basalgangster
Well-known member
I had to replace the PRAM battery on my Powerbook 180. It started out just failing the remember the date and time when I would remove the main battery. I knew the PRAM battery was bad, but it seemed like a hassle to replace it and I let it go. Then a few weeks ago, it got worse. It started randomly changing the date and time every time I clicked on a window or hit a key. Something had to be done.
The PRAM battery on those is soldered onto the interconnect board. It's a coin type 3 V rechargeable lithium battery with solder tabs made by Panasonic (VL 2320). When I got the interconnect board out, I could see that the battery looked a little different from what I was used to. It looks like the PB-180 might have got a no-name knock-off of the regular battery. Maybe thats why it gave out earlier than the one on my PB-170, which is about a year older, and still going strong.
Anyway, Panasonic still makes those batteries, and I ordered one. It's pretty easy to get the interconnect board out, but it was hard to desolder the old battery. The positive side (with the wider pin) comes out pretty easily, but the thin negative pin is tough. I ended up just cutting it off above the board, trimming the lead on the new battery, and soldering the two cut pins together. In the end it really wasn't that bad.
Another benefit of replacing the battery -- charge retention on the main battery. When the PRAM battery was bad, the powerbook would discharge its main battery within a few days, even when shut down. My PB-170 can sit for weeks unused with only minimal discharge of its battery. Now, with the replaced PRAM battery, the 180 does also. I guess the main battery has been trying to recharge the dead PRAM battery when the computer wasn't in use.
The PRAM battery on those is soldered onto the interconnect board. It's a coin type 3 V rechargeable lithium battery with solder tabs made by Panasonic (VL 2320). When I got the interconnect board out, I could see that the battery looked a little different from what I was used to. It looks like the PB-180 might have got a no-name knock-off of the regular battery. Maybe thats why it gave out earlier than the one on my PB-170, which is about a year older, and still going strong.
Anyway, Panasonic still makes those batteries, and I ordered one. It's pretty easy to get the interconnect board out, but it was hard to desolder the old battery. The positive side (with the wider pin) comes out pretty easily, but the thin negative pin is tough. I ended up just cutting it off above the board, trimming the lead on the new battery, and soldering the two cut pins together. In the end it really wasn't that bad.
Another benefit of replacing the battery -- charge retention on the main battery. When the PRAM battery was bad, the powerbook would discharge its main battery within a few days, even when shut down. My PB-170 can sit for weeks unused with only minimal discharge of its battery. Now, with the replaced PRAM battery, the 180 does also. I guess the main battery has been trying to recharge the dead PRAM battery when the computer wasn't in use.
hard to test because you have to put it back together. 
I know haha but the correct battery might just snap in after I pull the tabs off
