PowerBook 540c Restoration Project

[jmacz]

Painted Internal Chassis Frame

Used Rustoleum flat black spray paint (which has corrosion resistance). And again, will sand off the paint in any areas with metal to metal contact as I begin reassembly in the coming days.



Replace Broken Screw Mounts on Lid

Modeled after @GregorHouse's design as well as YouTuber Action Retro's updates. My model is split it into two pieces because originally I was only going to do one hinge. But later discovered a crack in the other side as well so will do both. Perhaps making it one single piece (like the other two original designs) might be better but we'll see how this goes. One change is I will be using M2.5 threaded brass inserts where the screw holes are (they are in the mail). I will then use epoxy to hold the 3d printed parts to the cover.



I will probably also apply a thin coat of epoxy around each of the remaining screw mounts across the lid just to give them more strength.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Great work! For the hinge mounts on my 540 I went ahead and epoxied up around the originals since they were actually still completely intact. Just blobs and bunches of epoxy filling all the empty space. 540c is starting to go and it's getting this hinge fix part fitted eventually.
Did you modify the original design because your printer wasn't large enough?

 

[croissantking]

Painted Internal Chassis Frame

Used Rustoleum flat black spray paint (which has corrosion resistance). And again, will sand off the paint in any areas with metal to metal contact as I begin reassembly in the coming days.

View attachment 60235

Replace Broken Screw Mounts on Lid

Modeled after @GregorHouse's design as well as YouTuber Action Retro's updates. My model is split it into two pieces because originally I was only going to do one hinge. But later discovered a crack in the other side as well so will do both. Perhaps making it one single piece (like the other two original designs) might be better but we'll see how this goes. One change is I will be using M2.5 threaded brass inserts where the screw holes are (they are in the mail). I will then use epoxy to hold the 3d printed parts to the cover.

View attachment 60236

I will probably also apply a thin coat of epoxy around each of the remaining screw mounts across the lid just to give them more strength.

I’m impressed with the quality of your work - well done

 

[jmacz]

Great work! For the hinge mounts on my 540 I went ahead and epoxied up around the originals since they were actually still completely intact. Just blobs and bunches of epoxy filling all the empty space. 540c is starting to go and it's getting this hinge fix part fitted eventually.
Did you modify the original design because your printer wasn't large enough?

No, I was only going to do one hinge only (because I only saw a break on one side) so I made a new model with two separate pieces. But then discovered a crack on the other side later so printed both sides. I also had to increase the size of the holes as I plan on using a brass threaded insert (I didn't want to screw directly into the 3d printed plastic). I can definitely print the whole thing in one piece (which might actually be stronger) but going to try these two pieces first.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Is it designed to screw direct to the plastic? Because I'm pretty sure it's like the 100 and 1400 series ones, where you have to melt the original threaded inserts into the part with a soldering iron. Never done a 500 series one yet though so maybe that one's different.

 

[jmacz]

Is it designed to screw direct to the plastic? Because I'm pretty sure it's like the 100 and 1400 series ones, where you have to melt the original threaded inserts into the part with a soldering iron. Never done a 500 series one yet though so maybe that one's different.

For mine I made the holes large enough to accommodate an M2.5 brass threaded insert. But for the existing designs I found, the hole was really tiny and looked like it was meant to have the screws go directly into the 3d printed plastic. Action Retro's video on YouTube also looks like he's screwing directly into the 3d printed part. I don't think that will last nearly as long as using a brass insert.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Yeah that isn't great for longevity. Once you're done would you mind uploading your finished design here so myself and others can use it in the future? Are the original screws M2.5?

Would be ideal to have both the split off design you're doing and the full part so that people can print both depending on which fits their needs. Some people's printers are not large enough to print the full part in one piece I believe.

 

[jmacz]

Yeah that isn't great for longevity. Once you're done would you mind uploading your finished design here so myself and others can use it in the future? Are the original screws M2.5?

I have a pack of M2.5's in the mail (hopefully arriving tomorrow) so I will confirm. I believe it is as I tried a #2-56 today and although the pitch was correct, the #2-56 was slightly too small so I do think it's an M2.5 (since it's slightly larger than a standard #2 screw and also has a 56 tpi). I did however confirm that the two smaller screws in the lid are M2s so that adds evidence to the larger ones being M2.5s. Will know for sure tomorrow.

Yes, once I fit the threaded inserts and it works, I will upload the final design here as attachments. And yes, I can do both a one piece and a two piece model.

Would be ideal to have both the split off design you're doing and the full part so that people can print both depending on which fits their needs. Some people's printers are not large enough to print the full part in one piece I believe.

Yup, no problem!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Are the sizes close enough that it would be possible with your design to melt the original brass inserts in do you think? So the original screws can be reused?

 

[jmacz]

Are the sizes close enough that it would be possible with your design to melt the original brass inserts in do you think? So the original screws can be reused?

If I'm correct and the original screws are M2.5, then my design's ability to incorporate an M2.5 threaded insert should allow you to reuse the original screws.

But unless my 540c is different from yours, the original laptop didn't have brass inserts for the lid. It does have brass inserts in the body but not in the lid. Take for example this picture:



The red circles are the original screw mounts. There are no brass inserts in them. And the broken ones I'm replacing with the 3d printed part were the same, also with no brass inserts. If yours has brass inserts in the lid, I guess I have an older revision?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Ohhh really? Well no wonder they break like they do. Wow, that's a genuinely terrible design. I thought they did have them, but I guess not.

I'm surprised any are still intact at this point if that's the case.

 

[jmacz]

Ohhh really? Well no wonder they break like they do. Wow, that's a genuinely terrible design. I thought they did have them, but I guess not.

I'm surprised any are still intact at this point if that's the case.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. If added epoxy doesn't strengthen the existing non-broken ones, I was thinking I will eventually have to expand the 3d printed parts to all of these screw locations.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Well if you've got CAD skills and know how to design this stuff (I don't) - there are a lot of PowerBook 190 and 5300 owners right now that are looking for someone to design a hinge fix part for them, myself included. One you're done with this project, maybe look out for one of those as your next! You're clearly very talented, from this to you Q700 and such. And great work thus far.

PowerBook 5300ce Plastics Replacement in 2023?

So, out of morbid curiosity, I took a look at my PowerBook 5300ce last night and, well, the good news is that it boots. Hard drive doesn't work; just clicks. Maybe it's repairable; maybe not. Either way, the hard drive situation can be resolved. The battery is no good. I don't know if that...

68kmla.org

 

[LaPorta]

My 1400 has a new PRAM battery in it, and it works properly....but that is likely because I have rebuilt regular batteries as well. Never knew about that guy offering them rebuilt...I just made one myself.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

The guy making new ones only started in the last year or so, so after your restoration from 2021(?). And yeah yours works since your main battery works.
Another strange note on the 1400 though, my 166MHz unit actually had two PRAM batteries, identical ones, one on each side. Molding and ribbon cables were different to accommodate. Any idea why that is?

 

[LaPorta]

Wait...two different individual batteries? Each hooked to different terminals?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Yes! I’ll see if I can find a photo.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Found one, spun out a new thread: https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/the-dual-pram-battery-1400c-166.45002/

 

[jmacz]

Found one, spun out a new thread: https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/the-dual-pram-battery-1400c-166.45002/

The guy building the batteries on eBay mentioned this in his post as well. That some of the PowerBooks need two separate sets of batteries. I was wondering why that's the case. Interesting.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Oh yeah you're right! Guess that guy's 1400 was a dual-battery unit. So that confirms we have at least two of these in the wild.