A few PB 1400c questions

[jwpacker]

Just picked up a really great condition 1400c/166 and have a few issues - some common, some I haven't been able to find guidance on.

1. Battery has, of course, flown down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. That said, the battery case itself is in mint conditions so I cracked it open. Anyone have any guidance on where to find new cells to get it back into form?

2. The bay CD ROM drive is not working. Sometimes I can hear the laser head moving but it never sounds like it's spinning up. Given that it's all but impossible to see what's happening with the drive due to it being in a bay, any recommendations on how to troubleshoot further?

3. In the meantime, it came with the original 2GB hard drive and it tested as being in mint condition. The problem is software, it has a weird bastardized version of 8.0 with some 7.x elements still hanging around and a "Previous System Folder" folder full of 8.5. Without the CD working I'm at a loss for how to get it freshened up, and have been considering a PCMCIA solution:
a) References for CF card adapters that will boot in the 1400 would be welcome.
b) Ideally ones that could handle a SanDisk 32GB card since I have stumbled onto a gigantic pile of 32 and 64 gig ultradma cards
c) That said, I'll bite the bullet and buy a new card if necessary to get an installer set up.

 

[Byrd]

Hi,

What other Macs do you have at your disposal to fix the software issues?

1) not sure

2) try to clean the lens with a cotton tip dipped in IPA, failing that take apart the 1400 optical drive and dial up the laser strength pot

3) Any generic CF-PCMCIA card adapter will work, usually smaller 1 - 2GB CF cards are the most compatible but hopefully your better larger cards will work; you can boot from the adapter so maybe installing the OS onto it using an emulator/Basilisk II might be best.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

1. Battery has, of course, flown down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. That said, the battery case itself is in mint conditions so I cracked it open. Anyone have any guidance on where to find new cells to get it back into form?

The 1400 battery uses eight 4/3A NiMH cells. You can get new ones from Tenergy: https://power.tenergy.com/4-3a-17670-size-nimh-3800mah-rechargeable-batteries/
Unfortunately the price has pretty much doubled since I bought a set a little over a year ago. I'm guessing tariffs are to blame.
You will need a spot welder to rebuild the battery.