What to Do With Battery That Just Arrived

1. Nelson Lu - 7 November 2007

   I have a PowerBook G4 15" aluminum that is a bit over four years ago. About a week and a half ago, the battery began to appear to act a little erratically (this is the second battery that I've had) according to coconutBattery, with capacity dropping to about 75%. Concerned that the battery was about to die on me, I ordered another battery from Apple, which arrived today.

   However, the situation with the battery appeared to stabilize, and the battery is no longer showing signs of impending doom. My question is: with the new battery, would it degrade if I let it sit in the box for a while before starting to use it? Or should I wait until the current battery get a little worse before starting to use the new one?

   Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

2. Gregory Weston - 8 November 2007

   The new battery will degrade even if not being used, but not as much as it would if it was being used.

   Is the "erratic" battery the original one for the machine? If not, how old is it? Whether it is or not, how long ago did you last recalibrate by running it into the ground? How often do you actually run on battery power instead of just using the battery to fill in that space?

3. Nelson Lu - 8 November 2007

   Thanks for your thoughts.

   The battery is not the original one; it is one that was sent to me as replacement in the battery recall involving Sony. The last time I recalibrated it is about a month ago, and I run the computer on battery power frequently, as I commute a long distance and try to do my work in odd places when I have time.

4. Gregory Weston - 8 November 2007

   Previously, Nelson Lu wrote:

   Thanks for your thoughts.

   The battery is not the original one; it is one that was sent to me as replacement in the battery recall involving Sony.

   So about a year old or a bit more, then? You should expect to see some loss of capacity by now, I'd say, given the usage pattern you went on to describe.

   G

5. Fred McKenzie - 10 November 2007

   Previously, Nelson Lu wrote:

   My question is: with the new
   battery, would it degrade if I let it sit in the box for a while before starting to use it? Or should I wait until the current battery get a little worse before starting to use the new one?

   Nelson-

   If it were mine, I would at least install the battery temporarily and make sure it had a full charge. Then I would set it aside.

   Some may argue that putting it in a water proof bag (zip-lock?) and refrigerating it, would slow down its deterioration. When you decide to use it, you would let it warm to room temperature before opening the bag.

   I would not recommend freezing it.

   Fred

6. Nelson Lu - 13 November 2007

   OK, thanks. I am still weighing my options. What I may do is start using the new battery and having the current one around as an emergency backup.