beachycove
Well-known member
Yesterday while looking for an old SATA hard drive that used to live in a G5 iMac, I came across a set of four old PowerBook G4 batteries, stored in the same cardboard box as the said drive in the basement. Two batteries were for a 15" model, and two for a 12" model. Three of the four were third party batteries, and some had notes on them from 4-5 years ago, to the effect that they were defective. I don't remember the exact details relating to all of them, but I do recall that one charged to some piffling amount like 17% and then would do no more, so it was basically useless, and certainly one would take no charge at all, because that's what I had written on it before putting it away (this is the same one that I comment on again below). They were reasonably new batteries at the time, however, so I suppose for that reason I kept them, in hopes of miraculous revival, but I suppose I had figured that either the internal controller was no good, or the cells, and that really they were doomed. However, packrat that I am, I stuck them in a box and forgot all about them.
So yesterday, after coming across these batteries, I decided that the time had come either for them to show that they could work, or to go off to the Lythium Fields, which is to say, to the reward of battery recycling heaven. So as a last gesture, I popped them in my two G4 PowerBooks. And lo and behold/ I'll be damned (tick one or both), all four were recognized, and three of the four charged right up to full capacity -- these three are now reporting charges in the mid-to-high 4000mahs (System Profile as well as Coconut Battery). So that is certainly a electrically positive result, assuming the good behaviour continues. I am using exactly the same power supplies as I always used, by the way, so that isn't the explanation.
One battery for the 12" PB, alas, which I recall was more or less new when it failed originally, is still refusing to behave. Having said this, the system recognizes it, tells me that it had only done 3 cycles, reports a theoretical capacity of 4400mah, and encouragingly reports that it is charging, but the actual charge in the battery is still reported as 0%, and this after some hours plugged in with the various charge indicators glowing appropriately. HOWEVER, even that battery has taken in some minimal juice, as a light now flashes when it is removed from the machine and the battery button is pressed, whereas it was stone cold dead on removal from the box yesterday. So I have left it plugged in to see if any further progress takes place.
Batteries are the great PITA where old portables are concerned, of course, so what I would love to have explained is why the batteries that have actually recharged have behaved in this way, because this knowledge could actually be of some use. Could it be, for instance, that the software parameters retained in the battery controller are powered by the cells, that misinformation here was the root of the failure years ago, and that this cleared and reset to defaults on complete discharge after years sitting in a box?
Such storage is not normally thought good for a battery, but if the above were correct, then such storage might be better than thought, under the right circumstances. Now, truth be told, they could all fail again, so I'll not hold my breath, but over the next few weeks, I'll try to use/ recalibrate them all and report back on the results.
So yesterday, after coming across these batteries, I decided that the time had come either for them to show that they could work, or to go off to the Lythium Fields, which is to say, to the reward of battery recycling heaven. So as a last gesture, I popped them in my two G4 PowerBooks. And lo and behold/ I'll be damned (tick one or both), all four were recognized, and three of the four charged right up to full capacity -- these three are now reporting charges in the mid-to-high 4000mahs (System Profile as well as Coconut Battery). So that is certainly a electrically positive result, assuming the good behaviour continues. I am using exactly the same power supplies as I always used, by the way, so that isn't the explanation.
One battery for the 12" PB, alas, which I recall was more or less new when it failed originally, is still refusing to behave. Having said this, the system recognizes it, tells me that it had only done 3 cycles, reports a theoretical capacity of 4400mah, and encouragingly reports that it is charging, but the actual charge in the battery is still reported as 0%, and this after some hours plugged in with the various charge indicators glowing appropriately. HOWEVER, even that battery has taken in some minimal juice, as a light now flashes when it is removed from the machine and the battery button is pressed, whereas it was stone cold dead on removal from the box yesterday. So I have left it plugged in to see if any further progress takes place.
Batteries are the great PITA where old portables are concerned, of course, so what I would love to have explained is why the batteries that have actually recharged have behaved in this way, because this knowledge could actually be of some use. Could it be, for instance, that the software parameters retained in the battery controller are powered by the cells, that misinformation here was the root of the failure years ago, and that this cleared and reset to defaults on complete discharge after years sitting in a box?
Such storage is not normally thought good for a battery, but if the above were correct, then such storage might be better than thought, under the right circumstances. Now, truth be told, they could all fail again, so I'll not hold my breath, but over the next few weeks, I'll try to use/ recalibrate them all and report back on the results.
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