Battery Won't Charge Beyond ~3/5

my battery is one of the ones being recalled
Nelson Lu wrote on :

My PowerBook G4 (aluminum) battery, which hasn't given me trouble so far (but see below), today suddenly won't charge beyond 57%. I tried resetting PRAM and resetting PMU, but neither seemed to do anything. Is there anything else that I can/should do? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (In case it matters, I'm running 10.4.7.)

(Note: my battery is one of the ones being recalled, so if it's only a battery-related thing, I'd not be too worried about it, since a replacement battery is on its way, but I'm pondering if there is a non-battery related issue...)

Stan Horwitz replied on :

In article ee2h8b$t5c$1@redacted.invalid, nlu@redacted.invalid (Nelson Lu) wrote:

My PowerBook G4 (aluminum) battery, which hasn't given me trouble so far (but see below), today suddenly won't charge beyond 57%. I tried resetting PRAM and resetting PMU, but neither seemed to do anything. Is there anything else that I can/should do? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (In case it matters, I'm running 10.4.7.)

(Note: my battery is one of the ones being recalled, so if it's only a battery-related thing, I'd not be too worried about it, since a replacement battery is on its way, but I'm pondering if there is a non-battery related issue...)

More than likely, the problem will be resolved as a result of replacing that old battery with the new one that Apple is sending you. If not, you may have a bad battery charger.

Kevin Reid replied on :

Nelson Lu nlu@redacted.invalid wrote:

My PowerBook G4 (aluminum) battery, which hasn't given me trouble so far (but see below), today suddenly won't charge beyond 57%. I tried resetting PRAM and resetting PMU, but neither seemed to do anything. Is there anything else that I can/should do? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (In case it matters, I'm running 10.4.7.)

(Note: my battery is one of the ones being recalled, so if it's only a battery-related thing, I'd not be too worried about it, since a replacement battery is on its way, but I'm pondering if there is a non-battery related issue...)

I have exactly the same problem - ~57% charge, recalled battery, 10.4.7.

(Since it started (several weeks ago) the maximum charge level has varied somewhat - 49%, 51%, etc.)

I've tried PRAM and PMU resets and two recalibration cycles.

I called AppleCare and the person claimed that it was just something that happened to batteries (which I find slightly implausible as I'd expect the software to recalibrate to the reduced maximum charge).

I haven't received my recall replacement yet.

Tom Harrington replied on :

In article 1hljpjs.1vmubl5kchgc4N%kpreid@redacted.invalid, kpreid@redacted.invalid (Kevin Reid) wrote:

Nelson Lu nlu@redacted.invalid wrote:

My PowerBook G4 (aluminum) battery, which hasn't given me trouble so far (but see below), today suddenly won't charge beyond 57%. I tried resetting PRAM and resetting PMU, but neither seemed to do anything. Is there anything else that I can/should do? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (In case it matters, I'm running 10.4.7.)

(Note: my battery is one of the ones being recalled, so if it's only a battery-related thing, I'd not be too worried about it, since a replacement battery is on its way, but I'm pondering if there is a non-battery related issue...)

I have exactly the same problem - ~57% charge, recalled battery, 10.4.7.

(Since it started (several weeks ago) the maximum charge level has varied somewhat - 49%, 51%, etc.)

I've tried PRAM and PMU resets and two recalibration cycles.

I called AppleCare and the person claimed that it was just something that happened to batteries (which I find slightly implausible as I'd expect the software to recalibrate to the reduced maximum charge).

That's not right. As the batteries age, they still go between 100% charge and 0%, it's just that they do so faster.