[SPARCbook] FS: SPARCBook 3GX is SOLD, Battery Question...

[Robert F. Schaefer]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lionel Peterson" <lionel4287 at verizon.net>
To: "For owners of Tadpole/RDI's SPARCbook series of portable Sun-compatible
computer systems." <sparcbook at sunhelp.org>; <sparcbook at sunhelp.org>
Cc: <geeks at sunhelp.org>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: [SPARCbook] FS: SPARCBook 3GX is SOLD, Battery Question...


> Thanks - the SPARCBook appears to be sold.
>
> On a related note, any have any experiences getting SPARCBook battery
packs "re-packed"?

I toyed with the idea when I picked up by SB2.  Quality nicad cells with
solder tabs were ~$5.00/ea from places like Digikey, IIRC-- too rich for my
blood.  I did pick up some generic nicad cells (no solder tab) from a
mail-order shop for ~$1.25/ea for use on another project, and thought for a
few minutes about soldering 'em together, but decided against it.  I ended
up picking up an SB1 pack that I broke into two packs for the SB2.  It held
a charge for a while, enough to call it a success, but I get the feeling
that an SB2 isn't going to get killer battery times no matter what I do.

>
> I've got one battery pack that won't hold a charge, and I'm wondering if:
>
> 1) Getting it re-packed is an affordable option
> 2) If getting higher-capacity is possible

I'd be more concerned with this than soldering tab-less cells together.  I'd
imagine the charging circuit is tailored pretty closely to the cells used in
the original pack-- higher cap batteries will have different
charging-current curves that may be outside tolerances of the charger.
Also, modern battery technologies aren't very forgiving-- a common response
to being overcharged is to explode...

>
> Thanks in advance for any insight!
>
> Lionel

Bob