Do Not Let The Batteries Get You - Engraving Etc. Forum

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	22 Nov 2006
To:	ALL	1 of 9

5392.1
Have a computer or controller in storage? Better fire it up for a day every few months. I knew that but never really thought about it. First it helps dry it out, moisture is an enemy of electronics. But the important part is the CMOS battery on the main board. It goes dead and you need to be a computer expert to give the unit life again. You see, there was a computer engraver that came into my hands recently, New Hermes V3000. Computer would do nothing but boot ROM and sit there. Let it sit a while to recharge the battery then did a reboot and went into the advanced BIOS settings. Had to tell the computer how to start up, pull the hard drive to get its specs and input that into the CMOS. Took a while. Turned on the EP module and it would not boot, dead battery also. It would take too long to tell you what had to be done to get the CMOS up and running in that unit. (No keyboard or video card to boot.) KEEP YOUR BATTERIES CHARGED! Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem) When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

From:	Laser Image (LASER_IMAGE)	22 Nov 2006
To:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	4 of 9

5392.4 In reply to 5392.1

Harvey,
Just a little clarification. The CMOS battery on virtually every motherboard I have seen is not rechargable but they are replaceable. Powering up the computer does nothing to change the state of charge in the battery.

This may be different on the engraving equipment you are talking about, but not on computers.

If you have a computer that the battery died, you will have to replace it and run a configuration utility to reconfigure it. However, if you have a computer long enough that the battery dies then you really have an antique - the battery should last 7-10 years, if not longer - you might be better off tossing it and buying something from the current century.

Gary

From:	UncleSteve	22 Nov 2006
To:	Laser Image (LASER_IMAGE)	5 of 9

5392.5 In reply to 5392.4
Hmmm.... let's see! Keep an old computer with Hermes EP painted on it and keep replacing batteries every 5-7 years OR spend $3K plus for a replacement EP unit... Battery? New EP unit? Battery? New EP unit? Battery? New EP unit? Nope.. just can't decide which to do! ;-) "Don't believe everything you think!"

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	22 Nov 2006
To:	Laser Image (LASER_IMAGE)	6 of 9

5392.6 In reply to 5392.4

The older computers and the motherboards in the EP module used 3 cell ganged NiCad battery with stakes welded to the battery and soldered to the board. It was before Lithium batteries were used because the CMOS of them good ol' days drew too much power for the Lithium. (The computer ran Win 3.1 and Opensystem software. It had a whole 4 meg of ram. The EP module had 1 meg of RAM.

Got to get with the old stuff so when you see it in the museum you will know what it is.

Look in your old computers, if the battery is the size and shape of a quarter it is a Lithium battery and can be replaced. If it is the size of about ten dimes together and has a plastic shrink wrap it is a NiCad.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

From:	UncleSteve	22 Nov 2006
To:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	7 of 9

5392.7 In reply to 5392.6
Harvey, How about instructions on how to replace the old ni-cads without losing all your settings and so the system will boot when you go to restart it after the battery change..... "Don't believe everything you think!"

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	23 Nov 2006
To:	UncleSteve	8 of 9

5392.8 In reply to 5392.7

There is usually a four pin jack on the board. It usually has a jumper across pin 2 and 3. You will need the information on your specific boars, surprisingly most are available somewhere on-line. You will need to know which pin, 1 or 4 is the + and which is the -.

Buy an external battery with four pin connector, unless your system uses a Lithium replaceable battery, then you need one of these.

The critical thing is static charge on your body, more than 15 volts will be a fairly good bet to blow out many parts in a computer. An arm or hand MUST be on the chassis if you do not have an anti-static wrist strap connected to the chassis. Turn on the computer after taking the case off, yes turn it on you will need power to the CMOS or you will lose the programing in the chip. Now carefully replace the battery. Do not touch anything else with the battery or you can short what you touch and blow things up. Be sure to place the battery in the proper polarity, if you get it backward it is likely to blow the CMOS chip and then the battery will literally explode like a big firecracker in a short time, like 30 seconds. The explosion can be dangerous.

Now you know why I did not explain how to do it. Best bet is to bring it to a computer store and have them do it. The Lithium batteries will give 5 to 10 years of service before failing.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

When you finally understand it completely... it changes.