Battery Rebuild - Getting the case open

[Replayer74]

Seeking the experience of those pioneers who have ventured before.

I have a PB 145 for which I would like to rebuild the battery. The electrical part will be pretty straightforward, but I am curious what methods others have used to get the batteries apart without damage?

I have seen/read about using kerosene to loosen the glue on other battery packs. But before I try something like that myself, I thought I would ask what has been successful for those here?

 

[avadondragon]

I've seen a few different types of PB1xx series batteries. Unfortunately many are ultrasonically welded together and thus there is no glue to soften and no way to open one cleanly. Some aftermarket batteries actually have screws. There may be some with glue as well. Luckily there is a 3D printable version floating around. I think I saw MacEffects talking about creating an injection molded replica at one point too.

 

[Replayer74]

The battery I have is aftermarket, so it was a bit easier it sounds like. I ended up being able to warm it up on my hotplate and pry it open. I had to use a utility knife in some places, so it didn't go perfectly, but very minor imperfections were caused. Also the batteries where not in a glob of glue inside or strongly glued to the plastic. Mission accomplished.

 

[pezter22]

There are a couple of 3D print files of battery cases that could work if you have issues with your original case. I haven't printed any yet, but plan on rebuilding a couple of batteries soon and it's nice to know there is an option just in case.

Apple PowerBook 1xx Battery Shell by GGigabiteM

This is a recreation of the Apple PowerBook 1xx battery housing so that new battery packs can be made up for the original PowerBook line. This model is the culmination of weeks of work experimenting with multiple iterations of the design to have one that works reasonably well. While it is not...

www.thingiverse.com