PowerBook 5300 Battery disassembly

[finkmac]

Not sure If I should post this here, but it seems appropriate…

I'm trying to disassemble a leaking 5300 battery (want to remove the cells and put a few weights in there), but I can't seem to get the dang thing open…

Haven't found any pictures of disassembly, either…

Any advice on how I could crack it open with the least of damage?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Didn't see specifics on the procedure here, but . . .

http://www.alksoft.com/5300_FAQ/FAQ_2.10.php#2106

. . . I'm sure someone had done a rebuild howto. Why the weights?

I'll look around some more, somebody must have linkage . . .

 

[finkmac]

I just something to cover up that hole in the side of my 5300, the weights would return it's balance…

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Might as well take a stab at re-celling if the leakage hasn't destroyed the electronics inside the case. AA NiMH ought to be a lot easier than sourcing Duo-Dads.

 

[finkmac]

Yeah, but why recell it when I could buy a new one? I just want to plug up that hole in the side of the 'Book with minimal expense.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

K, I see your point. If you have no desire to put it back together, it doesn't matter much how you take it apart . . .

< . . . wanders off . . . finds one with corrosion . . . [}] ]'> . . . hacks it open just to see . . . >

I just tore one apart so it'll look perfect from the outside. I'll post some pics later.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I'm doing a 5300 hack that'll probably lose the battery contents, so I cut mine off in a way that I'd still have full support across the palm rest. Bottom and side slots were cut to the joint and that was cut away to free the section, leaving the bit by the trackball intact.

I used a plexi scribe with a try square to get things started and the X-Acto Razor Saw to do the bulk of the cutting and then prized it apart using a heavier plexi scribe. The cells I ripped out with the pliers. [}] ]'>

I nicked the plastic cover on a few cells, but all metal housings are intact, the nasties remain contained and the cells are ready for recycling tomorrow.

 

[finkmac]

More pictures! Is it really impossible to open without cutting half off?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

K! b:





How much is too much? Most times folks split 'em at the seam, but that would show on a 5300, so I took off just enough that I was sure I could yank its guts out. I aligned the cut so that it would have been between the barcode and label on the topside if I were going to try to do a re-cell job on it. This way it's pretty much intact in terms of structural integrity for the palm rest. That's how the four-sided doors/lids are cut out of the completed, enclosed box/carcass of a hand dovetailed toolbox.

edit: do these pics open up to 1024x768 for you? When I open them they look smaller than the preview! :?:

 

[finkmac]

So, it's impossible to open without a saw? Dang.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Keep looking for a howto in that case.

I sure wouldn't want to try to split one of these at the seam, the wall thickness where it's chemically welded is considerable. The latch appears to be molded into the bottom section and the seam between the two sections runs around the corner from front to side of the 5300 and is part of the main visual dividing line between top and bottom of the case design.

Good luck with that!

 

[finkmac]

I guess I'll saw it, then. That end will be stuck into the computer, anyway...

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Exactly! Use a razor saw that cuts a really thin kerf so that you can glue it back together again when you're done for full structural integrity.

 

[uniserver]

batteries plus uses a acetone, and a deadblow to pop them open,

when they rebuild battery packs.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That makes sense, but I wonder what that external seam looks like afterward on the 190-Kanga batteries?

On the G3 series, the crack is at the bottom and there's no seam on the face of the 1400's bat. The rest of the faces are removable, sliding latches from what I recall? :?:

 

[uniserver]

I asked the guy, he said they use the same methods at all the batteries plus locations. He said the key is using a dead blow, you know the kind that are all plastic, and rattle when you shake them. 1LB and a hard surface to set the item on, Cinder block / Ibeam / concrete floor etc.

Bought one over the weekend at your guys favorite store of high quality (Harbor Freight) and used it to open my Macintosh Portable battery pack. I must say it worked better then any of the other solutions I have used. I would say it worked about 90% how it should have. The other 10% was unintended chips around one of the gold plated terminals, and one corner got a slight vertical crack, with the splitting of the horizontal seam.

I'm thinking I still need to prefect the art

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Yup, the rattling would be lead pellets in the classic dead-blow hammer, good idea to explain that to the gang!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_blow_hammer

The dead blow spreads the application force from one mass to another over time and across a wider surface, minimizing damage and making it a particularly effective way of giving something a wallop. [}] ]'> Got one, gotta get some acetone, nasty stuff. [] ]'>

 

[finkmac]

Acetone and a dead-blow hammer, eh? Hmm…

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I wonder if they're doing it at an angle against the battery held from lateral movement to introduce shear into the force equation?

How do they apply the acetone, by submersion or by wicking it along the seam from a brush or syringe bottle?

Ketones and plastics don't get together very amicably.