• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

1/2 AA battery Replacement! MoewToast Rev. 2

Geekybit

Active member
...and they made it! THANKS for the quick turnaround. @joshc - will drop you a PM when back in the UK later this week.
That is excellent, I just got the parts to make another 100 or so MeowToats when I do, I will list 3 units for sale that are designed for international shipping. Each unit will come with 25 meowToats and whoever buys them will be welcome to resell them in their country. Since I have had a few people ask about this. I should be able to keep shipping reasonable this way too.

Since the way the US is doing shipping right now shipping to another place is a minimum 15-16 USD... The size and weight of these isn't that much so this should hopefully make shipping cost a little less too...

to off set the extra cost to whoever buys these since I am selling them in bulk I will sell them at 2 USD each making the total package cost 50 USD before Taxes/VAT and shipping.
 

KeithTilton

Active member
I received mine yesterday!

It was very kind of you to include some bare PCBs of the v3's. I'll definitely have to get some CR2032 contacts and solder them up.

IMG_1799.jpeg
 

al kossow

Active member
Is there a table anywhere of the actual current drain across all of the 68K mac models with the machines unplugged?
 

Geekybit

Active member
I received mine yesterday!

It was very kind of you to include some bare PCBs of the v3's. I'll definitely have to get some CR2032 contacts and solder them up.

View attachment 36226
The black PCBs are actually error PCBS, With enough work you can get the metal part put on them but this is why I am giving them away... They are functionally usable but require a lot of extra work.
 

slipperygrey

Well-known member
This is such a neat little product solving a real problem for the community! Thanks for making this available at a reasonable price. Just ordered a bunch for myself. :)

BTW, it'd be interesting too know if there are any particular Mac models (or other vintage machines) that are sensitive to the difference in voltage between your typical 1/2 AA lithium battery and a CR2032 (3.6V vs 3V), or other differences in electrical properties? Any experts here who would care to weigh in?
 

Geekybit

Active member
This is such a neat little product solving a real problem for the community! Thanks for making this available at a reasonable price. Just ordered a bunch for myself. :)

BTW, it'd be interesting too know if there are any particular Mac models (or other vintage machines) that are sensitive to the difference in voltage between your typical 1/2 AA lithium battery and a CR2032 (3.6V vs 3V), or other differences in electrical properties? Any experts here who would care to weigh in?
So here is the thing about batteries as the die... The lose voltage so a 1.5v A battery will start out at about 1.5-1.7v but over time go all the way down to say maybe .7v before many things are like I can't use this... This is why old flash lights get dimmer as the it's battery dies.

Now the same thing is true for Mac's and their batteries ... The upside is this that CR2032s are rechargeable and voltage should be applied to them when the system is on... In theory, but not all Cr2032s are rechargeable and not all macs through voltage at the battery.

Now as for if a mac likes the cr2032... I can say just about every mac I have used it on has been fine with that and there is good reason for that. The mac Can take anywhere from 4 or so volts down to like 2.3-2.7 volts before things get too strange for the clock and the saved stuff.

Lastly CR 2032s actually are 3.2-3.3v when they are brand new. The big drawback is a 1/2 AA battery will last a lot longer in a mac when it isn't used. but that is longer than the battery's life time IE upto16 Plus years, but you should never leave a 1/2 AA battery in that long. The CR 2032 should in theory last about 4-8 years though. This is more than enough for most people. The CR 2032 should be less likely to leak and be easier to clean if it does, without the board being damaged/ too damaged.

I hope this helps go a long way to answering your questions :D
 

Byrd

Well-known member
Great 👍
Anyone in Australia who wants one DM me as I will get a bulk pack and can pass on at cost.

Would you mind PMing me they arrive, TimHD (in about two months? :)), I'd like to try some out.

Thanks

JB
 

gcp

Well-known member
Very cool, thank you for making these available! Just ordered a few. Love that they are "plug and play" - I am slowly realizing how little free time and/or motivation I have to take on projects like these on my own :)
 

Geekybit

Active member
Very cool, thank you for making these available! Just ordered a few. Love that they are "plug and play" - I am slowly realizing how little free time and/or motivation I have to take on projects like these on my own :)
Well I hope you enjoy these :D
 

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
Love it, thanks for the pics. Very ingenious! could leads (battery type too?) be attached to use them in place of the boxy batteries used in the Q630 and its offspring?
 

al kossow

Active member
LIR2032 batteries are rechargeable, CR2032 are not.
Not that it matters, there is no charging voltage present at the battery when a Mac is plugged in,
only trickle current from the AC supply which bypasses the battery.
 
Top