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Dropped in snow, battery sometimes not recognized

My laptop was dropped in snow due to an unfortunate ripped bag accident. Everything seemed ok except that there was a tiny snowball in the ethernet input that I quickly removed. Even the magsafe connector appears unaffected.

My computer can boot with or without the power adapter and can be charged for about 20-30 minutes before the battery is suddenly no longer recognized, giving me the message "no batteries available". The computer continues to operate until I unplug the AC adapter, at which point the computer goes to sleep until the AC adapter is plugged back in.

ADDED NOTE: If I shut off the computer, remove the battery and put it back and then push the power button, the computer will turn on and operate as normal. The battery sometimes becomes immediately unrecognized when the AC adapter is plugged in and at other times takes 20-30 minutes.

The battery button tells mehow much the battery is charged and the battery in fact is still chargeable. The only problem is that after 20-30 minutes is that I get the "no batteries available" message. (the adapter light goes green at this point, btw)

I have already attempted to reset the SMC and I do not think that the battery is the problem. What do I need to do to fix this problem?

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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Was the MacBook in sleep mode (powered) or off when it went in the snow ? You should try a known working battery and check if the problem occurs with the good battery. If so you could try to replace the battery charging board. You can go to an Apple Store and ask the genius to try a working battery or test your battery.

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Yes it was in sleep mode when dropped into the snow.

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It could either be the battery or the DC-in component, but the fact that the computer continues to work fine when connected to AC power tells me it's the battery (plus, it's most likely of everything to be damaged by contact with snow), you can get a replacement here.

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7 Comments:

I just tested if I could turn the computer on with JUST the battery. I shut the computer down and tried turning it on a few seconds later: nothing happened. Then I removed the battery and put it back and then tried turning it on: IT WORKED! As of now I am writing to you while the AC adapter is unplugged and am running on a fully charged battery (charged after the accident).

Would that mean that the battery is okay still?

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But how long did the battery run for? You should see if you're getting the full battery life out of it. If you option click on the battery icon in the menu bar in snow leopard, that can tell you quickly if the battery is bad.

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It was on 97%, though I haven't let it run it's full course I can already tell that the battery is at least functioning normally. Unfortunately I do not have Snow Leopard at this time.

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No matter, in system profiler, under 'battery' it will tell you the condition of the battery

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sorry- it's 'power' not 'battery'

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