Mac laptops forum: Battery running down when computer shut down

Yes, I purchased this computer new in 2004 and had always operated it for the most part on ac.
I have a MacBook purchased last year but I use the older one for certain operations and
recently noticed that even tho I leave it in a shutdown mode, when I start it up, it will tell me
it is running on reserve battery.

The battery is shot. Even if you were operating on AC power most of the time, the battery was still being used. Without getting deep into the physics of things, let's just say that batteries slowly lose their charge over time, and the laptop was recharging the battery every time it got below a certain level. Fast forward a couple of years and the charge cycles on the battery have likely been used up and then some.

On a unit that old, I'd just recommend removing the battery and taking it somewhere for disposal. If you leave it in the unit, sooner or later it's going to start swelling and do damage to the laptop. If that isn't enough to prompt you to remove it, then not too long after that it will probably explode. I don't know about you, but the prospect of hot battery acid flying around doesn't sound appealing to me.

The unit likely isn't worth paying for a new battery, so just leave it permanently connected to AC power. Honestly, the fact that your iBook G4 hasn't suffered the known issue with cold solder joints around the GPU already, is all the more reason you want to leave that thing as stationary as possible.

Your info was vey helpful. Appreciate it.

However this doesn't stop folk from wishing it was not the battery. You can tell the ones that wish because they will debate the battery even when it's an old battery.
Bob

Thank you.

Since the battery is ballast to help keep the laptop from tipping over I've been known to tape over or remove the contacts on the battery so it can continue to provide that balance.
Bob

Trust me, on an iBook G4, this would be a serious bit of doing, and almost certainly cause a significant amount of cosmetic damage if you don't know what you're doing... Even if you know what you're doing.

If you can tape over the contacts and still get the battery to fit over them, that's one thing. Otherwise, I'd not recommend people attempt this with an iBook G4. Anyone who has tried it will probably back me up on that. The cure can be worse than the disease.

I'll make art but can also remove contacts from old batteries.

I guess I just don't think like that. If I have a square peg and a round hole, I go looking for a square hole or working on rounding off the corners. It wouldn't occur to me to just bash the thing with a hammer until one or the other gives. I'm more of the precise surgical strike as opposed to carpet bombing type.

Yes, much more precise.