Re: [NTLK] Battery packs not recognized anymore

From: Victor Rehorst (victor_at_newtontalk.net)
Date: Mon Mar 24 2003 - 08:17:44 PST


Quoting Laurent Daudelin <laurent_daudelin_at_fanniemae.com>:

> What does that mean, a 'Bad Thing'? I've tried with the 3 battery packs I
> have and the Newton think they are all Alkalines, so it must be something
> with the Newton itself. The other thing I don't understand, if this is the
> case, is that my Newton did sit almost all weekend on my desk. I don't
> understand why, all of a sudden, it doesn't recognize any battery pack...

It's not that it doesn't recognize that a battery pack is inserted... it's
that it doesn't recognize that the battery pack can be recharged. If you have
a NiMH pack inserted and the Newton thinks that it is an alkaline pack,
nothing bad will happen - it just won't try to charge it, and the battery %
reading will be different because of the difference discharge rates of
alkaline vs. NiMH cells.

What's bad is that you can't recharge your batteries, which sucks. It's
probably just dirty contacts on those two little terminals in the battery
compartment, or that one of them hasn't sprung back to its proper position and
so it isn't making contact with the terminal on the side of the battery.

You could take the back cover off and then the top half of the battery
compartment can be removed - this should give you much better access to those
two little pads to clean or re-bend them. Check PCBman's disassembly
instructions here:

http://mrpcbman.tripod.com/Backlight.htm

-- 
Victor Rehorst - victor_at_newtontalk.net - chuma_at_chuma.org
NewtonTalk list administrator - http://www.newtontalk.net
Will the last person to leave the platform please turn off the backlight?
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