Macintosh II & IIx replacement battery holders

[The House of Moth]

For those boards you may encounter that do not have the battery riser boards, I've found these holders to be an excellent choice: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/6S-1-2AA/6S-1-2AA-ND/2077833

With some sandpaper you can take 1mm off of each holder and they will fit perfectly side by side, and have more than enough meat left over to be strong. One of the pins will fit straight through the hole and the other pin will have to be bent out at a 90 degree angle, then the tip bent to fit into the hole. The end result is a strong, good looking replacement (I think). I'm sure there are other options but figured I'd share this one.

 

[Elemenoh]

I prefer this other holder type for several reasons. The batteries are in an awkward spot under the drive carrier. It's easy to forget about them or to consider it not worth the effort to take them out when you store your Mac II or aren't sure if you'll use it for a long time. These carriers let you use CR2032s much less likely to leak, positions them above the carrier and they have off switches so you can save battery life when the Mac is in storage.

I paid $6 for 12 holders, installed them in eight different II's and Iix's without any issues. Give them a try next time!

 

[The House of Moth]

I prefer this other holder type for several reasons. The batteries are in an awkward spot under the drive carrier. It's easy to forget about them or to consider it not worth the effort to take them out when you store your Mac II or aren't sure if you'll use it for a long time. These carriers let you use CR2032s much less likely to leak, positions them above the carrier and they have off switches so you can save battery life when the Mac is in storage.

I paid $6 for 12 holders, installed them in eight different II's and Iix's without any issues. Give them a try next time!

Where were you 2 weeks ago when I ordered the battery holders!!
Definitely a nice alternative

 

[Elemenoh]

Where were you 2 weeks ago when I ordered the battery holders!!

68kMLA

 

[Purdy]

I prefer this other holder type for several reasons. The batteries are in an awkward spot under the drive carrier. It's easy to forget about them or to consider it not worth the effort to take them out when you store your Mac II or aren't sure if you'll use it for a long time. These carriers let you use CR2032s much less likely to leak, positions them above the carrier and they have off switches so you can save battery life when the Mac is in storage.

I paid $6 for 12 holders, installed them in eight different II's and Iix's without any issues. Give them a try next time!

This was literally the very first thread I visited here on Tinker different and I have a new project. This place is going to be dangerous to my free time and wallet.

But thanks for the awesome idea!

 

[Garth Beagle]

I prefer this other holder type for several reasons. The batteries are in an awkward spot under the drive carrier. It's easy to forget about them or to consider it not worth the effort to take them out when you store your Mac II or aren't sure if you'll use it for a long time. These carriers let you use CR2032s much less likely to leak, positions them above the carrier and they have off switches so you can save battery life when the Mac is in storage.

I paid $6 for 12 holders, installed them in eight different II's and Iix's without any issues. Give them a try next time!

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I use these same holders on all my Macs, they work very well! I've been using them on Macs that (normally) require the 4.5V battery as well and so far the 3V from the CR2032 batteries have worked well enough.

 

[max1zzz]

@Elemenoh have you had any issues with the IIx draining the CR2032's fast? My IIx drains a 2032 in about a month!

 

[Elemenoh]

i don’t use a single machine long enough to tell, but that doesn’t surprise me. If you want a longer lasting battery you should stick with lithium.

 

[ScutBoy]

I use these same holders on all my Macs, they work very well! I've been using them on Macs that (normally) require the 4.5V battery as well and so far the 3V from the CR2032 batteries have worked well enough.

Do you mean the machines like the TAM that use the square battery? If so, this is good to know!

 

[Garth Beagle]

Yep, I’m using them in 603 based Performas, 9600/350, etc

 

[Branchus]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone on this awesome new forum created gerbers of the little battery riser board seen on some IIx and IIfx machines? If they are available for use, I'd like to start making these for my Mac IIs. It would be an easy one to reproduce, but I don't want to do it if someone else already has.

 

[Drake]

I just put my little ding dongs here in the original holders, they're $1 if anyone wants some

 

[ScutBoy]

I just put my little ding dongs here in the original holders, they're $1 if anyone wants some

I received mine yesterday, and they look great! I will get around to plugging some in this weekend.

 

[max1zzz]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone on this awesome new forum created gerbers of the little battery riser board seen on some IIx and IIfx machines? If they are available for use, I'd like to start making these for my Mac IIs. It would be an easy one to reproduce, but I don't want to do it if someone else already has.

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someone on 68kmla made clones of those (I can never remember who, the name ti springs to mind but I can't find the messages from when I brought one) I don't think the design was ever released though

Edit: just found my (still unassembled) board, it was tt who made them

 

[Branchus]

Thanks for that. This is something I'd like to be able to release to the public for them to make themselves, so I might have a crack at doing it myself.

 

[reallyrandy]

I have one that I need to install in my Mac II, it won't even boot without a battery.

 

[karrots]

I created one myself. I haven't test fitted it to the board yet. I put holes for a axial capacitor and pads for a SMD cap.

 

[rdmark]

As someone waiting for their first ever Mac II to be delivered, I would definitely be in the market for one of these battery boards if someone starts making them!

In the meantime, I've ordered two regular 1/2 AA holders from retrofixes.com -- this product has worked great in my SE so far, and hopefully they'll fit into a Mac II equally well.

 

[karrots]

The main reason I haven't test fit mine yet is that I'm still troubleshooting a board issue on mine. So if you'd like to test the board I'll send you one. PM me.

 

[rdmark]

The main reason I haven't test fit mine yet is that I'm still troubleshooting a board issue on mine. So if you'd like to test the board I'll send you one. PM me.

Thanks for the offer! Let me first see what state the computer is in before diving into trying out an experimental board.