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Is there a way to tell which SE/30's had Maxell batteries?

No, batteries are pretty much whatever Apple had on hand at the time. The battery bombed SE/30 I had was equipped with a Tadiran branded battery.
 
Yeah, if the Mac has a rattle when picked up, it's probably a Maxell that's done its nastiest deed then corroded itself off the board :D. Also check side vents and ports which are often rusted/corroded out.
 
Yes; battery wise, you get what you get.

I've seen machines in the UK with RS branded batteries, which is unusual to say the least.
 
here's an idea: endoscopy camera.

they (often? always? idk) have LEDs on them to light the way. slide that into one of the side vents and you'll get a clear picture!
 
hmmm..seemed like a reasonable question. Just wondered if it was a certain range of years. Thanks for the info anyway.
 
hmmm..seemed like a reasonable question. Just wondered if it was a certain range of years. Thanks for the info anyway.

Another thing to note is that different vintage computer fandoms seem to have different battery companies they swear are the worst. Mac users hate Maxell; Acorn users in my experience tend to hate Varta, and it's probably just because there were more of that kind of battery in use. There probably is a difference in how badly they leak and what they do when they do, but it's very hard to tell just because of the statistics, if that makes sense?
 
When it came to small components like on-board batteries, they were usually down to stock/inventory/location, so what they put in the machines would very much depend on multiple factors and it could be anything.

There were a bunch of brands Apple tended to use, but you won't know until you open the machine up. The ones I've seen are Maxell (red/black), Varta (black), RS (yellow/red), Saft (white/green), I've seen blue ones but can't remember the brand.
 
One I forgot, which definitely do leak, even ones used as late as 2002 or so. The purple Tadiran batteries. Apple was putting them in iMac G3s and Power Mac G3/G4 models, and I've seen them explode, not personally but I've seen pictures online. It's not just Maxells, it's just that those were commonly used in models produced between ~1987 until early 00's so you probably see exploded ones of those the most.
 
One I forgot, which definitely do leak, even ones used as late as 2002 or so. The purple Tadiran batteries. Apple was putting them in iMac G3s and Power Mac G3/G4 models, and I've seen them explode, not personally but I've seen pictures online. It's not just Maxells, it's just that those were commonly used in models produced between ~1987 until early 00's so you probably see exploded ones of those the most.
As an example, the pic I posted 13 years ago of an SE/30 board with one that had puked its guts onto the board.
 
One I forgot, which definitely do leak, even ones used as late as 2002 or so. The purple Tadiran batteries. Apple was putting them in iMac G3s and Power Mac G3/G4 models, and I've seen them explode, not personally but I've seen pictures online. It's not just Maxells, it's just that those were commonly used in models produced between ~1987 until early 00's so you probably see exploded ones of those the most.
I have three of those purple things on my shelf. Bad memories.
 
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