Posted by
michael
on from the public-service dept.
Beelsebob writes "Apple have put out a recall on a certain group of PowerBook G4 batteries. If you have a PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) 15" and your battery's model number is A1045, and its serial number starts HQ404, HQ405, HQ406, HQ407, or HQ408, then you could be at risk of it overheating."
I find that when my AlBook is plugged in, with the processor performance set to "High", it averages around 130 degrees. When maxing out the CPU or taxing the graphics, though, it will go up to 143 degrees, at which point the fan turns on. If I unplug it, it gets much, much cooler - 100 degrees or so. --Quentin
Re:replace
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 5, Informative
What does "recondition the battery" mean?
The battery circuitry tracks charge level and usage patterns to estimate how much time you have left. If you go for a while without draning the battery all the way, the estimates can become inaccurate. Therefore it is recommended that you deep-cycle the battery about once a month, draining it all the way then charging it all the way up. This reminds the circuitry of the actual capacity of the battery, and this is what is called reconditioning.
Don't be tempted to drain the battery every time. While deep-cycling was necessary with NiCads and NiMH batteries, it's bad for Li-ion batteries.
History repeating itself
by
InternationalCow
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· Score: 2, Informative
Just goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun. It has happened before. Rather annoying and shameful for Apple that is should happen again in one of the most popular powerbooks.
-- -----
One learns to itch where one can scratch.
Re:It already overheats.
by
kannibal_klown
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· Score: 3, Informative
I have the PB 15" (1.25 GHz). And while I've never had it on my lap while playing, say, Unreal 2004, it's never been that hot. It's actually run cooler than most of my other noitebooks.
The PB 12, on the other hand, feels like it just came out of the oven. That thing heats up like a hot plate on a summer day. It's ony of the main reasons I decided to get the 15" instead (that, and I wanted to use it as my main computer and the screen was just annoying).
But truthfully, m Powerbook has been the best computer purchase I've ever made. And this is coming from a person that's long-since hated Macs for various reasons. While I'm no zealot, I think the Powerbook is a work of art.
One more...
by
Glendale2x
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· Score: 2, Informative
serial number series A1045 is under the recall, too.
-- this is my sig
Re:One more...
by
kannibal_klown
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· Score: 3, Informative
No...
A1045 is the model number, not the serial number.
A1045 is like saying "The Chevy Malibu." The serial numbers are like saying "if your VIN number starts with..." or more broadly "models made between 1995 and 1997."
My battery is model number A1045, but it's serial number is not in the supplied list. Therefore, mine doesn't have a problem.
Incorrect, you need to have model number A1045 AND one of the HQ serial numbers listed. Just having A1045 DOES NOT indicate a faulty battery.
From Apple's site:
A. No, only batteries with Model No. A1045 and serial numbers beginning with: HQ404, HQ405, HQ406, HQ407, HQ408 are affected by the recall program.
Re:Year of the Portable my butt
by
falcon5768
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· Score: 2, Informative
eh All of the laptop makers have had battery problems... there was once YEARS ago a problem with the old laptop batterys exploding though contrary to popular fiction, no ever did make it out to the public.
And as for the iPod battery... mine is STILL going strong, and I have a 1st gen. That battery problem was SO blown out of proportion it isnt even funny and those "brothers" ended up looking like fools in the end.
But apple isnt the only group to have battery problems so why beat up on them.
--
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Re:Dear Slashdot
by
nordicfrost
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· Score: 2, Informative
Funny, yes. Bu you can put it in hibernation and then look at the battery. I did, and lo and behold. The battery starts with HQ407, so I have filled out the form on the Apple recall site.
I wish I could get a replacement...
by
Lethyos
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· Score: 2, Informative
Let me say that these batteries suck ass. I don't know if anyone else has had similar experiences with their 15" TiPB (please comment here if you have) where battery life seems to drop like a stone even when the laptop is asleep. It used to last nearly three hours, and that was even under heavy load. Now adays, not even a year after my purchase, just sitting idle will kill my battery in roughly one and a half hours. When I contacted Apple, I really just got snubbed. They claimed that the PMU wasn't "calibrated" right and I needed to drain the battery to zero, reset the firmware, then charge back up to 100%. No change (and that even sounds like a bad idea with lithium ion batterries). Anyone have any luck getting replacements in light of horrible performance?
-- Why bother.
Re:I wish I could get a replacement...
by
MarcQuadra
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· Score: 2, Informative
Well if you mistreat your battery it wil do that. It's not just Apple either. I killed one battery by leaving the PowerBook in the car in the summer, and an iBook battery by forgetting it overnight in the winter (we had some -5 degree nights last winter). I also killed a cell batery on one of those occasions, and a Compaq LiIon battery on another.
A great way to kill your batteries is to let them sit when they're discharged. LiIon needs to be charged as much as possible. We lost about forty batteries at my work last summer because nobody plugged the laptop carts in after the end of school.
-- "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie."
-Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Re:Year of the Portable my butt
by
CountBrass
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· Score: 2, Informative
Do you even own an iBook, PB or iPod? Or are you just repeating second-hand gossip from a friend of a friend who once knew someone who thought he saw a PowerBook one time on a train?
Neither of my PowerBooks nor my 2nd and 3rd gen iPods have any battery problems at all. After 2 years my 2nd gen iPod still ran for 8 hours and my 3rd gen is better.
Take your FUD and stick it where the sun don't shine.
-- Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
Re:Year of the Portable my butt
by
dfghjk
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· Score: 2, Informative
The 1G players weren't the worst ones for battery problems. Even the best, properly working 3G players had crappy batteries. Take a properly working 3G player, charge it and remove it from charge. Three days later it's mostly dead.
Don't have a 4G, but the 1G players were by far the best of the first 3.
Re:IMPOSSIBLE!
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 3, Informative
Actually, it isn't Apple's fault. It's the fault of the battery manufacturer, LG Chem, Ltd. of South Korea; the recall is only on batteries manufactured during the last week of December.
Re:Year of the Portable my butt
by
david_reese
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· Score: 4, Informative
Apple's got some real quality control issues, despite their reputation. They seem to have at least one or two recalls per year for various reasons ranging from defective batteries to defective power supplies to defective screens, as well as other problems that are common complaints but that they do nothing about (such as the iPod battery service life issue). The recall I noted above was actually a safety issue, and I would guess the overheating batteries in the G4 PB's might be a safety issue as well.
Guess their "reputation" also includes independent consumer reports studies... (note: link is to maccentral forums, but the info is from valid consumer reports articles... updated as of Jun04, I checked).
Re:Common AA's - they are
by
adzoox
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· Score: 4, Informative
Actually, the cells in these batteries ARE replaceable - they are common double AA's. (It has been disputed they may not be, but I have actually taken a G4 battery apart - rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries) I wish they'd make the casing easier to split apart though.
If it happens in 2 different laptops, then it's the battery, not the software. It is possible that you need to go through the calibration procedure again (Listed in the owners guide for the Powerbook). Otherwise, the battery is probably on it's way to the Charger in the Sky.
Li-Ion/Li-Polymer batteries have a certain life expectancy, after which they won't hold a charge perfectly, and their output voltage fluctuates more than usual, which is what makes the battery meter go wonky.
Slashdot Mirror
ZDNet Story
Forbes
I had always felt there was an overheating problem. People in the newsgroups and suggested that I recondition my battery... which maybe helped some.
Anyway, glad to know that I'll be getting a new battery out of it.
AC
Just goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun. It has happened before. Rather annoying and shameful for Apple that is should happen again in one of the most popular powerbooks.
----- One learns to itch where one can scratch.
This time it's not supposed to burst into flames, just overheat.
They do ydl.net.
I have the PB 15" (1.25 GHz). And while I've never had it on my lap while playing, say, Unreal 2004, it's never been that hot. It's actually run cooler than most of my other noitebooks.
The PB 12, on the other hand, feels like it just came out of the oven. That thing heats up like a hot plate on a summer day. It's ony of the main reasons I decided to get the 15" instead (that, and I wanted to use it as my main computer and the screen was just annoying).
But truthfully, m Powerbook has been the best computer purchase I've ever made. And this is coming from a person that's long-since hated Macs for various reasons. While I'm no zealot, I think the Powerbook is a work of art.
serial number series A1045 is under the recall, too.
this is my sig
And as for the iPod battery... mine is STILL going strong, and I have a 1st gen. That battery problem was SO blown out of proportion it isnt even funny and those "brothers" ended up looking like fools in the end.
But apple isnt the only group to have battery problems so why beat up on them.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Funny, yes. Bu you can put it in hibernation and then look at the battery. I did, and lo and behold. The battery starts with HQ407, so I have filled out the form on the Apple recall site.
Let me say that these batteries suck ass. I don't know if anyone else has had similar experiences with their 15" TiPB (please comment here if you have) where battery life seems to drop like a stone even when the laptop is asleep. It used to last nearly three hours, and that was even under heavy load. Now adays, not even a year after my purchase, just sitting idle will kill my battery in roughly one and a half hours. When I contacted Apple, I really just got snubbed. They claimed that the PMU wasn't "calibrated" right and I needed to drain the battery to zero, reset the firmware, then charge back up to 100%. No change (and that even sounds like a bad idea with lithium ion batterries). Anyone have any luck getting replacements in light of horrible performance?
Why bother.
Do you even own an iBook, PB or iPod? Or are you just repeating second-hand gossip from a friend of a friend who once knew someone who thought he saw a PowerBook one time on a train?
Neither of my PowerBooks nor my 2nd and 3rd gen iPods have any battery problems at all. After 2 years my 2nd gen iPod still ran for 8 hours and my 3rd gen is better.
Take your FUD and stick it where the sun don't shine.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
The 1G players weren't the worst ones for battery problems. Even the best, properly working 3G players had crappy batteries. Take a properly working 3G player, charge it and remove it from charge. Three days later it's mostly dead.
Don't have a 4G, but the 1G players were by far the best of the first 3.
Actually, it isn't Apple's fault. It's the fault of the battery manufacturer, LG Chem, Ltd. of South Korea; the recall is only on batteries manufactured during the last week of December.
Guess their "reputation" also includes independent consumer reports studies... (note: link is to maccentral forums, but the info is from valid consumer reports articles... updated as of Jun04, I checked).
Actually, the cells in these batteries ARE replaceable - they are common double AA's. (It has been disputed they may not be, but I have actually taken a G4 battery apart - rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries) I wish they'd make the casing easier to split apart though.
See an xray here
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Li-Ion/Li-Polymer batteries have a certain life expectancy, after which they won't hold a charge perfectly, and their output voltage fluctuates more than usual, which is what makes the battery meter go wonky.
Hope that helps.
Here's an article about battery calibration from the Apple site:
2 84
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86
Essentially, you just need to charge your batter to full, then use it until it goes to sleep and it will recalibrate itself.