All chemical batteries have the end of their life ahead of themselves as the internal chemical combinations deteriorate. Nobody really charges a new battery, it's not necessary--the initial charge comes from the fresh placement of chemicals in their proper place in the physical design.
The SM battery and the power supply sit in parallel at the terminals of the CUDA circuit. With the AC on, there is a single "idle" 5V circuit available to the PRAM, and to the keyboard and front panel ABD circuits allows start-up functions of the rest of the power supply if the CUDA says OK based on the proper PRAM instructions.
Bad battery, and/or, unpluggedness, lead to failed, or inaccurate, instructions in the PRAM. There's nothing available to sustain them. No instructions from the PRAM; no start-up sequence for the rest of the power supply coming on line. That's what fools people about needing a new supply and sets them out to buy one.
If you have one of those house brick batteries for an older videocam; is it still chargeable? Even if you left the chunk on a charger from the day you bought it, it would still be dead. Car batteries and flashlight batteries all suffer the same fate. I pay attention to the useful shelf life for my rice crispies and my batteries--buy batteries in a store that rarely sells batteries, and you will quickly discover what accumulated shelf life is.
The first time AC power is lost though, the battery will need replacing.
The battery needed replacement when it fell below specs. Losing AC power, is simply the time when you discover that past fact.
Bob Wulkowicz
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On Tuesday, November 11, 2003, at 04:43 AM, Mike Ford wrote:
Its still been unplugged now for many days, so chances are VERY good the battery has dropped down to the replacement range. Once you find a replacement power supply it would be smart to have a new battery on hand too.
BTW The FAQ needs an update, after years of suppling batteries, I am all out with no expectation of getting more.
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The battery deterioration is independent of of the power circuit.
Not true, and Motorola warns against removing AC power. With AC constantly available the power supply isn't entirely off, more like a low power sleep mode with no draw on the pram battery. Even a very low battery may show no problems as long as the AC is connected. The first time AC power is lost though, the battery will need replacing.
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