iboko battery / charge problem

It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.
David Kennedy wrote on :

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

James Dore replied on :

In article cufe4r$546$2@redacted.invalid, davidkennedy@redacted.invalid says...

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

Does the power management voodoo have any effect? Shut down, remove battery and mains, hold the power button for ~10sec. Otherwise, I'd suspect the battery.

Mike Jenkins replied on :

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:47:53 +0000, David Kennedy davidkennedy@redacted.invalid wrote:

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

Sounds like a battery problem to me.

David Kennedy replied on :

James Dore wrote:

In article cufe4r$546$2@redacted.invalid, davidkennedy@redacted.invalid says...

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

Does the power management voodoo have any effect?

I was just about to go and get a chicken....

Shut down, remove

battery and mains, hold the power button for ~10sec. Otherwise, I'd suspect the battery.

This particular boko was delivered with a dodgy battery and it was replaced by Apple U/g. Looking closer I notice that the plug is slightly misshapen as if it has been pulled sideways or maybe trapped by something.

I will try the reset thingy and see how that goes but at the moment, I've let the battery discharge and am no waiting to see how long it takes to recharge. I'll give it until after lunch - it's been on since around 10.45 ish - and see what it says then.

David Kennedy replied on :

Mike Jenkins wrote:

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:47:53 +0000, David Kennedy davidkennedy@redacted.invalid wrote:

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

Sounds like a battery problem to me.

I wondered. But, as I said to James, this is a newish battery. The machine was bought from Apple as a refurb - part of the last batch of 600s they sold - and had a new battery in the first few months. Since then it gets very light use indeed.

David Kennedy replied on :

David Kennedy wrote:

I will try the reset thingy and see how that goes but at the moment, I've let the battery discharge and am no waiting to see how long it takes to recharge. I'll give it until after lunch - it's been on since around 10.45 ish - and see what it says then.

Battery now fully charged and reading just under 4 hours.... Set it to never sleep and left it with the flurry screen saver running at 12.30. Lets see how long it lasts then I'll try a reset if needed.

David Kennedy replied on :

David Kennedy wrote:

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

ANyone know roughly how long it takes / should take from flat to full charge with the machine awake - I'd like to monitor the progress ?

Tim Auton replied on :

David Kennedy davidkennedy@redacted.invalid wrote:

iboko, 600 Mhz G3 10.3.7

When the machine is in use the power cord light is always green yet as soon as you put it to sleep it turns orange. It doesn't seem to be charging as it should.

Could this be a power supply problem or a connection problem. Any thoughts ?

Having bent the connector on my iBook I can say from experience that the colour of the LED is poor indication of the state of charge; it's an indicator light attached to a vulnerable connector which is far from fail-safe in its operation. Mine would change colour when I wiggled the cable and stick at one colour irrespective of charging status. You mention in another branch of the thread that the plug is misshapen. Try ignoring the LED and using the OS's battery tools to see if it's charging (leave it closed for 20 mins and see if the charge level changes, for example).

Tim

David Kennedy replied on :

Tim Auton wrote:

Having bent the connector on my iBook I can say from experience that the colour of the LED is poor indication of the state of charge; it's an indicator light attached to a vulnerable connector which is far from fail-safe in its operation. Mine would change colour when I wiggled the cable and stick at one colour irrespective of charging status. You mention in another branch of the thread that the plug is misshapen. Try ignoring the LED and using the OS's battery tools to see if it's charging (leave it closed for 20 mins and see if the charge level changes, for example).

It does. After an hour or so the time reads around 4 hours. However, you only get > i hour of use from it.

I suspect the battery but wonder if the dodgy connection is causing the charger to missfunction. I must try another charger on it but need to run it flat first.