• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

Warning! Exploding Maxell PRAM Batteries

What is your experience with the 'Saft' battery?

Saft-LS14250.jpg.8119f32f4d5ab1a6f817203630bc196a.jpg


 

uniserver

Well-known member
still has its original VARTA brand battery holding a charge after 25 years.
Yes I have also seen this, was very surprised still had its charge. Forget what machine it was in. Pretty sure it was a Macintosh SE.

 

volvo242gt

Well-known member
What is your experience with the 'Saft' battery?
Saft-LS14250.jpg.8119f32f4d5ab1a6f817203630bc196a.jpg
They seem to be what RE-PC here in Seattle sells. Last time I used the G4 DA, it seemed to be fine, time-wise. Battery was installed prior to my buying the machine in early 2009. Was a LS14250.

-J

 

Renegade

Well-known member
My turn ...



Scared by this thread, I decided to remove dead batteries from the most easily accessible in from my collection.

I removed 12, only 1 leaked, guess what brand it was...

It was in my PM 8100/80. Even the optical drive has signs of corrosion :O

Funny, the exploded/leaked Maxell battery was the newest of the 3. It had an expiration date reading 1993, while the two other had 1989 and 1990.

Those Sonnenschein Lithium batteries (the blue ones) seem to be reliable anyway.

 

Renegade

Well-known member
Another tragedy discovered today...

Quadra 610 and 660av didn't make it :'(



The mess was still liquid in the Q610 :



Funny though, another soldered Varta battery from a Mac II still showing some charge



 

genie_mac

Well-known member
That's a real shame! :( Hopefully you'll be able to use some bits as spares.

Btw I believe the date printed on the batteries is the manufacturing date, not the expiry date. As far as I know expiry dates on batteries were only introduced recently.

 

Renegade

Well-known member
I believe there are good chances to save the Q610 mobo.

Concerning Q660's mobo, well I decided to get one from eBay.

Cost me US$ 81.20 with shipping and import taxes. D'oh!...

 

Renegade

Well-known member
Yes.

But at least 3 capacitors are missing and lots of PCB traces are damaged as well.

Ram and CPU should be Ok though.

 

Unknown_K

Well-known member
How many exploding batteries are a product of storing machines in extreme temperatures (both boiling and freezing)?

 

finkmac

NORTHERN TELECOM
Found one of these things in my Yikes G3…

Compared to the other brands, the Maxell one has a longer + Contact, and less battery… Could that somehow be the cause of these exploding batteries?

 

James1095

Well-known member
I don't think storage conditions have much to do with it, though heat does speed up chemical reactions, so warmer conditions may speed it up a bit. Honestly I'm surprised so many of these cells *don't* leak after so many years. It's remarkable that one could go 20+ years without leaking the caustic stuff inside. Personally I would not leave a battery more than 5-6 years old in a system. 10 years is pushing your luck, longer than that is just tempting fate. If the machine will be stored for a long period, just be safe and pull the battery. It's not like there are a ton of settings that need to be restored.

 

techknight

Well-known member
I forgot about the D cell batteries I had in my flashlight, they are 4 years old, leaked solid so i had to toss the flashlight. lol. So its amazing anything doesnt leak at all after 20+ years.

 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
I bought a stereo receiver off of ebay which still had the original batteries in the remote and in the receiver for memory backup. The unit was likely put into service in 1986-87. Batteries didn't leak and the remote still worked enough to turn the unit on/off!

 

uniserver

Well-known member
Un-Tempature regulated storage is what makes these batteries blow.

In a home that is around 70 all year long, I highly doubt a battery will leak.

 

Renegade

Well-known member
The replacement board arrived today, but it was so poorly packaged that it was damaged during transport:
vent.gif


A chip and a cap were floating around in the box :



They come from the areas in the yellow and red circles.



Great. Now I'm stuck with two damaged boards. Repairing is not an option since my soldering skill is... Zero.

Sorry for being off topic, but I wanted to share this "experience". :disapprove:

 
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