iBook charging problem

P

prideaux

Registered
Hello,

I have recently started having a problem with charging my 15 month old iBook G4 1GHz. When I plug in my power adapter, it will not charge the battery and the LED does not glow (neither orange or green). When there was still power in the battery, the computer ran from it happily and it discharged at its usual rate. The computer can now only be ran off the power adapter. I bought a new power adapter (as I first thought that this was the problem), but this performs in exactly the same way.

I have ran some battery information scripts ('battery') and this tells me that the battery still has about 92% of its original capacity, that the computer recognises that there is a charger connected, but that there is no charging capability.

I am resident in the UK and the last time the iBook charged was during a business trip to Canada. Could there maybe be some problem caused by using a different voltage mains supply?

I've looked at various Mac forums and have found nothing that helps (power manager resets, Open Firmware resets etc.). I have read some similar cases where the logic board is suspected, but I have not had any problems with anything besides battery charging (display etc.) so I'm not convinced its that. If the DC-in board were broken, would the power adapter work at all? I have yet to try a new battery (or charging the existing one elsewhere) as finding another Mac user isn't so easy! =)

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Many thanks,

P. Prideaux
 
I'd take the iBook to a store (or a friend) where they have a replacement battery. Test that battery in your iBook, and if it works, buy a replacement battery. If it doesn't, then there's probably something wrong with how power's (not) routed to the battery, which would mean a probably expensive hardware repair...
 
hello there. I am currently comunicating using an old and battered G3 ibook that is only accepting a charge because I am hanging a couple of hundred cd's in a wallet on the charger plug! Have you tried giving your plug a wiggle in its socket to get the light to go on? I guess I have a loose connection somewhere....its a bit of a pain but if all else fails I can recomend the dangling cd's method as a cheap fix if all else fails!
 
Thank you for your replies.

I have since tested the battery in another iBook (it charged) and examined the logic board using the Apple hardware test (on OSX install CD), which was also fine.

I'm thinking of replacing the DC-in board. Can anyone advise me on this? What are the symptoms of a broken DC board? I can't think of what else it could be but don't want to waste money, or hack my iBook apart, unless I'm sure.

Thanks again,
 
I have the exact same issue (including it being a 12" 1Ghz G4 iBook). I'll have to make the run into an Apple store to check the battery. I have two adapters, the original and a macally. Neither charge the battery. I can remove the battery while plugged into AC and have the iBook keep on running. So the AC adapters both look good. I am using two different power sources (one at work and one at home) so the outlet can't be it either. I also reset the PMU to see if maybe the power management had gone screwy. No change. I'm guessing the battery is dead, but need to test it.
 
I replaced the DC-in board and everything now works fine. Try eBay for the part (I paid about 20USD). It's a ten minute job with the correct screwdrivers.

I hope this helps,
 
I am currently having a similar issue with my iBook G4 12" 1.2GHz. The Apple people suggest it's the DC-in board, which I may replace. Does anybody know a good place to get a guide to do so?

Do you have to take the whole computer apart to get to the DC-in board?

BTW, I bent a connection slightly inside the power port, which seems to be helping so far. I have at least temporarily restored my connection, here's hoping it stays that way!

Thanks!
 
this is the article I used

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/iBook-G4-12-Inch/Hard-Drive-Replacement

It's about the hard drive being replaced, but it includes the dc-in board replacement. You'll only have to go to page 10 of 17 to get to the part where the DC in board is removed. Then just go backwards to install the new one.

Yes, you have to take the whole thing apart, just make sure you make a diagram of where all of the screws go. For some reason Apple decided to use (I think) 5 different sizes of screws, it helps to know where to put them back. I got the part off of ebay for about $20 from falconprince. He seems to sell a lot of high quality Apple parts with warranty (sheesh, I sound like an advertisement). Just do an ebay search for "dc in board g4 12" ibook"
 
strange, I had checked when I last posted and noticed quite a few from him on ebay. Oh well, glad I could help you out!
 
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