Hi Carol
I will tread very carefully here because I wouldn't normally
contradict Alex or Joseph, but I'd rather tell you what's involved in
changing the battery as I see it than just say it's too hard and
forget it. All blind people are different and some are much more
comfortable with tools and electronics than others. I'm totally blind
and I've been playing with electronic bits and pieces for almost as
long as I remember. More importantly, if your battery pack will not
charge at all, what have you got to lose? The only problem I see is
that if you dismantle your battery pack and can't get another, it is
possible that the BN may not work off mains power unless a battery is
at least plugged in, but I'm not sure about that, and I don't have my
power supply handy to test the theory..
I would recommend reading the whole of this message before doing
anything to your BN, and obviously you dismantle anything at your own
risk, but that's all I have to say on the matter apart from that
electronics can be delicate and a gentle sensative touch will yield
better results than going at it like a bull in a china shop as we say
here in the UK..
What I'm going to tell you is based on my own MPower BT which is open
in front of me as I write - I do not have a classic to play with.
The battery changing process looks pretty straightforward to me with
two warnings:
1) I don't know whether Humanware will actually sell you the battery
pack as a unit. If not, you'd have to dismantle what's inside yours
and get someone who can solda to make up a new one. It looks to me
that it's quite possibly made up of six standard rechargeable double
A batteries, but I could be completely wrong here.
2) I have no idea what, if any, software procedures you might need to
go through once your new battery pack is installed to calibrate it
etc, but that should be discoverable.
Now, on with the show!
The only tools you need are a small, flat-bladed screw driver and a
smallish cross-bladed screw driver; that's it!
To dismantle your BN - or mine at least - you should remove the BN
from any case you have it in and remove any cards you have in any of
the slots.
Now, turn your BN over with the braille display facing downwards and
you will need to remove six resessed screws from the base of the
unit. two are in small holes next to the front feet, two are located
in the centre of the base one at the front more or less between the
two pairs of thumb keys and one in a similar position at the rear,
and two which are cunningly hidden in holes underneath the rear feet.
This means you'll need to use something like a small, flat-bladed
screw driver to prize out the feet before you can get at the screws,
mind your fingers!
Having removed all six screws and put them somewhere safe for later,
carefully lift the front of the base panel as though the unit were
hinged at the rear and lie the base panel on your work surface with
the rear edges as close to one another as possible. This is important
as there is a circuit board attached to the base panel with several
cables connecting it to the rest of the unit and you don't want to
damage or disconnect any of them.
Now, if you feel inside the top half of the unit you'll discover that
the thumb keys are on two removable circuit boards, the display
itself is under a large rectangular metal cover and behind that is
situated the battery pack. The battery pack is made up of two rows of
batteries with a gap in the foremost row to accommodate the pillar
which houses the centre rear screw when the BN is closed up.
I have my BN with the thumb keys facing me, and the battery pack has
a set of four cables twisted together coming out of the righthand
side of the rearmost row of batteries. If you follow this twisted
cable you'll find that it comes to a plug on the circuit board I
mentioned earlier on the base panel of the unit, so it spans both
halves of your BN. The cable on my unit ends in a plug which is
easily removed if you hold the circuit board still with one hand and
firmly pull the plug vertically upwards with the other noting the
orientation of the plug as you do so. The battery pack itself appears
to be simply mounted on two sticky padds which may, or may not need
replacing if you attempt this job. Sorry, I'm not going to remove
mine just to test how sticky they are!
And that's about it, really. If you can get hold of a new pack from
HW or have one made (remember you could use the old cabling if you
had to have it made so you get the correct plug for your new one),
you simply attach it to the sticky pads, plug it in, carefully close
up the unit making sure not to trap any wires and that everything
feels sound before you put any screws back in. Then, simply put in
the six screws reasonably tightly but not too tight because they're
only going into plastic, pop your feet back in, and the rest is
calibration and enjoying your new battery life.
I hope this has been helpful to you, and maybe others too. You can
now make a decision about whether this job is for you (with or
without a friend) or not.
Please let us know how you get on.
Talk soon
John
At 15:50 23/09/2011, you wrote:
It is hard to impossible to do this as it requires partial
disassembling of the unit. Unless you know what you're doing, I would
leave it to a professional. The battery in the classic and mPower is
not a simple battery pack, but rather a series of rechargeable
batteries used together, so it is a bit more complex than an Apex or
laptop battery.
On 9/23/11, Joseph Lee <[email protected]> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Carol and Roger <[email protected]>
> Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:20:07 -0400
> Subject: battery question
> To: Joseph Lee <[email protected]>
>
> Hi,
>
> Do you know how to remove the battery on a BN classic? I want to get a
> replacement, but don't want to take the BN and leave it there while they
> build another one.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Carol
>
>
>
> On 9/22/2011 5:40 PM, Joseph Lee wrote:
>> Hi,
>> In that case, the fastest way to move things between your BN and your
>> computer is using a card reader (a device with a USB cable and a slot
>> for CompactFlash cards). This means that you don't really have to
>> connect your BN to your computer at all.
>> Have you checked out a site called BrailleNote Users? A BN user
>> created the site that hosts a number of useful info on using a BN.
>> Cheers,
>> Joseph
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Carol and Roger <[email protected]
>> To: Joseph Lee <[email protected]
>> Date sent: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:41:02 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [Braillenote] BrailleNote 4.0 questions
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> As far as the battery goes, it was dead, meaning it could not be
>> revived. I have found a Batteries Plus and once I can find a ride
>> there, I will get a new one made.
>>
>> As far as other things, I doubt that I would use email services much. I
>> would like to be able to connect to the computer and move files around
>> easier than copying one at a time.
>>
>> I spoke with the folks at Humanware, but they indicated that updating my
>> BN would cost around $1,000, so I have opted to keep things as they
>> are. Since I only got my BN a few days ago, I am still figuring it out
>> and what it can and can't do.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 9/19/2011 11:33 PM, Joseph Lee wrote:
>> Hi,
>> Welcome to the list.
>> Unfortunately, the Classic battery is not replaceable by users, unless
>> if you are talking about battery being "dead" as in discharged. In
>> this case, find the AC adapter and connect it to your BN and it should
>> charge it.
>> As far as Classic with 4.0 goes, it really depends on what you want to
>> do. If you want to receive email and browse the net, then you do need
>> either a modem service or using your computer's Internet connection
>> (using a serial cable (NULL modem) and a serial to USB converter) and,
>> as Alex mentioned, a program called Windows Mobile Device Center would
>> be required - but not sure on whether it supports serial now. The USB
>> to parallel converter is mostly used for printing or embossing when
>> you only have USB ports, which the Classic does not.
>> The highest KeySoft version supported by these BrailleNotes is 7.5
>> with minor revisions.
>> Cheers,
>> Joseph
>>
>> On 9/19/11, Carol and Roger<[email protected]> wrote:
>> Well, I have found out that my version 3.07 is actually a version 4.0 if
>> I press the reset key whenever I get the prompt to put in the date and
>> country, etc.
>>
>> I am running a Windows 7 computer with a DSL modem. I have a parallel
>> to USB connector to run my embosser. I have a compact flash card for
>> moving files from and to the computer.
>>
>> What can I expect from the BrailleNote as far as being able to connect
>> to the computer or the brailler or my USB printer or the internet, just
>> to name a few things that have crossed my mind. I do have some old
>> parallel to parallel connector cables, but I don't think I have anything
>> with a serial port. My computer does not have a parallel port.
>>
>> Just to keep anyone that helped me yesterday updated, I have been able
>> to set appointments and be alerted when I asked to be. I have moved
>> books to and from the compact flash, I have read over 40 Braille pages
>> today, and my previous best was about 12 pages per hour, and that was
>> during my training. I have placed a few names and phone numbers in my
>> address list and have been able to find them. I have not been able to
>> just randomly go through the list to see what all of the entries are,
>> but since I can search, I guess that does not matter. I am having lots
>> of fun and learning at the same time. It is great finding a grooup that
>> has people that still remember the old models and are willing to share
>> their knowledge. Thank you.
>>
>> Oh yes, how do I access the battery. Mine is dead.
>>
>> Carol
>>
>>
>> ___
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>>
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>> http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
>>
>>
>>
>
> ___
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> copy to the list as well.
>
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>
--
Have a great day,
Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
[email protected]; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
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-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1410 / Virus Database: 1520/3916 - Release Date: 09/24/11
John Ramm
2010 Clore Social Fellow
Tel: 07801 734722
Email: [email protected]
Find me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Rammland
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