Ioannis Panteleon wrote:
> Hi Yolanda,
>
> Yolanda wrote:
> > Ioannis wrote:
> > >I'm dreaming now of cutting open the case of the laptop and installing
> > >the battery of an up to date notebook, as the genuine one is of course a
> > >joke. Don't know if this is technically possible, maybe someone has an ad
> > ice?
> >
> > I've seen a number of 486 laptops that opened with screws and few snap
> > points around the seam. The battery is often very near the surface and
> > easy to reach. Look for snaps that open the top or keyboard when the lid
> > is open. Remove all removable devices before you begin. Also watch if
> > there are any tiny circles in the plastic like a plug replaced over a
> > nested screw.
>
> Sorry, I think I didn't explained it right: Opening the case is not the
> problem. I'm wondering about things like how to replace the charging unit,
> or how to overcome differences in voltage. I used the term cutting, as i
> expect the new battery to be of different size to the old one, so that it is
> necessary to remove some parts of the case and fix the battery otherwise.
> Bye,
> iannis
Hard work to swap a new battery in - Most laptops are the size they are,
because that's as small as you can fit all those "goodies" in there. To
cut the motherboard in half is a BAD idea <G>
If you install Nickel Metal Hydride batteries in place of the existing
NiCad batteries (NiCdLady.Com or batteriesamerica.com sell these cells
or will re-pack your battery pack for you), you can get about 2-3 times
the capacity in the same weight and size. This is nice.
The same charging unit will work fine, it will just charge the batteries
slowly (as they're larger in capacity than the original.) No voltage
difference. The NiMH's work fine with slower trickle chargers (Due to
the larger capacity they have, most "Medium" speed NiCad chargers end up
being "slow" NiMH chargers.) "Fast" NiCad chargers aren't "ideal" for
NiMH's, but most laptop chargers take 3+ hours for the original packs so
are "Medium" speed. NiMH's like to be kept cool, NiCad's aren't as
picky there.
Many laptop batteries use 5/4 "A" or 4/5 "A" cells, nicdlady.com has
cell sizes or I can type those in. Each cell will be 1.2 volts (so a
14.4V pack has 12 cells in series.) You want "Tabbed" cells, which have
tabs spot-welded to the battery contacts - soldering directly to the
ends of a battery will often harm or destroy the battery. They're not
much more than regular cells.
Also, you can (if you're lucky and your laptop has a findable external
power jack, OR, you have a car power adapter for your laptop) stay with
the existing battery, plug in the external power plug, and power the
laptop off either a switching power supply or the car power adapter
(Likely a switcher internally!) - using your choice of deep cycle
battery (They make Golf Cart batteries that're rather huge.) My brother
uses this with a car battery sized laptop on his laptop, with a 2 wheel
carrier, for "quite enough" power <G> Just recharge the lead-acid
battery daily when you get home. (You can get smaller Lead-Acid's like
4 AH in capacity for $10 usually if you look at surplus mail order
places.) So you can carry say 3, 4Ah external batteries for those
longer days of computing.
For less weight at higher cost, use am AC recharger during the day,
carry a solar panel, or use a switcher off some lighter batteries
(Li-Ion's are quite light and quite expensive, like 10 times as pricey
as lead-acid batteries.) Also could use groups of
See http://wearcam.org/wearhow/index.html esp. the "How to build a
WearComp (WearComp6)" batteries and power bridge subsections for more
info on how the wearable computers people do this. The Power Trends
switchers they mention in there are good, a little pricey at $20ish, but
are "buck" (voltage reducing) switchers - you may need a "boost"
(Voltage increasing) switcher if your laptop runs off higher voltage
than your batteries provide. Maxim, National, or Linear Technologies
make switcher control IC's, and have software that helps you design such
devices.
(Li-Ion chargers are harder to make than Lead-Acid or Ni-Cad / NiMH
chargers, BTW.)
While in there, good idea to replace the Real Time Clock/CMOS battery
(Many laptops use lithium coin cells, best to use BR- not CR- family
cells here - And many use the old standard Varta 3/V60R, available for
$5 at NicdLady.Com, I see.) I've done a number of such, Compaq Aero's
being about the hardest <G>
Mark
--
Detest spam? Take the Boulder Pledge, boycott SPAMmers.
http://www.zdnet.com/yil/content/mag/9612/ebert9612.html
To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message.
Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies.
More info can be found at;
http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
