From: Anthony Velasco (ecotone_at_mac.com)
Date: Wed Jul 02 2003 - 09:24:10 PDT
Yes, oxidized connections can be a problem - but, I haven't seen anything like that in a Newton. I've seen it before in electonic equipment where the connection was very close to the battery, the batteries leaked, and corrosion migrated to the connection. I've had success repairing the problem by "twirling" a small portion of a cotton ball tightly around a toothpick, then applying electronics cleaner (e.g., Cramolin, or TV tuner, or DeOxit) to your mini-Q-tip. Wet the area down with the cleaner and let it soak for a little while. Then using a number of the mini-Q-tips you've constructed, scrub and polish the contacts until you can't get anymore residue or corrosion to deposit on, or discolor the cotton swab tip.
Intermittent problems like this might indicate a faulty connector or loose mobo connection. At first I thought you might have a poor battery connection - I have one like that - you almost have to slam the battery into the Newton. Also, it's possible that if the battery pack has burst cells, a poor solder weld, or a faulty thermistor, these could exacerbate the diagnoses. It really gets challenging when you have compound problems!
Anyway, hope you have this resolved now. Good luck.
On Wednesday, July 02, 2003, at 07:03AM, Scott Girard <sgirard_at_bigsea.com> wrote:
>Hi Frank:
>
>I tested the AC adapter with a voltmeter, and I am getting just under 3
>amps and about 7 volts DC.
>
>Here's the part I can't explain: today I can remove the ac adapter
>from the Newton and the Newton continues to run. I can also start the
>Newton with the battery pack removed (while connected to the AC
>adapter). So today, it seems to be working fine.
>
>The only thing I can think that might have changed is that I wiggled
>the prongs on the AC adapter yesterday to get the Newton to recognize
>the AC adapter (I was running under battery power at the time and I
>watched for the Newton to "see" the AC adapter). I wonder if there was
>some oxidation on the AC adapter prong connections (inside the AC
>adapter) that was preventing good contact on the terminals. The AC
>adapter does not show any obvious oxidation on the outside, but I had
>not used it in several years, and that may have caused the connections
>inside the AC adapter to become oxidized.
>
>Does that sound plausible? Or do you think my AC adapter is going bad?
>
>Thanks, Scott
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anthony Velasco, USFWS-Ecologist/ecotoxicologist
ecotone_tv_at_hotmail.com
This Newt's trekking through cactusland and lov'n it!
Managing Sales and Licensing for Newton Software at:
http://www.thisoldnewt.com/~tactilesales/index.html
or http://www.tactile.com - Tactile Systems, Inc.
Contact me via the above E-mail for more information
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