From: Johannes Wolf (mp2100_at_mail-gw.estec.esa.nl)
Date: Wed Apr 02 2003 - 22:18:26 PST
Do you know exactly what type of batteries they used for refurbishment?
What is the capacity of the cells?
If the cells are really new and you see lower voltage readings (if you
really mean VOLTAGE readings - from AVIs f.i. - and NOT the capacity
reading) there is something wrong with the battery pack. My reading at 98%
charging status is about 5.24V. Each cell has a nominal voltage of 1.2V, so
the minimum voltage you should see is 4 x 1.2V = 4.8V.
First I would check the way they are charged inside the Newt. I use a tool
called BattTrax which displays the charging current, temperatures and
charging state very nicely in a diagram. The charging process should start
with fast charging at ca. 1Amp current, then slowly decrease until the
trickle charging status is reached.
If this is not the case then your battery pack is not completely charged
from the Newt.
It might be that the thermoswitch inside the battery pack that is installed
in series to the cells in order to prevent damage due to overheating during
charging is not low impedant anymore. This would mean that you neither can
reach approx. 1A charging current nor you have the right voltage if the
battery is loaded. Of course you can reach the full charging current only in
case you use the proper 9W power adaptor.
Cheers
Johannes
> -----Original Message-----
> [mailto:newtontalk-bounce_at_newtontalk.net]On Behalf Of Matthew Reidsrow
> Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 8:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Rebuilds: eMate batteries and MacPortables batteries
> My local BP just rebuilt my MP2k battery, but I am still having runtime
> issues with it. When I first got my 2k, the battery would not need
> recharging for a few weeks. It slowly bagn its demise, and
> eventually needed
> charging every night. So, off to Batteries Plus Holland, MI it went. They
> rebuilt it (one of the employees was turned on to the Newton by myself and
> bought a MP2100) with new cells which seemed a bit bigger and
> more difficult
> to fit into the case. Nonetheless, they got them in and primed,
> and the pack
> was returned to me. But the voltage readings were never as high
> as they were
> with my ailing pack, and I still need to recharge it every night or two (I
> use an ethernet card and a modem on and off during the day, but
> even without
> those installed the batteries go quickly).
> So, on the one hand, they have rebuilt and custom built tons of batteries
> for me (Including a project to put a NiCd pack in a PB100
> (http://www.reidsrow.com/pb100.html) and I have never had a
> problem. But, 2
> days is not acceptable for a Newton battery...
> -msr
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries List FAQ/Etiquette/Terms: http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Apr 05 2003 - 20:52:25 PST