery utility?

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:16:02 GMT

Woody <usenet@alienrat.co.uk> wrote:

> Flavio Matani <flavio_mataniTAKETHISBITOUT@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > Ian Robinson <junk@canicula.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > > On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 11:33:53 +0000, Ian Robinson wrote
> > > (in article <0001HW.C39FD5A10001E9D3B01AD9AF@news.gradwell.net>):

<snip info on battery charge from System Profiler>
> > >
> > > Time to dump it in the battery recycling bin.
> >
> > So it would seem. The one in my macbook, which is holding charge
> > 'nominally' for an hour (much less than half as new and it is not an
> > hour, please read on) and which has taken, in spite of PMMU resets, etc,
> > to shutting down without warning when it reads about 25 min remaining,
> > reads:
>
> Sabs lasts longer than that, but it does shut down randomly without
> warning.
>
> How old is yours then? We got hers (or mine as it was) a couple of weeks
> after they were released.

Same here.

--
flavio matani
guitar tuition
homepage.mac.com/flavio_matani/guitar/
www.livejournal.com/users/flavius_m/

Brand New Macbook Pro Battery - $40.00

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:20:59 GMT

I have two MacBook Pro Batteries that I'm trying to sell. They are
both brand new and still sealed in their packages.

Here is the flyer I've been putting up.

Genuine Apple Battery For MacBook Pro 15" Notebooks

Brand New & Still Sealed!

According to the Apple Store: This battery is a 10.8V 5500mAh,
60-watt-hour-rechargeable lithium polymer battery which provides up to
4.5 hours of operation depending on battery saving features used and
system configuration.

Fits the following Apple Aluminum Macbook Pro 15.4" models:

* 15.4 inch 1.83 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)
* 15.4 inch 2.0 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)
* 15.4 inch 2.16 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)
* 15.4 inch 2.2 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)
* 15.4 inch 2.33 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)
* 15.4 inch 2.4 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)
* 15.4 inch 2.6 Ghz (Matt or Glossy Widescreen Display)

Including Model Numbers: A1175, MA348G/A, MA463LL/A, MA464LL/A,
MA600LL/A, MA680LL/A, MA601LL, MA466LL/A, MA681LL/A

1 Battery is $40.00 or if you want two I will sell them to you for $75.00.

Email me if you are interested: NOSPAMhartmATipfw.edu

Remove the NOSPAM and replace AT with @ (but you knew that). :-)

Mark

will powerbook uk plug adaptor fit airport express?

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:01:18 GMT

David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:

> David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) <d4g4h4@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > As per heading. I'm thinking of bidding for an airport express which
> > only has a US plug. Will the (white) adaptor from my powerbook power
> > pack fit this? It looks as if it might, but I can't be sure...
>
> I have an Airport Express, MacBook Pro and an mid 2002 PowerBook G4
> (DVI). Their mains plugs are identical and are interchangeable.

Many thanks for that! :)

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably
is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"

Recommended UPS?

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 10:07:07 GMT

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:22:09 +0000, Stimpy wrote:

> My power has just gone down *again* (third time this week) and I've finally
> decided it's time to get myself a UPS.
>
> Unfortunately for me, I know nothing about UPS's so can anyone recommend
> something that would support two computers for a minute or so?

Anything with APC written on the front (apart from in pen) would be a good
choice!

--
Woody

Powerbook G4 battery buying advice

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:10:16 GMT

Hello,

My PowerBook G4 (15" ABook) battery has decided to give up the ghost.
I've been looking for a replacement. Apple want =A389.99 for it, and the
Newertechnology one is pretty much the same price.

However, I've found a site called www.au-battery.com/ who only want
=A325.23 for what looks to be the same battery.

Obviously, I'm concerned that this price is too good to be true.

Has anyone any experience of this company?
Or any other recommendations for places to buy PowerBook batteries?

advice on a UPS and surge protector

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:39:56 GMT

In article
<jollyroger-20B788.12221823112007@sn-indi.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,
Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:

> http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

I was just going over some stuff and I find my UPS is 9 years old. Do
these "wear out" or would it still be good.

iPod Touch battery life - severe disappointment

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:16:31 GMT

I picked up a 16GB model from the Regent Street store yesterday.

I love the user interface, the mobile Safari browser etc.

The battery life, however, is unacceptable. It's appalling. Leads me
to think Apple have rushed out an unfinished product. People always
say never buy a Rev-1 product. I guess this is why.

MacBook Pro battery drain while sleeping

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:20:49 GMT

Chris Ridd <chrisridd@mac.com> wrote:

> > (if it's accurate of course - 0% detected but it's still going fine at
> > the moment and has been for about ten minutes now)
>
> There's that too. What does CocoaBattery tell you about the state of
> the battery?

It does sound as though the battery has developed a fault- after all,
all it takes is one cell of many to gat an internal short circuit. Not a
dead short, but a drain...

Which, given that it's a MBP, sounds like a warranty job to me.
--
Peter

What to Do With Battery That Just Arrived

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:57:30 GMT

I have a PowerBook G4 15" aluminum that is a bit over four years ago. About
a week and a half ago, the battery began to appear to act a little erratically
(this is the second battery that I've had) according to coconutBattery, with
capacity dropping to about 75%. Concerned that the battery was about to die
on me, I ordered another battery from Apple, which arrived today.

However, the situation with the battery appeared to stabilize, and the battery
is no longer showing signs of impending doom. My question is: with the new
battery, would it degrade if I let it sit in the box for a while before
starting to use it? Or should I wait until the current battery get a little
worse before starting to use the new one?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

battery backup units

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:50:21 GMT

I just bought my first-ever battery backup unit (an APC brand 750A
model). The inspection sheet taped to it is dated 11-17-05. Is this
normal? Is the battery as good as new when it's been sitting on a shelf
for two years? (One terminal needed to be connected by me, the consumer,
per the instructions.)

17" MacBook Pro Battery

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:07:16 AZOST

PostfixUser <Post@fix.com> wrote:

> My 17" MacBook Pro Battery has swelled to over double its original
> thickness. The system is 18mths old.
> I am running 10.4.10 and have always kept the updates current.
> Has anyone else had these problems? Are they the same issues as for the
> recall on the 15" machines?

I'd get in touch with Apple. There is a known issue with these batteries

<http://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/>

They'll replace it for you.

--
Jon B
Above email address IS valid.
<http://www.bramley-computers.co.uk/> Apple Laptop Repairs.

30 year batteries, anyone?

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 05:11:25 AZOST

Phil Taylor wrote:
> In article <5meihpFd0hmdU1@mid.individual.net>, Ian McCall
> <ian@eruvia.org> wrote:
>
>> <http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news-betavoltaic-10.1.html>
>>
>
> My first impression is that this is nonsense. What isotope is being
> used here, and how much of it? In order to produce that amount of
> power you're going to have to put in terrabecquerels of radioactivity,
> and in order to produce that amount of power for 30 years you will need
> an isotope with a long half life, so the danger will be around for
> hundreds of years. Beta particles may have a short range in air, but
> when ingested beta emitters cause just as much local damage to the
> victim, and the risks to the environment from these batteries will be
> horrendous.
>

Apart from that, surely this system will produce constant low levels of
power all the time so either it will be wasting energy when you're not
using the device it's powering or it will fail to produce enough to
cover peak consumption. Therefore it will require a conventional
rechargeable alongside which will definitely not last 30 years. I can
see it being very useful for applications that require constant low
levels of power like distributed sensors though.

Stewart

battery problem

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:27:38 AZOST

In article <m24phbnbk5.fsf@comcast.net>,
Art Werschulz <agw@comcast.net> wrote:

> Hi.
>
> Running Mac OS X 10.4.10 on a MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core Duo)...
>
> When running off the battery: At 40% remaining, the machine goes
> black and shuts down completely. There's no warning or low battery
> alert. The computer is *not* asleep; a hard reboot is necessary to
> bring it back to life.
>
> We have attempted to condition the battery by putting the Mac into
> sleep mode until there's no more juice, and then completely recharging
> the battery. Despite this, the problem persists.
>
> Does this mean that we need a new battery? Or is something else going
> on here?
>
> Many thanks!

Your battery might be defective. Check http://www.apple.com to see if
your battery is eligible for free replacement.

Vibrations, cooler and mac

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:51:35 AZOST

HI, I've just bought Belkin one-fan cooler to put under my MacBook
Pro (sometimes it heats up a loooot).
It seems to work, but I noticed that the cooler slightly vibrates with
high frequency and those vibrations transmmits onto the Mac. So I was
wondering whether this can bring any kind of micro or macro damage to
the machine? (Yeah I know this may sound stupid - if it does I
apologize) Any sensible opinions on that?

Also when i'm at it, do you think there is a sense in using the
cooler. I mean the bottom case heats up so much that it burns, but
it's been always like that, so maybe that is what is suppose to be?

Thanks,
Michal

G3 iMac and Battery

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:54:48 AZOST

500 mhz G3 iMac. OSX 103.9. The date and time were not holding. I
checked the battery, although installed correctly, it was dead. I
replaced the battery with a new one that checked out at 3.6 volts. The
iMac refused to bootup! I scratched my head, and on a whim, I installed
the new battery opposite from the correct position. The computer now
starts and runs fine, but it doesn't hold the date and time again. The
+ and - battery terminal positions are displayed prominently on the
board holder. And as I said above, I know the old battery was installed
correctly.

Any ideas?

Testing Safe Sleep

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:26:40 AZOST

Gareth Slee <gax.slee@ntlworld.com> wrote:

> zoara <me18@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> > I'm about to install some extra RAM in my MBP. I wonder what will happen
> > if I let it safe sleep, pop the battery, install the RAM and turn it
> > back on...
> >
> > Will it restore the state, but not notice the extra RAM?
> > Will it restore and recognise the RAM?
> > Will it attempt to restore then crash?
> > Will it just go through the normal boot sequence?
> >
> > I'm going to do it in about an hour, so... place your bets... NOW!!!
> >
> > -zoara-
>
>
> Knowing you it'll restore and then burst into flames!!!

Heh.

> Why not just shut it down and then fit the RAM?

Because I'm curious as to what will happen.

-z-

--
defecation occurs