Zombified battery after some time without charge

Question

MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2015

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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arbaman @arbaman

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crwdns2893826:0crwdne2893826:0: Dzi 4, 2019

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Zombified battery after some time without charge

I’ve got an original battery that was left for some time drained and as may be expected it lost in a way the ability to charge. “In a way” means that with controller bypass and my old trustful HP PSU I noticed the battery itself seemed alive and I managed to charge it until voltage got back at 12.5v in the cells and it shows it’s charged at about 50%. However, and this is the sad note, system doesn’t charge it further (although all battery data are there cycles, capacity which is very good and so on) nor gets powered by the battery.

It seems from my limited battery technology knowledge that the controller got in the red light state and holds power flow in both directions. Anybody has ever looked deeper into Apple batteries architecture and knows of a way to reset the controller, if ever possible ?

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@arbaman this is the original A1582 battery? Just got my hands on one....Is there any chance you could post some really good pictures of the battery board with your question or send it to my email? Thanks.

crwdns2893770:0Mha 21, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2893770:0

@oldturkey03 Yes it is. I'll see what I can do tomorrow to fold it back and shoot a couple of images of the backside of the board, topside seems uninteresting. Unfortunately it's still glued to the topcase or I would have sent the pics already, been a bit busy last couple of days and I have to pay some care as it's still some 50% power filled.

crwdns2893770:0Mha 23, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 arbaman crwdne2893770:0

@arbaman no rush. I just have a few ideas and got some pretty neat analyzers that I am still trying to figure out as well .

crwdns2893770:0Mha 23, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2893770:0

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@arbaman this is the original A1582 battery? Just got my hands on one....Is there any chance you could post some really good pictures of the battery board with your question or send it to my email? Thanks. — oldturkey03
@oldturkey03 Yes it is. I'll see what I can do tomorrow to fold it back and shoot a couple of images of the backside of the board, topside seems uninteresting. Unfortunately it's still glued to the topcase or I would have sent the pics already, been a bit busy last couple of days and I have to pay some care as it's still some 50% power filled. — arbaman
@arbaman no rush. I just have a few ideas and got some pretty neat analyzers that I am still trying to figure out as well . — oldturkey03

score 1 · Answer 1 · 2019-04-04T04:30:43-07:00

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Dan @danj

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crwdns2893826:0crwdne2893826:0: Dzi 4, 2019

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Review this vid from Louis Rossmann What does knockoff charger do to Macbook Pro Retina? Most likely the systems charging logic was damaged at some point.

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Luckily, after years repairing logic boards daily I can tell if I have a problem on a charging circuit without watching youtube videos. As I said in the question I'd appreciate some insight on a completely different issue that pertains specifically the battery circuitry..thanks anyways.

crwdns2893770:0Dzi 4, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 arbaman crwdne2893770:0

Did you inspect & measure the resistors? I have to order another gross of them as I've run out!

The logic within the battery does not control the charge or discharge its the logic board circuit. It only monitors the temp and cycle count.

crwdns2893770:0Dzi 4, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 Dan crwdne2893770:0

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score 1 · Answer 2 · 2019-09-02T19:04:00-07:00

oldturkey03 @oldturkey03

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crwdns2893826:0crwdne2893826:0: Ndz 2, 2019

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@arbaman so after checking the schematic and studied up on those batteries (yes battery analyzer on order that will enable me to actually read the data from those battery buses :-) I’d like you to check on something for me at your leisure

Can you measure the voltage on those pins? In the image the 3 on the left are negative and the 3 on the right are positive. Check the voltage on those pins with the charger plugged in etc. but the battery disconnected. Let us know.

The 1. blue circle shows the actual connection of the battery cells. You can connect some wires to that to charge your battery with a 12V charger. With the battery disconnected measure the voltage between those two areas. Top one is negative and bottom one positive. Next measure the voltage 2. on the negative and positive connections. You should get the same voltage as 1. Next measure the voltage between 1-3 and 1-4, let us know what you get. Now with your battery plugged in and charger connected, what voltage do you get on 2.

Thanks

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@oldturkey03 As you said, 4 pins marked as n.1 are the ones I used to charge the battery with PSU. One is negative, the other one reads 11.5v with/without battery/magsafe connected to the logic board, no difference (it was 12.5v months ago)

Pins at n.2 seem to be behind the controller and show no voltage with battery/magsafe connected/disconnected. With no battery, corresponding board pins read correctly at 12.5v

Unmarked n.2 pins in the center show the correct pulsing 3.4v of SMC SDA and SCL with magsafe plugged. No voltage with magsafe disconnected. I might be wrong but it seems SMC rails talk to the battery controller and exchange info no power should be allowed through in either direction.

At pin n.3 there are 11.05v at all times

At pin n.4 no voltage at all times

With battery connected as I mentioned earlier all battery data are readable by the OS.

I don't seem to be able to fold back the battery board without breaking wires. I managed to lift it at about 45° but can't really take clear pictures. If needed I can unglue the battery though.

crwdns2893770:0Ndz 3, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 arbaman crwdne2893770:0

@arbaman going by those voltages it does sound like your battery. Itf you do not get the same voltage on 4 as on 3 the FET is no turned on. Time to find out where the management IC sits and how to tell it to turn back on. The 12.5V shows that the charging system works.

crwdns2893770:0Ndz 3, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2893770:0

@oldturkey03 Yup, everything was double checked before asking my question back then with a different board and battery, I don't like wasting anybody's neurons computing power and precious time ;)

Anything else you may need always glad to contribute further..thanks for taking the time and efforts to help in such, so far, hopeless task !!

crwdns2893770:0Ndz 3, 2019crwdnd2893770:0 arbaman crwdne2893770:0

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MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2015

Zombified battery after some time without charge

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