Re: battery woes

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Adalbert Goertz writes ...
> 
> Hi:
> What problems can I expect in my //GS when the battery is weak or dead?
 ....

     Your IIgs will forget Control Panel settings and the Date/Time will be
incorrect.

     Once you power ON your IIgs, you are running the Clock and BAT RAM from
the power supply and any settings you make should be okay as long as the
conputer is ON.


     Here is some info about IIgs battery replacement:

>>

     The standard GS battery is a 3.6V Lithium type rated at 1.2AH. It is
called the "BatRAM" battery because it keeps the Battery RAM and Clock IC
going when you turn OFF power. To get to the battery, you must pop out the
Power Supply.

     If you have a ROM 03 GS, you can slip out the old battery and slip in
'one like it'. On the ROM 01 GS, you will need a Lithium battery with leads
you can connect to cut-off leads from the old battery-- about 3/4" each--
remaining on the motherboard. Be sure to mark the "+" lead on the motherboard
with white-out.

     Night Owl Productions used to sell a convenient "Slide-On" Lithium
battery made by Tadiran. It came with springy ends that would slip over the
cut-off leads from the original GS battery.

     Radio Shack sells a few models of 3.6V Tadiran Lithium batteries.
Mostly, these have smooth ends and are intended to fit into a holder-- for
example, one model is "AA" size. Connecting an insulated size AA holder and
using a size AA 3.6V battery is one way to handle BatRAM replacement now
while making future replacements easier.

     Another Radio Shack 3.6V Tadiran Lithium battery comes as a small
rectangular insulated pack with red and black wires going to a plug. From the
catalog illustration, it appears that the plug could be fitted onto the
cut-off leads if these were long enough to be shaped to match the plug's
connectors. (If you decide to have long cut-off leads, it's a good idea to
slip heat-shrinkable tubing over the leads to insulate them for most of their
length.)

     It may be that your best bet for getting a good BatRAM replacement
battery is All Electronics (800-826-5432; http://www.allcorp.com ).  Their
catalogs often list 3.6V lithium batteries with and without wire leads in
various sizes at low prices.

     If you like, you can always solder, crimp, etc. insulated leads going to
some plug or socket which matches the connector of a particular battery you'd
like to use.  For connecting bare leads, Duncan Entwisle suggested using the
springy connectors from a Radio Shack electronics experimenter kit to connect
a new battery's leads.  Another way is to use "wire nuts". Should you do any
soldering to the cut-off leads, try to avoid long heat exposure-- you do not
want to melt the connection at the motherboard.

     Make sure that the new battery's "+" lead connects to the "+" lead on
the motherboard. Since, possibly, you will be joining bare leads to bare
leads, you could end up with more bare wire than you are comfortable with.
Check that the bare leads do not touch anything they should not. Bend the
leads as required and position the new battery so that nothing will bump into
the Power Supply when it is replaced.

     The usual recommendation for this kind of work is that the computer be
OFF. This reduces the risk of damage should a bit of solder, a wire, etc.
fall onto the motherboard.

     GS users are sometimes shocked to discover that a replacement battery
may cost $8 to $13. This has led to suggestions that 2-3 standard 1.5V cells
in a holder be used. While any number of lower-cost replacement setups can
work, this is pretty close to a classic 'you get what you pay for' situation.
Regular 1.5V cell combos reportedly crater in about a year. A 3.6V 1.2AH
Lithium battery is routinely good for at least 5 years.

     Our old Nite Owl battery is going on year 7 or 8. That's a lot of years
without having to worry about burst and leaking cells or needing to pull the
Power Supply and mess with swapping-in replacement cells.


----------------------------


   Reference: FAQs Resource file R007BATRAMM.SHK

008- Is there a program to record my Control Panel, etc. settings
     and restore them after the GS BatRAM battery is replaced?

     Yes. A number of users have created programs to Save and Restore BatRAM
values. The one included as a FAQs Resources file is named "BATRAMMER". It is
in file R007BATRAMM.SHK. Use ShrinkIt or GS-ShrinkIt to unpack the file.
<<


     You can get BATRAMMER as file R007BATRAMM.SHK on Ground at
ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/apple2/Faqs/ .




Rubywand