Lombard Powerbook batteries and charging

[CelGen]

I got a box of almost two dozen batteries in it and so far it's yielded two good Mainstreet batteries. I'm trying to get a few batteries for my Lombard and Pismo as well however I can't confirm weather or not the Lombard I currently have setup with 9.2 is really charging the batteries. It knows when a battery has been inserted but unlike the Mainstreet, it does not show the lightning bolt icon over the battery to indicate it's charging. Is there any other way I can confirm if a battery is charging or not?

 

[Dog Cow]

Use a voltmeter.

 

[wally]

My Pismo trickle charges heavily discharged batteries initially, attempting to get enough charge into the battery to assure reliable operation of the battery pack controller. One battery I tested had no charge LEDs showing and did not even show the battery symbol when inserted (the powered by AC symbol was displayed), however charge current was immediately 350 mA, declining to 130 mA over a 26 minute period. Then high rate charge was started (1.75 amps) and the battery with lightning bolt symbol appeared. I am not certain, but suspect that your Lombard would work similarly. So insert any fully discharged, zero LED state of charge battery for at least half an hour to see if anything is going to happen-the lightning bolt symbol can take a while to show up.

 

[CelGen]

so I shoudl just feed it a battery and come back in half an hour to see if it's done anything and if not, toss the cell?

 

[wally]

Yes. The suggested 30 minutes is based on a single observed case: it took 26 minutes for the lightning symbol to appear. All my other conquest batteries responded a lot faster: the lightning charge symbol appeared within a few minutes. But this last recent one was worth the wait. After I charged it, it runs my Pismo for about 4 hours. So insert each unknown battery and give it at least 30 minutes, maybe an hour, to see if the charging symbol ever appears before you toss the battery in the recycling bin.

 

[jruschme]

If you're trying to test/refurb a lot of batteries, there is a lot to be said for picking up one of the old VST external chargers.

If nothing else, on really dead batteries, it makes it a lot easier to "dunk" them (i.e., charge until red light, remove, reinsert). Also, no possibility that the real issue is a bad power manager (I had that in my old Wallstreet).

John

P.S. If anybody is looking for a Wallstreet charger, PM me. I got rid of the computer but kept the charger (but no batteries).