- Opening a Compaq battery pack?
- Posted by Ken Long on August 18th, 2003
Rather than pay $150 for a new battery pack for my old Compaq LTE
4/40cx 486 laptop, I figure I have nothing to lose by trying to open
the dead one to see if the individual cells are replaceable. I plan on
chucking it up in a bench vise and, very carefully, cutting off the
top with an exacto knife. I figure this will take a few hours of
patient work.
Has anyone else tried this? Any gotchas?
( The only reason I'm doing this is because the 486 laptop is still
very useful for maintaining Cisco switches and routers.)
Tia,
Ken Long
Albuquerque
(Reply address works as is.)
(Reply address works as is.)
- Posted by Jeff S on August 18th, 2003
If that's a nicad or nimh pack, and preferably one which does not have any "smarts" built in, it may be a fine rebuild candidate, and if the pack contains something fairly common, like solder tab sub-c cells, even better.
Problem with "intelligent" batteries is that some seem to store data and it's not always possible to reset it. And if it's a Li-Ion pack, it's pretty hard to buy those, except as part of some other finished product.
Jeff
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 19:58:42 GMT
Ken Long <kenlectro@despammed.com> wrote:
- Posted by Ken Long on August 19th, 2003
I got the pack open without destroying anything and the cells are
similar to AA in diameter but are noticeably longer. Does this sound
like "Sub-C" ?
Ken
Jeff S <four_season_photo@yahoo.com> wrote:
- Posted by Ian Stirling on August 19th, 2003
Ken Long <kenl@despammed.com> wrote:
Are they 18*65mm long?
If so, these are 18650 cells, and are almost certainly lithium-ion.
What is the outside of the pack marked (voltage/current)
If it's a multiple of 3.6 (or 3.7), it's likely to be lithium-ion.
If it's a multiple of 1.2, it's NiMH or NiCd.
--
http://inquisitor.i.am/ | mailto:inquisitor@i.am | Ian Stirling.
---------------------------+-------------------------+--------------------------
Paranoia: A game for the whole family, and anyone else who might be watching.
- Posted by Ken Long on August 19th, 2003
This is a NiMH pack. The pack voltage is 12V and there are five cells.
I'll have to get the cell measurements tomorrow.
Ken
Ian Stirling <root@mauve.demon.co.uk> wrote:
- Posted by mike on August 19th, 2003
Ken Long wrote:
5/4A cells are the most common I've found in that vintage computer.
I've never found a place to buy small quantities of cells at a price
lower than a new pack. I have taken apart surplus packs and used those
cells, but it's hit or miss on whether they're better than the ones
you're replacing. You also have to match the charge characteristics
required by your laptop. I've blowed up cells that apparently weren't
designed for fast charge. I've not found an easy way to determine
exactly the characteristics of the cell.
mike
--
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- Posted by mike on August 19th, 2003
Ken Long wrote:
You can't get 12V out of 5 NiMH cells. Count again.
mike
--
Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
4in/400Wout ham linear amp.
Honda CB-125S
400cc Dirt Bike 2003 miles $450
Police Scanner, Color LCD overhead projector
Tek 2465 $800, ham radio, 30pS pulser
Tektronix Concept Books, spot welding head...
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/
- Posted by Ken Long on August 19th, 2003
That seems to be what this pack has. There are ten cells each one is
67mm long x 17mm diameter. The tag is cut in half but I think it says:
SANYO NiMH
TWICELL
MODEL 10HR-4/3A
12V YAH
SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. Japan
I've found them at http://www.batteryprice.com for $6.40 each.
Thanks,
Ken
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 22:04:02 -0700, mike <spamme0@juno.com> wrote:
(Reply address works as is.)
- Posted by Warren on August 19th, 2003
Jeff S <four_season_photo@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<20030819083101.03ac7ca6.four_season_photo@ya hoo.com>...
find an online seller. If indeed you only have 5 "cells" and that's a
12V pack, either this isn't nicad/nimh, else each one is actually a
shrinkwrapped unit of two cells. If the shrinkwrapped cell is only a
little longer than a standard AA, those probably break down into 10x
individual 1/2 AA cells. Sometimes those individual cells will be
stamped with the maker's name (Sanyo et al) and you can get exact
specs from the part number. Otherwise, use your best guess-if you have
a choice between one cell which is "standard" and another offering
"fast charge, high capacity", take the later.
Unless you are very familiar with the batteries used and are familiar
with the battery chemistries and charge time, I would advise just to
buy a new battery pack. Laptop batteries, in particular types using
Lithium Ion batteries have been known to start major fires under
abnormal charging/discharging conditions.
Warren
- Posted by Loz on August 20th, 2003
"Ken Long" <kenlectro@despammed.com> wrote in message
news:cob4kvk9tt567efih9mvmo0lboesq300ug@4ax.com...
Like
http://www.budgetbatteries.co.uk/cgi...l?productid=20
178;cartid=2183_20Aug03_021601; ?
I guess you're not in England, but I think they would ship abroad?
3.99 GBP each, which is about six bucks, so still not that cheap?
Used the site before, and they're fine.
The cells are called 7/5AF's over here.
