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The March 2015 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Pro Retina Display, model A1502, features fifth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and introduces the Force Touch trackpad.

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Loose replacement battery causing random sleep (+glue recommendation)

Hi all

I am writing this question with two purposes in mind. The first is to provide an example of an issue I have myself not been able to find online. The second is to ask for advice on acquiring a good adhesive for replacement MacBook Pro batteries?

So basically, I bought the ifixit battery replacement kit and swapped my rundown battery on my macbook pro 13’ early 2015 model. Everything went smooth, but after about a month I started having trouble with intermittent and random sleep behaviour. My mac would go into sleep mode or power down the screen in the middle of work, sometimes disabling the trackpad. This would happen more and more often, sometimes 2 hours would go by, sometimes 2 seconds. (In the end less than 0.5 seconds, even during startup mode). I tried everything, resetting SMC, resetting PRAM, reinstalling macOS, installing insomnia etc.. In the end it made me suspect a hardware issue.

I then read that some people were having issues with their lid/hall sensors interfering with magnets and/or misbehaving because of faulty connectors. Since these descriptions mirrored the observed sleep behavior exactly, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to disconnect or ignore the lid/hall sensor. There are not many good questions on this, but it seems that such a fix is either very hard to do, or not recommended at all - either way, beyond my skills.

However, by re-opening my mac I realized that the furthest left and right cells of the replacement batteries had moved slightly out of place towards the speakers, due to having lost some of their adhesive strength (which was not great to begin with). When I move these cells back to their intended position, the faulty behavior stops, leading me to believe that the cells somehow interfere with the lid sensor when they are out of place. Another explanation would be that the battery can somehow detect that a cell is not fixed in place?

Anyways, my intermediate fix is has been to place small pieces of paper to keep the battery cells away from the left and right speaker sections. This solution is not permanent, and means I have open the macbook once in a while when I observe the behavior again (things move slightly). Overall, I would really prefer to be able to glue the batteries properly in place - what kind of glue can/should I use?

Any comments on whether the diagnosis sounds plausible and/or glue recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Jakob

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mmm … Lets backup here a bit,

You replaced the battery but you likely didn’t fully clean the surfaces of the old glue. Similar to how a suction cup works the surface needs to be smooth and clean. I use Goof Off you’ll also need to clean the area again with 85% or better isopropyl alcohol to clean off the residue.

To fix this you’ll need to removed the battery and clean the surfaces. In this case you’ll need to do both the case and the battery. Then you’ll need to apply a fresh set of strips of 8 mm Tesa 61395 Tape. Even still you do need to apply a bit of pressure on the battery so the adhesive makes good contact to the case. I use a couple of 5 pound blocks to press the battery down overnight.

You should double check the battery using this gem of an app CoconutBattery to make sure the batter is OK and the charging logic is working correctly. Paste a snapshot of the main window here for us to see.

Your last issue is the display lids Hall sensor. I’m a bit confused on your problem?

The Hall sensor detects magnetism. So the lid magnet will set it off. Unless you have something else that is close by the sensor thats magnetic it shouldn’t be going off. The only time I’ve seen issues is if the display assembly was switched out with the wrong part as the older models use a slightly different placement. To double check get a steel paper clip and a magnet. Slide the paper clip along the face of the screen along the left side you should now have located the magnet, now fold the lid down so you can transfer the location to the top of the uppercase (I use grease pencil to mark the spot) now place the magnet over the location, when you do the system should go into Sleep Mode and then when you take it away it should wake.

Is this working correctly?

The sensor is mounted on the logic board:

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Tesa 61395 Tape Image

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Tesa 61395 Tape

$5.99

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