Dead battery?

[AlecBGreen]

I accidentally left my iMac on sleep mode for a week b/c I never shut it down. When I started it up again, the battery wouldnt recharge. The icon in the upper right has an X through it and it says no battery is connected. WTF? The computer is over a year old but has only been used sparingly. Could it be dead already? Is something else going on?

Any suggestions?

[NYCGirl]

1. Do you mean your iPod? NT

[AlecBGreen]

2. nope, my laptop

my macbook. sorry, dont know why i called it that.

[Elwood P Dowd]

3. You probably have a bad or dead battery.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1139427&tstart=0

Also, don't forget to calibrate your battery every month.

[supernova]

4. What do you mean by

"calibrate your battery?"

This isn't something I've had to do before.

[Elwood P Dowd]

5. You run it down to 0% and your laptop goes to sleep for a few minutes.

Then you charge it back up to 100%.

Edit to add: Some recommend you let the laptop sleep for 4-5 hours after the battery hits 0% and then you charge it back to 100%.

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. Here are the instructions from Apple.....

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284


Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
You can calibrate your iBook, PowerBook, MacBook or MacBook Pro computer's lithium ion battery for best performance.

The battery has an internal microprocessor that provides an estimate of the amount of energy in the battery as it charges and discharges. The battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate. With all iBooks and PowerBook G4 computers except the aluminum PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), you should perform this procedure when you first use your computer and then every few months thereafter.
iBooks and PowerBook G4s other than the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD)

1. Plug the power adapter in and fully charge your computer's battery until the battery indicator lights turn off and the adapter plug light goes from amber to green, which indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Disconnect the power adapter and use your iBook or PowerBook. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen. Continue to use your computer until it goes to sleep. At that point the battery has been sufficiently drained for calibration.
3. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

You have to fully charge and then discharge your battery only once to calibrate it. After that, you can connect and disconnect the power adapter when the battery is at any charge level.

Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, any open files could be lost. Therefore, it is important that you find an electrical outlet and connect the adapter before the forced shutdown occurs.
PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), MacBook Pro (all models), and MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models)

The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.



If you're not sure which model of PowerBook you have, see article 88248 to figure out which model you have.

[moggie]

7. That's exactly the sort of question Mac Help is good at answering

Go to help in finder, type 'calibrate battery', and you'll get a quick and detailed answer. Apple's help is pretty good, and I think a lot of Mac users don't use it enough.

[AlecBGreen]

8. Thanks for all the help!!!

I downloaded the battery software update and my problem is still here (an X in the battery) so it looks like I might need to replace it. Bad news, but its good to know I got smart, helpful people here at DU willing to lend a hand. Gracias amigos.

-Alec

[oceanspirit]

9. I had the same problem two weeks ago

There is a problem with some laptop batteries. Go to this page on the apple site and see if your laptop qualifies for a new battery. I took mine to my local Apple Store, and they tested it and sure enough it was a faulty batter. I have an IBook that i just bought in March. If you see the X on the battery indicator on your bar it means that your laptop cant even see the battery (is that I was told). So here is the site. Navigate down to Services and Programs and you will see a list of laptops and G5's affected by this. Good luck. Maybe you too can get a new battery for your laptop like I did.

http://www.apple.com/support/

Oceanspirit