Hi all I am currently still on the journey to restoring a powerbook 170 that I can use for retro/vintage mac shenanigans.
Currently I have done the following:
Bought a powerbook 170.
Tested it out.
Cleaned it.
Did a complete teardown.
Worked on repairs.
Did some plastic welding, and super glueing.
Attempted to boot the system.
Had issues with getting it to boot.
Performed some diagnostics.
Check the voltages.
Opened up the PSU.
Replaced the troublesome capacitor.
Closed the PSU back up.
Tried booting again.
Had some better luck.
Found the screen had tunnel vision.
Looked for help with how to fix it.
Ended up finding a parts machine.
Purchased the parts machine.
Tested out the parts machine.
Found it to be in far better condition regarding the screen and other parts.
Opened the parts machine.
Swapped some parts over to the original one.
Ended up doing some more work to the cases to make a good quality one.
Finally decided to boot up again.
Found that the system had trouble booting.
Swapped other parts like the HDDs.
Tried again, found things were worse.
Undid my previous parts swaps.
Did a swap of the RAM card.
Found that the system now booted reliably.
Waited a while with baited breath for the system to finish booting.
System eventually returns an error.
I try booting in the safe mode.
Nothing changes.
I end up reading the messages. Even though one of them only appeared once.
Went looking for help with finding out how to fix the issue.
Waited for a response.
Had no luck.
Decided to just bite the bullet and purchase a copy of the installer diskettes.
Diskettes have just arrived.
Going to try to install the system again.
Will update on the progress.
Ok so now that you are all caught up with the current timeline of events, here is what I am wanting to ask about in this thread.
Is is possible, and maybe even easy, to replace the NiCd battery cells in the battery packs with lithium ion battery cells?
I am wanting to know if it is even possible to charge lithium ion cells in a system that originally used NiCd cells.
I would really like to know how to go about completing this.
Also if I can't change the cells to lithium ion cells, can I ask if it is possible for me to use either AA or AAA batteries to run the powerbook 170. No I would not be recharging them, but I do want to know whether or not I am able to even run the laptop off of these type of alkaline batteries?
P.s the hinge on the powerbook that is in great condition and that I am working on has an amazing hinge. It is able to be opened with just one finger on the lid and none on the body. It is also really smooth.
Currently I have done the following:
Bought a powerbook 170.
Tested it out.
Cleaned it.
Did a complete teardown.
Worked on repairs.
Did some plastic welding, and super glueing.
Attempted to boot the system.
Had issues with getting it to boot.
Performed some diagnostics.
Check the voltages.
Opened up the PSU.
Replaced the troublesome capacitor.
Closed the PSU back up.
Tried booting again.
Had some better luck.
Found the screen had tunnel vision.
Looked for help with how to fix it.
Ended up finding a parts machine.
Purchased the parts machine.
Tested out the parts machine.
Found it to be in far better condition regarding the screen and other parts.
Opened the parts machine.
Swapped some parts over to the original one.
Ended up doing some more work to the cases to make a good quality one.
Finally decided to boot up again.
Found that the system had trouble booting.
Swapped other parts like the HDDs.
Tried again, found things were worse.
Undid my previous parts swaps.
Did a swap of the RAM card.
Found that the system now booted reliably.
Waited a while with baited breath for the system to finish booting.
System eventually returns an error.
I try booting in the safe mode.
Nothing changes.
I end up reading the messages. Even though one of them only appeared once.
Went looking for help with finding out how to fix the issue.
Waited for a response.
Had no luck.
Decided to just bite the bullet and purchase a copy of the installer diskettes.
Diskettes have just arrived.
Going to try to install the system again.
Will update on the progress.
Ok so now that you are all caught up with the current timeline of events, here is what I am wanting to ask about in this thread.
Is is possible, and maybe even easy, to replace the NiCd battery cells in the battery packs with lithium ion battery cells?
I am wanting to know if it is even possible to charge lithium ion cells in a system that originally used NiCd cells.
I would really like to know how to go about completing this.
Also if I can't change the cells to lithium ion cells, can I ask if it is possible for me to use either AA or AAA batteries to run the powerbook 170. No I would not be recharging them, but I do want to know whether or not I am able to even run the laptop off of these type of alkaline batteries?
P.s the hinge on the powerbook that is in great condition and that I am working on has an amazing hinge. It is able to be opened with just one finger on the lid and none on the body. It is also really smooth.
