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    98% Charge?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by blurb23, Oct 21, 2008.

  1. blurb23

    blurb23 Notebook Consultant

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    I have a new UniBody MBP (base model, 2.4Ghz).

    I ran the calibration yesterday, but I'm not entirely sure if I did it correctly. During some times when it said that you may leave your computer on, I put it to sleep or shut it down entirely.

    Anyways, my battery is currently at 98% and isn't charging any more than that. It's been at that state for over 2 hours now. Is this because it won't charge the whole way when it's left on, in order to let some power flow in and out of it (at least, that's what I've read somewhere)? If so, how come my battery was previous charging up to 100%, but now it's only going to 98%?

    Here's what CoconutBattery has to say:

    Current Battery Charge: 4529
    Max Battery Charge: 4629
    97%

    Current Capacity: 4629
    Original Capacity: 4600

    Battery-Loadcycles: 4
    Age of your Mac: 2 Weeks
    Charger Connected: yes
    Battery is charging: No
     
    blurb23, Oct 21, 2008
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  2. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

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    That's perfectly normal, what the Macs do is, they don't charge the battery until its under 96%. This is to prevent accidental overcharging of the battery, thus reducing its overall lifespan. So everything's fine, its just the Mac protecting itself :p.
     
    Sam, Oct 21, 2008
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  3. blurb23

    blurb23 Notebook Consultant

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    Aha, thanks!

    This is probably fairly to obvious to everyone else, but...

    If the battery never charges to 100%, how do you get the full use out of it when running off of the battery? Since I'm sometimes getting 6 hours of use off of my battery, those 3% could equal like 10 minutes or something.
     
    blurb23, Oct 21, 2008
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  4. roor

    roor Notebook Deity

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    theres no trickle charge when it reaches 98%? strange. I thought you cant overcharge li-ion batteries?
     
    roor, Oct 21, 2008
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  5. Charr

    Charr Notebook Deity

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    You can't overcharge them, and they don't have memory effect, but you still can brutalize them. I charge my batteries to 95% and discharge them to 20%, and leave them unplugged when on the wall for extended periods. This keeps them in good health, and doesn't let them lose capacity fast.
     
    Charr, Oct 21, 2008
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  6. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

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    No, it does charge up to 100%, it just doesn't when you're anything above 95%. So if you're really irritated by that, just let it drop to 94% or so, plug it back in and it'll charge to 100%. Get it? :)
     
    Sam, Oct 21, 2008
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