0

Apologies if this is a duplicate, but I have searched and not found anyone with the specific problem I'm experiencing.

My MacBook Air (A1466, Mid 2012) has a third party battery that is nearing the end of its life. It has about 250 cycles, but can only power the computer for about 30 minutes.

I have bought 2 second hand official Apple batteries from different eBay sellers. The Air doesn't recognise either of them.

With my current (old but working) third-party battery:

  • Plugging in the PSU charges the battery to full capacity
  • Capacity drops to about 50% within 30 minutes
  • I have to plug in again, or the computer will shut off without warning

With either of the replacement batteries:

  • The computer doesn't recognise the battery
  • Coconut Battery and System Profiler report no battery present
  • Computer shuts off immediately if power cord removed

Things I have tried:

  • Resetting PMU
  • Resetting NVRAM
  • Connecting power cord first, and then the battery terminal second

The last step gets the computer to recognise the replacement battery, but I cannot get it to charge.

  • I can read the battery's serial number in Coconut Battery, but it is reported as zero capacity.
  • The system battery level menu extra reports the battery as 80% full, but not charging
  • Disconnecting the power cord causes the computer to shut off immediately
  • The mac cannot be started up from battery alone.

If I replace my old battery, it charges and performs as normal.

This is weird. Surely I can't have bought 2 separate dud batteries? Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Improve this question
3
  • 4
    You bought two second hand batteries from the bay of fleas, with no real idea of their condition... If you had started your post with « I have a new battery from Apple « then it would give us all a starting point. As it is there may be a poor connection or just two duff batteries...
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 13:32
  • 1
    Surely I can't have bought 2 separate dud batteries? You bought used batteries off of eBay. Your scenario is more likely than you getting two working used batteries from there. IMO, eBay has turned into this site where sellers are looking to dispose of unwanted electronics (rather than pay recycling fees) to unwitting buyers in the hopes that they don't ask for refunds (especially on shipping).
    – Allan
    Commented Mar 15, 2018 at 15:23
  • You are both right. I bought a third battery (this time from a more reputable online retailer) and this time it works fine. Obvious in retrospect! Thanks to both of you.
    – jsm
    Commented Mar 17, 2018 at 15:56

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

The comments are correct: despite buying 2 different batteries from eBay sellers with good reputations, both were faulty. I bought a new battery from iFixit, which works fine.

Lesson learned: don't buy batteries on eBay.

Improve this answer
1
  • quite disagree on your point of view regarding ebay batteries, if I'm guessing it right, the prices of the 2 batteries you bought from ebay is the same or even lower then the iFixit battery. in my experiences, don't buy too cheap for your batteries, you can try amazon first, and see ebay has several bucks less, if yes then you might win some USD,but if just too much, chances are you are not making a great bargain, but just getting into a big trouble, especially for batteries.
    – user9557005
    Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 13:25

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .