Re: Z-RAM ultra 2... replacing the battery?

[Gary <dontyouspamme_vengefultacos@comcast.nospam.net>]

Michael J. Mahon wrote:

 
> That actually suggests another possibility worth trying.  Use a Q-tip
> with some non-oily alcohol to clean the board around the chip and the
> crystal and its loading capacitors.  (One of the loaalcoholcitors is
> probably a small trimmer.)  Try not to get alcohol into the trimmer, since
> it would take a while to dry.  Follow close behind with a dry Q-tip to
> clean up whatever the alcohol may have dissolved.  The purpose of
> this exercise is to ensure that the PC board is not contaminated with
> a dirt-oil-flux film that might be enough to stop the oscillator.

That sounds like a good first step. I did notice some general dust had
filtered into the system when I pulled the card, but just blew it clear and
didn't think anything more of it. I guess I'll have to scare up some
cleaning alcohol. (I remember back in college, we stopped by a liquor store
in a New Hampshire to buy some everclear, since it's illegal to sell it
here in Massachusetts. We claimed at the time we were just going to use it
for cleaning circuit boards... and perhaps the saddest thing is... that
*is* all we used it for.) I'm assuming rubbing alcohol will leave some sort
of residue, since it has impurities in it? Would acetone be too harsh for
this purpose?

I do recall that there is some sort of adjustment trimmer on the board...
I'll make sure to clean that out as best I can (using compressed air... not
the cleaning solvent). Would it also be a good idea to note the setting of
the trimmer, then rotate it back and forth a few times and then set it back
to its original position? I'm thinking that there might have been some
slight corrosion or tarnishing of the connections in that thing, which
exercising might reduce. 

>> I'm not able to discern many other
>>relevant details from the sheet (it's been almost 20 years since I flunked
>>my last EE class ;-). The datasheet is dated 2002, so I assume the part is
>>still made... perhaps I could just buy another one and swap out the
>>existing chip (I think everything on the board was socketed, so I wouldn't
>>have to tax my limited soldering skills).
> 
> That is a very practical approach, though you may still need to replace
> the crystal.

That's probably a bit beyond my skills... I've not really soldered anything
that is heat sensitive, so I'd have to get comfortable with that. In all,
since the board functions fully as a RAM card, I may just accept the loss
of the clock function for now.

Thanks,
Gary