Hi there,
over the years, I've seen several cases of 68k Macs with leaking PRAM batteries. Many of them didn't really leak slowly - instead they seemed to have exploded in an impressive way. Spray of corrosive materials seemed to have landed everywhere inside the machine.
Then, I began to recognize a pattern: Every single leaked or exploded PRAM battery I found was exactly the same type and manufactured by the same company: Maxell.
Here some photos of a Macintosh LC to visualize the problem:
I've placed the same type of battery, but still intact, in the last photo to show what these batterys look like when they're new.
You should really search for these batteries and remove them as soon as possible as they can suddenly explode, even when they're discharged?, without warning.
Some weeks ago, I had a IIci sitting on the shelf in my work room. It wasn't plugged in and hasn't been connected to the mains for at least as long as a year. One day, I was browsing the web in the same room, suddenly a strong acidic smell caught my attention. I searched for the source of the smell when I saw smoke coming from the case slots of the IIci - which wasn't even connected to anything!
I immediately opened the case and revealed the battery,which was spraying a mist of chemicals and smoke all over the place.
I took it outside and tried to remove the battery protected by a piece of cloth. The battery had turned darker because of heat generated by the reaction, it was incredibly hot. I was able to remove the battery and cleaned the IIci as good as possible by completely disassembling it, cleaning every part and washing the logic board.It works still fine, but the battery holder is a little warped and bent from the heat.
If you want to avoid such accidents, which I believe could lead to a fire any time (and kill your classic Macs), then you should really hunt for these batteries and remove them ASAP.
Hope this helps,
macgyver
over the years, I've seen several cases of 68k Macs with leaking PRAM batteries. Many of them didn't really leak slowly - instead they seemed to have exploded in an impressive way. Spray of corrosive materials seemed to have landed everywhere inside the machine.
Then, I began to recognize a pattern: Every single leaked or exploded PRAM battery I found was exactly the same type and manufactured by the same company: Maxell.
Here some photos of a Macintosh LC to visualize the problem:
I've placed the same type of battery, but still intact, in the last photo to show what these batterys look like when they're new.
You should really search for these batteries and remove them as soon as possible as they can suddenly explode, even when they're discharged?, without warning.
Some weeks ago, I had a IIci sitting on the shelf in my work room. It wasn't plugged in and hasn't been connected to the mains for at least as long as a year. One day, I was browsing the web in the same room, suddenly a strong acidic smell caught my attention. I searched for the source of the smell when I saw smoke coming from the case slots of the IIci - which wasn't even connected to anything!
I immediately opened the case and revealed the battery,which was spraying a mist of chemicals and smoke all over the place.
I took it outside and tried to remove the battery protected by a piece of cloth. The battery had turned darker because of heat generated by the reaction, it was incredibly hot. I was able to remove the battery and cleaned the IIci as good as possible by completely disassembling it, cleaning every part and washing the logic board.It works still fine, but the battery holder is a little warped and bent from the heat.
If you want to avoid such accidents, which I believe could lead to a fire any time (and kill your classic Macs), then you should really hunt for these batteries and remove them ASAP.
Hope this helps,
macgyver