I found the NewerTech NuPower 103 Wh battery for my early 2009 MBP for $95, and since it is clear I won't be replacing this machine anytime soon, I went and ahead and got one. The current battery is nearly dead, going from full charge to warnings almost as soon as I take it off the charger.
I hesitated to spend that much on a battery for such an old machine, but it still runs great and I still use it a lot, so I figured it was a worthwhile repair. It's really the last thing to do on this old Mac, as it already has 8GB of DDR3-RAM.
The question is calibration - do you need to be running MacOS to calibrate the battery or is that a firmware thing? If so, where can I get a copy of El Capitan to restore it with?
Eh, I opted for a new battery after all
obvs wrote: Dayum. I just replaced the battery on my 2014 MBP, and I thought that was borderline too old.
I wasn't going to, but we just had to replace a car, so the odds of me getting a new laptop are pretty slim at the moment. That, and it still works for what I use it for.
It fits, though. I still drive a 2004 Honda Accord as my commuter car, still use a Galaxy S7 Edge as my phone, etc. If it ain't broke, don't fix/replace it.
You can get an UPGRADE to OS X Yosemite 10.10 thru OS X Catalina 10.15 here--which includes OS X El Capitan 10.11--BUT each of these requires an installation of an earlier version of OS X (so Yosemite 10.10, Mavericks 10.9, Mountain Lion 10.8, Lion 10.7 or Snow Leopard 10.6). Personally I still have the installation CD for Snow Leopard for this purpose.
For completeness, go here for the OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update to complete that El Cap installation.
For completeness, go here for the OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update to complete that El Cap installation.
It seems this old Mac just doesn't like NewerTech batteries. The replacement is doing the same thing - only worse. The original battery would generally let the machine boot, but the new battery is causing crapouts before the screen turns dark (Mojave).
I guess it's time to return it for a refund and either live with a 10m battery or find something that is closer to the original.
I guess it's time to return it for a refund and either live with a 10m battery or find something that is closer to the original.
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DukeofNuke
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DukeofNuke wrote: Where are you getting these batteries? OWC?
They own the NewerTech brand, so probably.
They used to be a super-awesome company, they still seem to be pretty innovative and their customer support is solid; but they can get bad batches of chinesium products just like anybody else these days.
Yeah, this was through OWC. I went with them largely because of their reputation and past experience. I've bought stuff for Macs from them in the past, and generally been pretty happy with the parts.
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DukeofNuke
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So, it seems I may have been wrong about the OWC battery after all. My MBP has started acting up in general, and after a bit of diagnosis, it appears to have the C7771 problem - where a failing tantalum capacitor drags down one of the power rails.
Fortunately, I have access to a hot air machine and soldering station, so I can fix it for the cost of a new capacitor. I do feel like a schmuck for not figuring it out BEFORE I returned the new battery for a refund.
Fortunately, I have access to a hot air machine and soldering station, so I can fix it for the cost of a new capacitor. I do feel like a schmuck for not figuring it out BEFORE I returned the new battery for a refund.
Lombo wrote: Dude I wish I was good with a soldering iron. I was ripped off buying beats by headphones that turned out to have a dead battery.
I am learning.
So far I've only set one shirt on fire and added scorch marks to some furniture, but I almost got an LCD screen to work, and my CNC machine has a perfect custom wiring harness.
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DukeofNuke
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I lost a perfectly good G5 iMac to bad capacitors.
Turns out Apple knew about the problem and offered to fix it, but only for a limited time. Of course, I didn't find out about that until the time had passed.
What really wasted me off was that the iMac was a BTO straight off Apple's website. They had the serial number and manufacture date and my email address, but they did not contact me. They should have notified everyone that had a machine that was compromised by the bad batch of capacitors. I was wasted at them for years over that.
Turns out Apple knew about the problem and offered to fix it, but only for a limited time. Of course, I didn't find out about that until the time had passed.
What really wasted me off was that the iMac was a BTO straight off Apple's website. They had the serial number and manufacture date and my email address, but they did not contact me. They should have notified everyone that had a machine that was compromised by the bad batch of capacitors. I was wasted at them for years over that.
intellectual/hipster/nihilist
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."
-Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."
-Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan