[NTLK] Re-celling G3-era laptop batteries -- DON'T THROW OUT THE OLD BATTERIES!

[Lord Groundhog]

~~~ On 2015/07/14 19:05, Frank Gruendel at newtontalk at pda-soft.de wrote ~~~

>> Is there anywhere reliable I can get G3-era Mac laptop
>> batteries professionally re-celled?  (Pismo / Lombard /
>> Wallstreet / clamshell iBook)
> 
> Seems they are still available the standard way:
> 
> <http://preview.tinyurl.com/pjy4dob>
> <http://preview.tinyurl.com/oeu8hem>
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Frank
> 
> -- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> http://newtontalk.net/


Back in the day, when my Pismos were the only game in town for me, I came
across a company who would do rebuilds with Li-Ion cells if you sent the old
battery.  Unfortunately, I lost a load of bookmarks including that company.
They still may be out there but it may take some searching.  I no longer
remember anything useful about them.

That service I never used because I was in a hurry and found a great source
of new batteries from a company called Powerbook Medic <powerbookmedic.com>.
At the time they were selling new batteries of higher specs (7800 mah);
AFAIK they now only provide used batteries but you'd have to check to see if
they still can provide new ones.  (FYI, they also sell the PRAM batteries
and other useful items for older computers in case you need such.)

Using 2 Powerbook Medic batteries (for those who don't know, a Pismo will
carry 2 batteries at once by swapping out the CD/DVD player) I was recording
up to 13 hours of uninterrupted work time.  That's more than enough to fly
between the UK and the US, for example, and work the whole time except
take-off and landing, and still have enough work time left over if I needed
it.  




I just did a quick search for "recell pismo battery M7318" and found this:
http://www.batteryrefill.com/laptops/apple/PowerBook_G3_Lombard.phtml
(Note:  this battery also fits the Pismo.)  It's not the same company but it
seems to offer the same service:  you end up with new cells that will yield
higher capacity.   

You can do a similar search to find such sites in your own geographical
area.  There seem to be more of them than I expected.




One more thing.  Back then, I also found instructions somewhere explaining
how to recell a Pismo battery pack yourself.  I don't know who that was
either -- another lost bookmark.

So, doing another search, I came to this:
http://people.wallawalla.edu/~Rob.Frohne/Powerbook/Pismo/Battery/

Plainly, he demonstrates the useful basic steps, but he also reports
shortcomings with his method.  Perhaps someone here with more understanding
of such things will see how to do better?

There's also this: 
http://lowendmac.com/ed/hatchett/08jh/inside-powerbook-battery.html



There seem to be some others as well, but I can't evaluate the instructions.
I suspect that the instructions I've linked, if combined with sufficient
electrical knowledge and a reasonable bit of practical skill, could be
sufficient to carry out this operation successfully.


Incidentally, this is a good general site for all things Pismo (and all
things older-Mac): 
http://lowendmac.com/2000/pismo-powerbook-2000-firewire/



So yes, don't be too hasty getting rid of old batteries.  The shells can be
re-celled, if not by you, at least by someone else.



PS -- there was also a G4 upgrade (and it's still available, I think) but I
only put that on one Pismo.  In the end I decided it reduced the battery
life by more than the speed boost was worth to me.


 
Shalom. 

Christian 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Pismo: so beautiful, you know you want one!
http://www.ahinfo-systeme.ch/quickime/PowerBook_g3.htm
http://www.lowendmac.com/webb/04/0329.html

~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Get MUGged and love it: http://www.oxmug.org/