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Warning! Exploding Maxell PRAM Batteries

Posted by: RedStripes on 2013-08-04 20:31:02 What is your experience with the 'Saft' battery?

Posted by: uniserver on 2013-08-04 23:54:50 still has its original VARTA brand battery holding a charge after 25 years. Yes I have also seen this, was very surprised still had its charge. Forget what machine it was in. Pretty sure it was a Macintosh SE.

Posted by: volvo242gt on 2013-08-05 01:59:15 What is your experience with the 'Saft' battery? They seem to be what RE-PC here in Seattle sells. Last time I used the G4 DA, it seemed to be fine, time-wise. Battery was installed prior to my buying the machine in early 2009. Was a LS14250. -J

Posted by: Renegade on 2013-08-17 11:40:50 My turn ... Scared by this thread, I decided to remove dead batteries from the most easily accessible in from my collection. I removed 12, only 1 leaked, guess what brand it was... It was in my PM 8100/80. Even the optical drive has signs of corrosion :O Funny, the exploded/leaked Maxell battery was the newest of the 3. It had an expiration date reading 1993, while the two other had 1989 and 1990. Those Sonnenschein Lithium batteries (the blue ones) seem to be reliable anyway.

Posted by: Renegade on 2013-08-24 10:17:13 Another tragedy discovered today... Quadra 610 and 660av didn't make it :'( The mess was still liquid in the Q610 : Funny though, another soldered Varta battery from a Mac II still showing some charge

Posted by: genie_mac on 2013-08-24 12:51:00 That's a real shame! 🙁 Hopefully you'll be able to use some bits as spares. Btw I believe the date printed on the batteries is the manufacturing date, not the expiry date. As far as I know expiry dates on batteries were only introduced recently.

Posted by: Renegade on 2013-08-27 10:31:29 I believe there are good chances to save the Q610 mobo. Concerning Q660's mobo, well I decided to get one from eBay. Cost me US$ 81.20 with shipping and import taxes. D'oh!...

Posted by: uniserver on 2013-08-27 10:54:29 did you wash out the 660av

Posted by: Renegade on 2013-08-27 23:35:42 Yes. But at least 3 capacitors are missing and lots of PCB traces are damaged as well. Ram and CPU should be Ok though.

Posted by: techknight on 2013-08-28 18:54:49 Well it looks like it has the Full 040, You could sell that and recoup a good chunk of money back.

Posted by: Unknown_K on 2013-08-28 20:55:58 How many exploding batteries are a product of storing machines in extreme temperatures (both boiling and freezing)?

Posted by: techknight on 2013-08-28 21:30:16 That we will never know! How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? NEver know.

Posted by: finkmac on 2013-08-29 07:20:45 Found one of these things in my Yikes G3… Compared to the other brands, the Maxell one has a longer + Contact, and less battery… Could that somehow be the cause of these exploding batteries?

Posted by: James1095 on 2013-08-29 13:41:25 I don't think storage conditions have much to do with it, though heat does speed up chemical reactions, so warmer conditions may speed it up a bit. Honestly I'm surprised so many of these cells *don't* leak after so many years. It's remarkable that one could go 20+ years without leaking the caustic stuff inside. Personally I would not leave a battery more than 5-6 years old in a system. 10 years is pushing your luck, longer than that is just tempting fate. If the machine will be stored for a long period, just be safe and pull the battery. It's not like there are a ton of settings that need to be restored.

Posted by: techknight on 2013-08-29 20:01:15 I forgot about the D cell batteries I had in my flashlight, they are 4 years old, leaked solid so i had to toss the flashlight. lol. So its amazing anything doesnt leak at all after 20+ years.

Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2013-08-29 20:24:27 I bought a stereo receiver off of ebay which still had the original batteries in the remote and in the receiver for memory backup. The unit was likely put into service in 1986-87. Batteries didn't leak and the remote still worked enough to turn the unit on/off!

Posted by: techknight on 2013-08-30 18:15:45 wholy shit....

Posted by: uniserver on 2013-08-30 18:53:26 Un-Tempature regulated storage is what makes these batteries blow. In a home that is around 70 all year long, I highly doubt a battery will leak.

Posted by: Renegade on 2013-08-31 04:20:56 most of my macs are stored in an attic where the temp can reach 35°C (91° F) during summer.

Posted by: Renegade on 2013-09-09 07:39:56 The replacement board arrived today, but it was so poorly packaged that it was damaged during transport: A chip and a cap were floating around in the box : They come from the areas in the yellow and red circles. Great. Now I'm stuck with two damaged boards. Repairing is not an option since my soldering skill is... Zero. Sorry for being off topic, but I wanted to share this "experience". :disapprove:

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