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Why won't my MacBook Pro recognize my battery?

Hello all,

Before diving in to the question, it is important to note that the laptop was water damaged...

The laptop works perfectly fine with the exception of it not recognizing the battery, thus the laptop only turns on while being connected to the power cord. The battery icon on the top right displays an X with "No battery available". This is mirrored in the System Information interface under Power, where all values for this section display "No" and "0" (as in the battery is not recognized). I have tried SMC Reset and this made no difference. Apple says to replace the motherboard, but I am skeptical as I've helped fix 2 of my friend's macbooks by simply replacing a cable instead of getting a new motherboard as apple suggested them to do.

* http://imgur.com/a/WKEdS * The board stemming from end of the battery cable that attaches to the macbook appears to have a hardened white substance and some darker hardened substance in other areas; these are not seen on pictures I've seen of this part on the internet.

I know that it is near impossible to diagnose what is wrong with the laptop via the forum, but what are the options? Battery/Battery Contact Board/Battery Connector (board from the battery that attaches to the laptop/ or is it likely that it actually is the motherboard as apple has said?

Thank you in advance.

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Have you tried a new battery? And what model is it? @mayer will be more useful

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Hello,

No I have not tried a new battery yet, though I will soon. I am just checking to see if it might be something else other than the battery (i.e., connector port/battery contact board). Thank you.

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With water damage you are lucky it runs at all. But, let's take a deeper look at that battery,

Download and run Coconut battery and post your results watch what link you hit - Do the Download 3.5.3:

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutba...

UPDATE

Electronics Water Damage

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Haha, yes I know, very lucky indeed. Coconut Battery displays:

Current Charge: mAh

Full Charge capacity: mAh

NaN

design Capacity 0 mAh

NaN

Manufacture Date: 1979-11-30

Cycle Count: 0

MacOS Battery Status: (blank)

Battery Temperature: 0.0 C

Power Adapter: Connected

Loadcycles: 0

Serial: (blank)

Battery failure: none

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http://imgur.com/a/WKEdS I forgot to note that on the board stemming from end of the battery cable that attaches to the macbook appears to have a hardened white substance and some darker hardened substance in other areas; these are not seen on pictures I've seen of this part on the internet.

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Try cleaning it off. it's just not seeing the battery.

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What would I clean off? The motherboard, the Battery contact board (Interposer) the BMU?

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Everything, use 99% or 91% Isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip to carefully clean all of it, dont rub hard because if you do you might damage a component

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In our experience when repairing MacBook water damage a battery not being detected can be a myriad of different issues, we start with the following.

1. The circuitry of the battery is exposed and once it has been exposed to liquid you should replace it.

2. Short on data lines (this fix requires advanced knowledge of SMD diagnostics)

Have you replaced the battery yet?

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@triosimple Thanks for your comment. I have not replaced it yet, however a replacement is currently being shipped. The battery cable that leads towards the Battery Board does seem to have some corrosion on it. Hopefully it is just the battery. If it is the case that there was a short on data lines, would it require soldering? How much do you think it would cost to fix the data lines if that were the case?

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Considering the age of the unit you could likely replace the logic board for near the cost of having the board only repaired.

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@triosimple Just an update if you are interested... I have installed a new battery. There is still a No Battery Available status with an X. However, now when I unplug the power adapter and plug it back in, instead of restarting completely the laptop seems to wake from sleep (with the old battery, the laptop would shut off completely and have to reboot upon reconnection). Also, I will sometimes get the Low battery, plug in to power notification while still having the X and No Battery Available icon... All other system and Coconut battery reports remain the same (no battery installed status).

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The good news is that you know that the battery is not the only issue, sounds like the issue is board level and will require more troubleshooting to resolve, you will now want to look at SMC and or data line issues. and you mentioned that you did not have the ability to micro solder so I would now recommend one of the following to options,

1. Easy but costs $$$ Replace MLB with quality used part like this one,

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/MacBook-Pr...

2. Hard bust cost $0 - Remove the Main Logic Board and proper clean it,

A. Completely remove main logic board from unit.

B. Remove heatsink and thermal paste from board.

C. Fill you kitchen sink with hot soapy water and carefully scrub logic board THOROUGHLY.

D. Rinse THOROUGHLY

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E. Submerse cleaned and rinsed board in in 90% Alcohol for 10 minutes to displace water. Use compressed air to blow any remaining liquid from board taking special care to get all moisture from underneath ALL chips and ports. Let dry for an hour or so jet to be safe.

F. Reinstall board and test for battery recognition

3. also easy but cost $$$ Find a service provider to resolve this for you.

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