PRAM battery in G4 Quicksilver flat already?

madiba wrote on :
Hi, although my dual 1GHz Quicksilver is less than 1.5 years old it has lost the ability to keep the date and time (please excuse any posts from me dated 1.1.1970!) PRAM reset was tried, I then checked the 3.6V battery on the circiut board and it seemed to have no voltage? ! The Maxwell lithium batteries always lasted for many many years on my old Macs, in fact I never had to change them. Anyone have a similar experience? The brand that came with the G4 is 'Tadiran', made in Israel.
Chuck Reti replied on :

In article 1fz11ts.1g55mbekqr28wN%down@redacted.invalid, down@redacted.invalid (madiba) wrote:

Hi, although my dual 1GHz Quicksilver is less than 1.5 years old it has lost the ability to keep the date and time (please excuse any posts from me dated 1.1.1970!) PRAM reset was tried, I then checked the 3.6V battery on the circiut board and it seemed to have no voltage? ! The Maxwell lithium batteries always lasted for many many years on my old Macs, in fact I never had to change them. Anyone have a similar experience? The brand that came with the G4 is 'Tadiran', made in Israel.

The 3.6v batteries seem to be of greatly variable quality and life span. Replacements at most Mac mailorder houses or RadioShack p/n 23-026. Also, do you kill the AC power or power strip when the computer is not on? This can also affect battery life.

Joe Heimann replied on :

Chuck Reti <chuckr*@redacted.invalid*spammac.com.invalid> wrote:

In article 1fz11ts.1g55mbekqr28wN%down@redacted.invalid, down@redacted.invalid (madiba) wrote:

Hi, although my dual 1GHz Quicksilver is less than 1.5 years old it has lost the ability to keep the date and time (please excuse any posts from me dated 1.1.1970!) PRAM reset was tried, I then checked the 3.6V battery on the circiut board and it seemed to have no voltage? ! The Maxwell lithium batteries always lasted for many many years on my old Macs, in fact I never had to change them. Anyone have a similar experience? The brand that came with the G4 is 'Tadiran', made in Israel.

The 3.6v batteries seem to be of greatly variable quality and life span. Replacements at most Mac mailorder houses or RadioShack p/n 23-026. Also, do you kill the AC power or power strip when the computer is not on? This can also affect battery life.

As mentioned, turning off power at a strip can kill the battery fairly quickly. Also, if you need to reset the Power Manager, just press the button on the logic board once and just for a short time. Doing it twice can put the power manager into drawing continuously from the battery which will run it out in less than a week. There is an Apple Knowledge Base article about this.

Joe Heimann

madiba replied on :

Chuck Reti <chuckr*@redacted.invalid*SPAMmac.com.invalid> wrote:

In article 1fz11ts.1g55mbekqr28wN%down@redacted.invalid, down@redacted.invalid (madiba) wrote:

Hi, although my dual 1GHz Quicksilver is less than 1.5 years old it has lost the ability to keep the date and time (please excuse any posts from me dated 1.1.1970!) PRAM reset was tried, I then checked the 3.6V battery on the circiut board and it seemed to have no voltage? ! The Maxwell lithium batteries always lasted for many many years on my old Macs, in fact I never had to change them. Anyone have a similar experience? The brand that came with the G4 is 'Tadiran', made in Israel.

The 3.6v batteries seem to be of greatly variable quality and life span. Replacements at most Mac mailorder houses or RadioShack p/n 23-026. Also, do you kill the AC power or power strip when the computer is not on? This can also affect battery life. No, I don't kill the AC power.