[NTLK] WTB: Newton Battery Tray

[NewtonTalk Network]

Ross:

How do you mean, you "built a battery holder out of the old rechargeable pack"? Do you mean, that you could put standard AA batteries in? Or, that you successfully assembled a NiMH pack? (If so, congratulations!)

I had a Newton that--like yours--failed to register the presence of a battery. Upon inspection I saw that it had suffered battery corrosion. You'll need to the remove the 4 screws from the back...there are also retaining clips around the unit. Depending on how new your Newton is, they will either a) release easily (it's been done before)...or b), not. (if you've not done this before, might I suggest Frank's excellent disassembly instructions: http://www.pda-soft.de/2x00_disassemble.html ).

Having removed the back, you'll now gently pry off the battery cover (it's held in place with several retaining clips as well, although these are much more visible). Once done, you'll have full access to the Newton's inner battery workings. Using a cotton swab, I had to apply a dilute solution of baking soda and water to the copper terminal several times until it stopped foaming...then, the same procedure with water to rinse it off (you can remove most of the assembly for better cleaning, but be mindful of the spring and in particular its battery post, which can be pretty delicate...if it breaks off you'll have a problem). If it's really bad you might need to get at it with a toothbrush.

When I was all done I applied a small amount of synthetic automobile grease to the various 
parts to protect against further corrosion (why synthetic? It has a very high melting point, which assures me that I won't have a gooey mess in the heat we have here in the US Desert Southwest, should the Newton be left in the car briefly while I run errands).

You can now try the battery pack inside the Newton (carefully!) to see if it's now operational.

Hope this was of some help.

Thanks,

--Forrest

Sent from my First Generation iPad

On Jul 20, 2011, at 6:10 AM, Ross Deihm <adventuresindining at gmail.com> wrote:

> Just to update everyone, last night I built a battery holder out of the old
> rechargeable pack. This was tested for both voltage and amperage on the
> correct points and should have worked fine. However after sliding it into
> the newton, nothing happened. Apparently something is very wrong with the
> newton itself and it will not accept any power packs in any form. I would
> imagine my next step is to take the newton apart and try to diagnose what is
> going on here, but I'm wondering if this is worth investing more time in.
> 
> Is anyone aware of a known problem like this? Maybe corrosion passed from
> the battery to the Newt itself?
> 
> ==================================================================== 
> The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://newtontalk.net/
> The Official Newton FAQ     - http://splorp.com/newton/faq/
> The Newton Glossary         - http://splorp.com/newton/glossary/
> WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
> ====================================================================