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Bypassing an old laptop battery
- 05-16-2007
- Blog the Haggis
May 16, 2007, 12:47 pm

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
________________________________________

Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery

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...
--
Don McKenzie
Site Map: http://www.dontronics.com/sitemap
Don McKenzie
Site Map: http://www.dontronics.com/sitemap
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Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery

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

Re: Bypassing an old laptop battery
On Wed, 16 May 2007 12:47:43 GMT, "Blog the Haggis"

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.
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