Unplugged MacBookPro, vacation for a week, "Service Battery" now appears

[TuckerdogAVL]

So, I thought I was doing the right thing by disconnecting the computer since I wouldn't be there to watch for power surges during ice storms.

Was gone a week.

"Service Battery" is now the issue.

Did the "service battery macbookpro" fix where I disconnected power supply, worked off the battery, ran down, blah blah blah etc etc, and I have 99% back up and "service battery."

I was researching another issue while away for a friend and saw that a "dirty little secret" is not to leave the computer off and not charging for more than few days otherwise you can run into battery issues.

Sort of like what I used to be told in the 90s by the telephone company when I lived in Florida and I'd get answering machines fried by lighting. They told me to disconnect the answering machine when I wasn't there so if a thunderstorm came up, it wouldn't be fried.

 

[DeltaMac]

What does your System Profiler (System Information with 10.7 or higher) tell you in the Power tab?
You want to show what is reported for Cycle Count, and also Full Charge Capacity.

(Get to that info by clicking on the Apple menu/About This Mac, then click the More Info button.)
Click on System Report if you have 10.7 or higher.
Click on the Power tab, and you'll see the battery information...

 

[TuckerdogAVL]

What does your System Profiler (System Information with 10.7 or higher) tell you in the Power tab?
You want to show what is reported for Cycle Count, and also Full Charge Capacity.

(Get to that info by clicking on the Apple menu/About This Mac, then click the More Info button.)
Click on System Report if you have 10.7 or higher.
Click on the Power tab, and you'll see the battery information...

Sorry, totally forgot about this.
Then was looking for something else and saw you had answered.

The cycle count is 145.
Model is MC118LL/A 2009
Running 10.6.8.

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4594
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4594

PS did the "run down to nothing" fix, but didn't leave it sit for 5 hrs. Hooked it right back up, so let me know whether I should try that again. Thanks in advance....Delta.

Icon at top shows 100%, when you click on it "service battery."

 

[DeltaMac]

...
The cycle count is 145.
Model is MC118LL/A 2009
Running 10.6.8.

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4594
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4594

PS did the "run down to nothing" fix, but didn't leave it sit for 5 hrs. Hooked it right back up, so let me know whether I should try that again. Thanks in advance....Delta.

Icon at top shows 100%, when you click on it "service battery."

Your battery health is probably less than 70% (?)
The _new_ Full Charge Capacity was likely in the range of 6600 mAh, maybe more - and yours now is less than 4600.
The "service battery" is usually triggered when the battery health is less than 85%.

Your battery is considered by Apple to be non-user serviceable, and does not need calibration. You should not expect it to respond to calibration procedures that used to be suggested for Apple laptops with removable batteries. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

If your battery is original, it's simply time to replace it.

 

[TuckerdogAVL]

Thanks. I'm looking at replacing it with a mac mini actually ... I may use the laptop occasionally afterward. Haven't decided yet. The battery is $130 so it's a lot cheaper than anything else to do though.

 

[DeltaMac]

You might also get another year or more out of the battery. You can choose to ignore the "Service Battery" message, until the battery just won't hold a charge - or when running off battery, you just don't get long enough run time.