Powerbook 5300c Battery Rebuild (sorta)

[CC_333]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but would you happen to have a hires, 800x600 LCD panel for the 5300ce, Unity? Mine has all the markings of a 5300ce, but someone put a regular 640x480 panel in it instead of the 800x600 one.

c

 

[unity]

No, I just sold my last screen. I am down to just internal parts now. Cables, boards, etc.  Thats a pretty mean trick someone pulled. The 800x600 is what makes the machine!

raoulduke - pm received and responded to. I can get what you need out tomorrow.

 

[CC_333]

Yeah, I got mildly excited when I saw that it was a ce, only to be let down by the fact that someone replaced it with a regular c screen.

Oh, well. It's not like I use it every day (I haven't even looked at it in, what, at least a year now?).

c

 

[raoulduke]

Hijack away.

Incidentally, was it enormously stupid to pour vinegar on one lead of the battery?  The slight bubbling before I almost immediately wiped it away suggests yes...

 

[unity]

Ya, I would not have put it on the battery.

 

[raoulduke]

Wow.  Something was wrong with my phone I guess.  I posted that hijack away way before in my chronology.

CC_333: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Powerbook-5300-ce-Upper-Lid-Assembly-Bezel-Screen-Ribbon-Cable-Hinges-Buttons-/181450700668?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a3f4df77c

 

[J English Smith]

Just happened across this...wow, have to say, I think you are going to be fairly frustrated on a daily basis using that 5300 in law school. I had two, and know what all the limitations are. Even apart from the battery issue you are facing. A nice compromise would be a fully decked-out G3 Pismo with a WPA2 compatible (Airport Extreme) PCMCIA card in the slot, or a decent 12" iBook, either an  800mhz G3 (would need a small Edimax or other dongle for WPA2) or a 1.33ghz G4 (has native Airport Extreme and WPA2 compatibility). You should be able to find either of these for well below $100, and with some decent battery life to boot. The iBook new batteries from overseas are only about $15 shipped, while decent ones for the Lombards and Pismos are getting scarce/costly now. Good luck!

 

[J English Smith]

On a Pismo, you could have OS 9...not sure about the iBooks though...if the classic OS is what you want. And that would limit your internet ability like you seem to want. Classilla is ok but not exactly a great experience to use all of the time, whereas TenFourFox for OS X is great and very useable.

 

[raoulduke]

Don't dash my dreams so expertly.

(Gotta make it somehow on the dreams you still believe...)

 

[J English Smith]

If you are able to make it work for you in school, you'll have to post your experiences! I once got a 1400 to work wirelessly with Orinoco cards, but not ethernet...and I think I never got there at all with the 5300s.

 

[raoulduke]

8.5 flatly rejected and could not properly eject the Aironet 350 (or the PCMCIA ejection mechanism is broken (but it did eject)). I will update... need to get a T8 bit today, replace the battery board with Unity's kind help, and then find RAM.

 

[techknight]

The aironet 350 doesnt support WPA, no PCMCIA card from that era does, thats compatible with mac os 9 and earlier at least. 

Now there are some Cardbus cards that support WPA, like the MN-720 but i think its X only. 

 

[raoulduke]

I assume my phone will flip this one sideways too.

Also techknight can you recommend an ethernet card for 8.5/6?

 

[Bunsen]

As far as sources of replacement cells go, have a look at dealextreme (http://dx.com).  The product pages for their stock allow space for user reviews, and some of the rechargeable batteries they sell have been extensively tested by buyers for their true capacity and life.  It's better than taking pot luck on ebay, and still cheaper than buying brand-name cells closer to home.

 

[raoulduke]

Doesn't look like they have much specifically for the 5300 series, unfortunately.

I'm going to open my battery casing tonight to see exactly which it uses - an unrelated tutorial mentions specifically getting the part numbers and because I'm confused about like amperage ratings and stuff (because it seems all the NIMH AAs are rated to use 1/10 of their mAh... And I'm not clear on what the amperage of the stock battery is - the only specific number I found was 1.9a; and the batteries I'm looking at say 3500 mAh - 16 hours at 350 mA... so unless the machine can determine its draw I'm confused there).

Can anyone suggest a USB PCMCIA card?

Also at the end of this thread, I will try to recapitulate or spin off something that's considerably less indulgent (mostly on my part) and more tutorial-based - assuming the batteries don't explode on me.

 

[raoulduke]

Ok. Step 1...

I'd really appreciate help on the batteries. There's nothing of note on them. Is amperage not a function of the batteries?

I was going to get these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00QJNX3ME/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A327G0VM18EU0N

 

[unity]

Damn, thats nasty. Odds are the Amazon batteries you selected will work. But the size is what matters too, they need to be the same physical size or you will have fitment problems.

If you have a Batteries Plus by you, they can actually build you a new battery. They have the tabs and welding station to assemble them properly since you really should not solder them together. I had them make a few batteries for me and the cost was actually very, very reasonable.

 

[raoulduke]

I do. Was thinking of going there either way.

I'm not going to solder but are these soldered? Can you just buy adhesive, conductive tabs?

Also the middle three of the 5 battery strips are only connected to themselves. How does that work...?

 

[techknight]

There are no USB PCMCIA adaptors. So unless you teather wifi in WEP mode, or use a wifi to Ethernet bridge hanging off the back of the machine, your options are limited or even non existing.

Also you need a later mac os to run Clasilla which is the only browser that supports modern SSL. And you need quite a bit of RAM and virtual memory to run it decently. If you need text only browsing, pretty much anything will work as long as it is not SSL, or the text isnt rendered or placed via scripting.

But with 8.6+ on a 5300, your class will be over before it gets finished booting up. The 5300 was a road apple.

Youll be a whole lot better off with a kanga, Lombard or something like that. Or heck, maybe a clamshell. They can still handle modern tasks, but still have the coolness look of yesteryear.

 

[unity]

tecknight, what do you mean there are no USB PCMCIA adapters? There are, but do you mean none that work with MacOS 9?