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 ________________________________________
**Plug it into the mains. No need for extra capacitors.
-- Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au
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 E-Mail Contact Page: http://www.dontronics.com/email No More Damn Spam: http://www.wizard-of-oz.com
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
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 place."
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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