Re: Replace 3.6v Battery on IIgs

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Alan Tuttle writes ...
> 
> Any clever way of replacing the 3.6v battery on an Apple IIgs that's
> currently soldered on?
> 
> What's strange is even though the battery died on my ROM 01 logic
> board, the battery on my ROM 00 logic board is still running fine! Go
> figure!


     Here is a snip from the newsgroup FAQs which should help:


Ref file: Csa2HDWHACK.txt on Ground
>>

007- How do I replace my GS "BatRAM battery"?

     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 on ground at ...
   ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/apple2/Faqs/

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.

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Rubywand