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    Battery Charge Timer Question

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by kentl901, May 9, 2010.

  1. kentl901

    kentl901 Notebook Consultant

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    Hey all,

    I have a question regarding battery charge time..

    If I fully charge the battery and unplug it. I'll use it for about 10 minutes without AC power. When I replug it, it shows that it'll take an hour to recharge. What the heck?

    Is this normal?

    All I did was web browsing. No bluetooth on, no keyboard lightening, dimmest possible LCD brightness...

    Any ideas?
     
  2. pjshots

    pjshots Notebook Consultant

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    Can you give us some spec on your laptop please...

    Also, does it correct itself after a few seconds?
     
  3. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    The charge rate of li-ion batteries is often non-linear. Which means, it charges very fast up to around 85-90%, then very slowly to full capacity.
    Thus if you only discharge it a little bit, it'll recharge very slowly until it reaches 100%.
     
  4. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    it also charges based on what power is available to it. If its say a 65w power adapter and your running your machine and pulling 60w .. it only has 5w left for charging and will be slower.... to put it really simplistically. If you have the machine asleep or off it should charge the fastest... or if its sitting mostly idle.
     
  5. kentl901

    kentl901 Notebook Consultant

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    Here are my specs.... C2D 2.4 Ghz...13.3"...Early 2009 Macbook (unibody aluminum).

    I have no clue what my adapter is.. but it says:

    Input AC: 1.5A, 100-240V, 50/60 Hz
    Output: +16.5V ---- 3.65A


    I guess that makes more sense now.

    Does switching between Windows and Mac OS X matter? My guess is that those two OSes manage power settings differently. Suppose I have a 90% charged battery and I switch to boot camp and keep on charging until its full. Then I go back to Mac OS X. Does this affect the battery's health?
     
  6. beige

    beige Notebook Deity

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    nope this won't affect ur battery health , apple didn't mention that before :D .