G4 Laptop Batteries (2) are Dead!

I

Imagine

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Well, this is strange. I have a PowerPC G4 laptop 1.33 Ghz, and in it is a battery which came with it when purchased, and another battery (fairly new), as a back up.

This morning, I turned on the laptop and during boot-up, it would shut off. I tried this several times, and the same thing happened. I plugged it into the wall, and the battery indicator says the battery is dead. I installed the back-up battery, and the same thing occurred. I pressed the little button on the back of the battery, and the green lights light up half way, indicating there is still life in these batteries.

Does anyone know why this is occurring? I've never had this happen in the past. I can understand one battery not working, but both!

Thanks.
-Dean
 
Does the indicator light on the power adapter plug (where it attaches to the PowerBook) light up when you plug it in? That light should be green for a couple of seconds, then change to amber - indicating that the battery is charging. If you don't get a light at all, then either the power adapter is bad, or the connector inside the powerbook is bad. If you get the green/amber, then let the battery charge for an hour or two, checking to see that it continues to improve the charge on the battery. All the lights should come on, if the charging completes. Try charging the other battery, also.
 
Hi DeltaMac,

Thanks for your reply.

The adapter plug light switches from green to amber and back to green, to amber again, to green, that kind of thing. I'm very careful with the laptop, so I don't see how the connector inside the PB could be bad.
 
Do you know anyone with a PowerBook (or an iBook, for testing)?
maybe you could borrow, or just test with another power adapter. You should make sure that it is working OK in another laptop. Plug in to yours, and see if you still get the same response.
Known-good power adapter that has the same intermittent lights, means (most likely) a bad power port inside your Powerbook.
If the light stays on steady (green, then amber and stays amber during charging), then YOUR power adapter is going bad, and needs replacing.
Replacement adapter is about $90
If the internal power port is bad, you would probably spend about $100-$125 US to get that replaced.
Some go bad through normal use, even with your best treatment. Not much you can do, except do the repair/replacement. Maybe you are still in warranty/AppleCare...
 
DaltaMac,

Thanks again for your help. I can get another laptop for testing purposes. I've had the computer a little over two years, so the warranty is out of the question. I'll give it a go with another laptop. Maybe it's just a faulty power adapter. Thx again.
 
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