In answer to the recent request, here is the posting regarding the battery repacker. I kept it because I feel I will need these services soon myself.
Cheers Greg ------ Forwarded Message > From: Bob Howells <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 08:15:39 +0800 > To: "WAMUG Mailing List" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re Ibook battery > > > > My daughterÂ’s iBook, a white 500mhz dual USB model, the first of the > white iBooks, running OSX 10.2.6, will not operate without the AC > charger plugged in. When the computer is restarted with the AC charger > plugged in, time setting is retained. If the AC charger is accidentally > unplugged, the computer immediately shuts off and when restarted the > time setting is back to 1904 or something like that. > > Tried zapping PRAM, resetting Power Manager, taking battery out and > making sure it has clean terminals, ran Disk Warrior 3 and Norton > Utilities 6. > > Is there anything else I can try, or is it definitely in need of a new > battery? > > Bud > > > There are 2 things here: > > The fact that the time does not hold suggests that the PRAM internal > battery > needs replacing. According to my copy of Mactracker it should be a > Lithium ion. > Two years is not an unusual life time for these. > > Then there is the external battery that normally powers the iBook when > the > mains are disconnected. > > The following may help > > Bob > > I have recently had battery problems on my ibook 500 - it seemed the > battery > was slowly dying - I looked around for a software based solution but > discovered it was hardware related (apprently a problem with all li-ion > batteries). The only solution was a new one - RRP is $275! > > Then I discovered the delights of battery repacking - I sent my battery > off > to Qld, and 5 days later it was back, fully repacked and with 3.5hrs of > life > (compared with about 2.5 when it was new!). The cost was $165! ..and > it > has a 12 month warranty - the same as a new battery. > > A tried a stack of different re-packers - but found only one who would > do an > apple battery and give 12 months warranty. Their service is excellent > and I > highly recommend them: > > Power Repackers > > http://www.battrepack.com.au/ > > Cheers > > Melinda > -- > Macshack > p: PO Box 168, Forest Range, SA 5139 > f: 08 8389 8095 > e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.macshack.com.au > > On 10/7/03 1:43 PM, "Bob Howells" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> COURTESY OF MACINTOUCH, today >> Bob >>>> Two readers shared stories about resuscitating Mac laptop > batteries in >> Mac OS X: >> [Rob Wyatt] I'd like to share a recent experience with my iBook > (white, >> dual USB, 600mHz). I hadn't used it in a few weeks and when I turned > it >> on, the battery was completely dead. I booted up the machine and was >> very surprised to find that the battery wasn't even recognized. There >> was a little "X" over the battery icon in the menubar (OS X 10.2). I >> attempted to re-seat the battery, zap PRAM (using the key combo upon >> startup), and reset the Power Manager. Nothing worked. So I called > tech >> support and they had me do all of those things over again. Finally > they >> agreed to send me a new battery. >> In the meantime, I decided to try one other thing (after reading >> about iBook battery issues somewhere online). I booted into Open >> Firmware and typed "reset-nvram", followed by "reset-all". Surprise, >> surprise...my battery came back to life and recharged fine. Too bad >> Apple tech support didn't tell me to try this! >> I figured I'd share this experience in case anyone else out there is >> having a similar problem. >>> [David M. Barnett] I have a Wallstreet Powerbook G3 266 which has > been >> upgraded to 384MB RAM and 40GB hard drive. I also have a brand new >> battery from APS. >> After upgrading to System X 10.2.3 I noticed a problem develop with >> my battery which persisted even after upgrading to System 10.2.6: >> After a few charge/discharge cycles the battery would apparently stop > >> charging at less than 100%. The percentage would decline rapidly with >> time (reaching as low as 50% before I found what appears to be a > cure). >> The battery voltage reported when charging stopped was high, but the >> battery would go into automatic sleep when it hit 0% capacity (even >> though the reported voltage was still quite high. >> I suspected that the battery's intelligence and the OS use of the >> power manager were somehow clashing. >> To test this I rebooted in System 9.2.2 and cycled the battery with >> no apparent improvement. >> I then reset the power manager and cycled the battery again (still in > >> System 9) with a full charge/discharge cycle. VOILA! The battery now >> charges to 100% in System X. >> I am currently cycling it in System 10.2.6 to see if the problem will > >> recur. Since I have read of problems people have had with batteries > even >> on newer systems, this may be of general interest to powerbook owners. > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro > ------ End of Forwarded Message
