Green cable light, batteries won't charge.

Pram battery for your PowerBook: not cheap

http://www.PowerBookmedic.com/xcart1/pro...

The board that has the USB port on the right side has the battery. Look at the following site and see if they have the PowerBook G4 Backup Battery you need. Toward bottom of page:

http://www.galaxyhp.com/Power/PB_acbats....

Good luck.

Hi.

I am not sure, but in the meantime, after two occurrences of dead main batteries it seams to me that this is a construction failure of Apple itself. Both batteries powered the G4 up for 2-4 hrs. Both batteries died after I didn't use the PowerBook for a couple of weeks due holidays or christmas and newyears time. Before I left home the battery wasnt charged, the PowerBook was in standby due to lack of battery power, waiting for new charge. After I returned home, the batteries were dead and couldn't be charged anymore. The first battery was around two years old but in good condition, the other was kind of brand new, 4 months old, original apple store article.

Summary: It seams to me, that one should not leave the MacBook without charged batteries for a longer time.

Greets, Michael, Germany

The PRAM backup battery in the PowerBook G4 is a Panasonic CGL-3032 3.6v lithium-ion cell. Unlike most desktop Mac backup batteries, it is a RECHARGEABLE cell. That's one reason it's more expensive than your typical little LiI battery. Since it's rechargeable, you can't simply measure the cell voltage to determine if the battery is worn out.

The little PCB assembly contains the charge control circuitry.

The "3032" nomenclature refers to the size: 30 mm in diameter by 3.2 mm thick.

A similar cell is available from other manufacturers, typically in China. Look for LIR-3032.

Specs for the Panasonic CGL-3032

Specs for LIR-3032

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the simplest diagnostic test: looking at the battery screen icon to verify that the charger is indeed charging.

The icon does 2 things. It displays the amount of power remaining and indicates that the laptop is in charge mode both for the main power source & the PRAM battery.

The green-to-amber light on the charging plug can be deceptive. It will go to steady amber, indicating the battery needs charging. But if you have a loose or broken connection, the battery charger may be doing nothing at all.

I found this out when trying to recharge my Powerbook after a long period of disuse. I relied solely on the amber light, and 24 hrs. later, concluded the battery was dead/no longer accepting a charge.

Bought an aftermarket battery on eBay, and made the same error. Then I noticed the battery icon was not showing the charger was plugged in.

A couple twists later to get a better connection, both the original & PRAM battery came back to life and my Powerbook is now working fine.

It's also not wise to plug the charger into an desktop APC. W/O a blocking diode, the APC's lead acid battery is in continuous trickle charge mode, and can literally suck the Powerbook's battery dry.