>
> Dear Group...
> I have not pulled the cover on my StarMax 5500 for the purposes of replacing the
> PRAM battery, however... is it logical to assume that it uses the same battery
> as the other models? I thought it might use the 3.6 v. lithium battery used in so
>many
> of the Apple models. To save tearing into the machine to find the battery, could
> someone who knows comment?
> Bruce Havourd
>
It doesn't follow because I comment that I know, but here's an answer.
The only battery for the Starmax is the 4.5v boxish battery.
Also, here's a thread I just sent out for the quaddies that's just as
applicable FYI for the starites:
Now this is all very good banter for a newcomer to read... My
compliments to the participants.
-------------------
According to the big manufacturers, their 4.5 v alkaline battery is
designed more to have low internal losses while it does essentially
shelf-life duty inside a computer. There isn't as much a battery drain
as there is internal deterioration while sitting "idle." The
amp-capacity and theoretical storage strength of the battery therefore
are not so very relevant because our unwanted failures are really not
having the proper voltage available to keep the memories inside the PRAM
maintained without corruption.
Inside most all of the macs and apparently some PC's, there is a CUDA
chip assembly which holds that PRAM (Parameter Memory) and handles many
functions including essential specific memory retention, keyboard
startup capacities, and whatever other info the designers wanted to have
stick around for the user during their next startup.
Leaving the computer turned on 24/7 may not simply "recharge" the
battery continuously since that has little to do with the chemical
deterioration that ultimately occurs. (If I find a battery I left in a
drawer a few years ago, even days on my little recharger rarely brings
it back to usefulness. Such is the way of batteries.)
The manufacturers conservatively rate their batteries as being good for
3 years. Apparently, some batteries can go 5 years or longer as shown by
practical experience--those are then examples of the low internal losses
problems being overcome by battery chemical selection. All the different
chemical combinations inside a cell yield different or longer shelf
lives which essentially is what the computer designer is interested in
for her purposes.
-----------------
PRAM
This bit of circuitry holds so many functions that when the battery is
failing or is dead and the PRAM is corrupted, there are a variety of
other symptoms that lead the owners to look for a new power supply, new
motherboard, new drive, etc., etc.
Because this bad PRAM info includes the very act of pressing the power
on function from the front panel switch or the keyboard, many owners
think there is a basic gross failure of their machine. And they go off
to the shop for repairs, or look for another power supply, etc.. (I
know, I was one of them who bought another machine cheaply to
cannibalize the power supply. Imagine my surprise when I found the
hidden battery, tested it and ordered a new one for $4--which solved my
own no-start problem. Duhhh!)
When we zap the PRAM via software through TechTool or by the keyboard
combination, we are clearing the memory stacks inside the PRAM and
rewriting the original info provided by Apple. That info gets changed
all the time, sometimes by us, sometimes by the programs and apparently
sometimes by the computer. But if the voltage isn't available to
maintain those memory bytes accurately (corruption), then we are about
to go on the great adventure of :"What the hell is going on."
It takes the PROPER voltage to restore those original parameter
memories--and to maintain them. If the battery voltage ain't there,
you're likely on your way back to corruptionville. (Note: Keeping the
computer on all the time may forestall the problems until there is an
unknown power failure, or someone pulled the plug to vacuum, or the
computer was relocated or stored. Then it's welcome to the world of
subtle headaches (?)).
There are also two zillion other reasons inside a machine for it to act
goofy--and that's the game of troubleshooting which the readers of these
forums have elected to engage in, partially because of money, sometimes
out of curiosity, and often because we have the fantasy we'd like to
control our own universe.
In that vein, statistically the battery is a first-first-look-at item.
Regrettably, batteries are sometimes hidden as if we'll buy a new
machine before the battery fails so why bother making it easy those
do-it-yourself bozos? Since the battery is awkward to get to in some
machines and requires a volt-meter to check, we look for other clues
like the screen clock being off-time or erratic quirky things that are
sadly also indicative of extension conflicts and the like.
A good rule of thumb is to buy a replacement battery now, if it's not
been recently replaced, at your leisure, for a few bucks, rather than
wait till the machine goes down and you "need it up in a hurry", HELP,
HELP! This also may keep at bay the "I need a new
.......$$$$$expensive$$$$....dinkus syndrome, when the inevitable exotic
failure seems to occur.
------------
Anyway, this is a good thread and I wanted people to not misunderstand
the function of the battery. It isn't a matter of how long you can run a
flashlight, where mucho ampacity is the goal. For us here, it's how long
the battery can sit around essentially doing nothing (as I understand
it, the internal losses are greater than the CUDA chip current drain)
and that's why we need them.
-----------
Before my used power supply in an expensive large plastic box came in, I
took 3 AA batteries, stacked them in a little triangle, soldered them in
series, and connected the + and - properly to the original connector cut
off the old battery. The advice here is to use a large wattage soldering
iron that will heat the battery end quickly so the solder will melt and
properly join the wire to the battery metal. A bad solder joint is no
different than a bad battery.
A low wattage iron will spend its time heating the larger mass of the
battery and barely get up to temp for melting solder. All that does is
frustrate you and mess up the battery insides.
(Your tool box of choice should have a large and small wattage iron, one
for goofy stuff like this, the other for delicate work when you decide
eventually you're smart enough to abuse the motherboard and its companions.)
I then slipped a section of shrinkable tubing over the wulko-battery to
keep it all together and look professional. (I clutch at those prideful
straws whenever I can.) A tiny tad of velcro and there it now hangs in
all its triumphant usefulness.
The cost: $2 for three batteries. But, I wasn't as pleased at saving
money as in deciding my own fate for that moment. Power to the people!!!
and to computers too.
Bob Wulkowicz
--
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