Bypassing an old laptop battery

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Blog the Haggis Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
May 16, 2007, 12:47 pm
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Hi All,

I'm trying to get a really old laptop (Mac Powerbook 170) running again but
its main battery seems to have died. I could open up the old battery pack
and replace the cells but I was wondering if there was a simpler solution.

Does anyone know whether attaching a capacitor between the terminals instead
of a battery and using the AC adapter for power would work...?

...or would I just send it the rest of the way into Silicon Heaven?

Cheers,

     -Duncan
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Trevor Wilson Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
May 17, 2007, 10:24 pm
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Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery



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**Plug it into the mains. No need for extra capacitors.


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Don McKenzie Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
May 17, 2007, 10:47 pm
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Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery



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not without heavy duty AC electrolytic capacitors Trevor. :-)

How old is really old?

If you can't replace the cells, or the whole battery with an equivalent,
(even externally), then Silicon Heaven may be the correct answer.

Don...



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Blog the Haggis Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
May 18, 2007, 12:40 am
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Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery


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Old meaning one of the first Mac laptops ever built (1990-1991).

Unplugging the battery and running it directly from its AC adapter didn't do
anything, so I was wondering whether it needed the battery to complete the
power circuit.

To test this I thought connecting a capacitor (and perhaps a small resistor)
across the battery terminal would have similar characteristics to a flat
battery. Wouldn't the capacitor then come up to the correct voltage as the
laptop tries to charge it?

    -Duncan



Tim Polmear Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
May 18, 2007, 10:12 am
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Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery


On Wed, 16 May 2007 12:47:43 GMT, "Blog the Haggis"

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It may already be there. The CMOS battery may well have ruptured or
corroded a goodly portion of the motherboard. It happened to me. Not
with a Macbook but a laptop of similar antiquity.


____________________________________________________
"I like to be organised. A place for everything. And everything all over the
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Blog the Haggis Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
May 18, 2007, 10:49 am
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Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery


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Visually the motherboard looks ok so I don't know if that's the problem....
The 3V CMOS battery is still putting out around 2.5V so I guess that is
within limits... (?)

    -Duncan



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