Hi all,
My CMOS battery -- also called the Backup Battery or the RTF battery -- is dying. When I power up my Thinkpad I will occassionally get error codes indicating that the battery is not present or that the CMOS has been erased.
Today at one point when I tried to power up the computer didn't even respond--despite the NiMH battery being good-- until I plugging in the AC power.
So I've been shopping for a replacement for this specific CMOS battery (FRU 12J1695) but I am finding few places that have the original.
Thus I have 3 questions:
- I found a battery store locally (first one I've ever seen) and they claim they can make a new CMOS battery for that will be compatible. How likely is that? IBM's manual says using any part but theirs may cause an explosion.
- I found a store online that claims to sell a compatible battery. Another (Index Computer... that name sounds familiar in a bad way) claims to have the original, but doesn't say it's new. Anybody know of a reliable online store for these batteries?
- I am aware that Lithium batteries will explode if (A) they are shorted, or (B) they are charged. But would putting in a slightly incompatible battery cause this? For instance suppose they get the voltage wrong at the local store?
Thanks for any help.