Hallo everyone,
Last year i got as a gift an old Bronze kbd G3 400 PB, with a dead lithium battery.
Was working, but the fan didn't turn on, so got quite hot, but worked.
One day I decided to replace the battery so I picked up 4 1.5V batteries and assembled
something like the original litium pack, or I thought that.
I connected, and plugged in the machine, turn it on... and whoa... nothing.
The "on" led blinks green, and thats all, unplug then plug then turn on, led doesn't blink any more.
Anybody know what did I fry, or how can I recover/repair it ?.
(I got an Oscilloscope 
I already tryed all kbd combinations to reset PRAM (even reset button), but nothing.
Thanks !
Those batteries aren't 2 3V lithium cells put together. These are NiCd-batteries, 1,2V each, making 2,4V and not 6V, so your powerbook might be a bit toasted.
Hans
I'm afraid they are, they say: "Panasonic VL2330 3V" ;-), the pack is 4 batteries, two in parallel and in series with two more.
Maybe I inverted the polarity
do you have pictures of you homemade battery?
You can't use any old batteries, you gotta use the original type VL cells. Regular Lithium clock/watch/camera/etc. cells won't work and may cause the power manager to go completely wonky.
Lombard can start up with no PRAM battery in place. Try disconnecting your mess-of-a-battery and see if it will start.
dan k
all powerbooks (except some ibooks with supercaps) use watch cell lithium ion rechargeable cells. Even the old Wallstreets.
Arrgh! drbob your usual sage advice doesn't help in this case! The cells required are not watch cells, watch cells are not rechargable. The term watch cells is what I'm objecting to here.
The cells required are similar in shape and size to coin-type watch cells, but are not at all the same. VLxxxx cells are Vanadium Pentoxide Lithium and are rechargable. Watch cells are typically Lithium Thionyl Chloride and are NOT rechargable!
Bottom line - Do not use watch cells in any rechargable application, PBs included! Use only the same type cell as used in the original application.
Please drbob be careful as your advice is taken as gospel by many (including me!)
dan k
ps: PBs 1xx used MLxxxx Magnesium Lithium rechargable cells and PBs 3400/Kanga use a rechargable NiMH PRAM pack, neither using the usual VL-type pack. Also IIRC, the 2400 used something different, though as I've never had one I cannot say for sure.
Oh excuse me your highness. I only developed the test rig to repeatedly charge and discharge the backup battery packs for our testing at Apple. But hey what do I know.
I only added Watch cells to describe the form factor. You'll note I said specifically they were rechargeable cells. Please read all of what I write before acting in a reactionary alarmist fashion. This is exactly why I haven't been posting here very much lately.
pps. regarding your PS, I said back to wall street because products before that are unknown to me.
I don't think I'm being pedantic, the confusion and ignorance regarding which cells to use is common. In no way did I question your cred drbob, just the term you used.
Many people are already confused about which cells are appropriate for PowerBooks. Advising that "watch cells" are suitable adds to the confusion. Watch cells, pretty much by definition, are not rechargable, so that's why I specifically objected only to the "watch" descriptor. Yes, I saw your mention of "rechargable", but putting "watch" and "rechargable" together equals only more confusion. In this case, can I suggest the term "coin cell" instead of "watch cell"?
So what part of what I'm saying is wrong, or personally offensive, exactly? I'm a tad curious to know why I deserve a "your highness" putdown?
dan k
PS: BTW, from now on please address me, not as "your highness", but as "your excellency"!! TIA
I did remove my home-made battery pack (almost immediatly after a short test), and turned on the notebook, but the same as before, blinking led, no chime, no power on. (I thought that was clear from the beginning !?!).
Any other (useful) suggestion ?
thx
Resetting the Power Manager
PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze Keyboard)computers have a
reset button located on the back of the computer behind the
I/O door. Press the button once to reset the power manager.
dan k
Sorry, in my original post I say that I already tried that, without any luck
Any other ideas ?
A blinking LED sounds like the PRAM battery may be trying to work but power supply or power battery have a contact or failure
problem...hope I am reading the post crrectly...
Dave
So, I have no battery, I removed it (the pack with four VLs), so the header in the board remains unconnected.
I don't have the orignal battery pack to test anyways. This behaviour is without battery pack.
Note: Before I decided to put in my own battery pack, the machine worked well (ok, heat, no time keeping, no main bettery recharge, no fan), but this happened after I tested with my own batpack. I removed immediately and... blinking led, no power on, no chime.
Angain ;-), any ideas ?