PowerBook Without Power

Have a much loved G3 Prismo PowerBook that won't now charge or power-up
with the adaptor plugged-in. Bought a new power adaptor in the hope that
it was the power supply at fault - it isn't.

Before resorting to buying a new battery to checkout what's going on I
lifted the keyboard and saw a loose wire:

http://www.whiteink.org/mac/looseWire.jpg

....don't know if this is the cause of power problem?
....can't see where it came from or should go to!

Would very much appreciate some guidance!

Steve

Steve Whiting wrote:
> Have a much loved G3 Prismo PowerBook that won't now charge or power-up
> with the adaptor plugged-in. Bought a new power adaptor in the hope that
> it was the power supply at fault - it isn't.
>
> Before resorting to buying a new battery to checkout what's going on I
> lifted the keyboard and saw a loose wire:
>
> http://www.whiteink.org/mac/looseWire.jpg
>
> ...don't know if this is the cause of power problem?
> ...can't see where it came from or should go to!
>
This looks like an antenna connection for a wireless device.

Thank you for clearing that up :-)

Steve

Clever Monkey wrote:
> Steve Whiting wrote:
>
>> Have a much loved G3 Prismo PowerBook that won't now charge or
>> power-up with the adaptor plugged-in. Bought a new power adaptor in
>> the hope that it was the power supply at fault - it isn't.
>>
>> Before resorting to buying a new battery to checkout what's going on I
>> lifted the keyboard and saw a loose wire:
>>
>> http://www.whiteink.org/mac/looseWire.jpg
>>
>> ...don't know if this is the cause of power problem?
>> ...can't see where it came from or should go to!
>>
> This looks like an antenna connection for a wireless device.

Hei Steve

There might be two main reasons for this.
1, a dead main battery.
Try to take out the battery and connect the power adaptor and see, if it
will start. Some PBs run fine without the battery.
2, A dead internal LiION backup battery (clock battery).
If this battery is dead, which it very well might be, especially if your
Pismo is a 400mhz and to this one of the first of these. Then the
internal LiION backup battery must be replaced.

I had a similar problem just resently with my own Pismo 500mhz, but
luckily it turned out only to be that the internal backup battery had
been totally emptied. - I hadn't used the Pismo in more than two months,
so both the external and internal batteries were totally emptied. I
connected it to the main power and let it charge to two days, and then
it was fit again ..

cheers, Erik Richard

Steve Whiting wrote:
> Have a much loved G3 Prismo PowerBook that won't now charge or power-up
> with the adaptor plugged-in. Bought a new power adaptor in the hope that
> it was the power supply at fault - it isn't.
>
> Before resorting to buying a new battery to checkout what's going on I
> lifted the keyboard and saw a loose wire:
>
> http://www.whiteink.org/mac/looseWire.jpg
>
> ...don't know if this is the cause of power problem?
> ...can't see where it came from or should go to!
>
> Would very much appreciate some guidance!

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
KMLDenmark by Erik Richard Sørensen, Member of ADC
<kmldenmark_NOSP@M_stofanet.dk>
*Music Recording, Editing & Publishing - Also Smaller Quantities
*Software - For Theological Education - And For Physically Impaired
*Nisus - The Future in Text & Mail Processing <http://www.nisus.com>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

In article <Zpq9h.57851$Ib.37569@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>,
Steve Whiting <sjwhiting@callnetuk.com> wrote:

> Thank you for clearing that up :-)
>
> Steve
>
> Clever Monkey wrote:
> > Steve Whiting wrote:
> >
> >> Have a much loved G3 Prismo PowerBook that won't now charge or
> >> power-up with the adaptor plugged-in. Bought a new power adaptor in
> >> the hope that it was the power supply at fault - it isn't.
> >>
> >> Before resorting to buying a new battery to checkout what's going on I
> >> lifted the keyboard and saw a loose wire:
> >>
> >> http://www.whiteink.org/mac/looseWire.jpg
> >>
> >> ...don't know if this is the cause of power problem?
> >> ...can't see where it came from or should go to!
> >>
> > This looks like an antenna connection for a wireless device.

Yup. That's the antenna for the airport card.

Another post covered the easy stuff (main battery, PRAM/backup battery),
but it's also possible that the solder points on the power input
connector have come loose. If you can move your power connector around,
then check that and consider replacing the board. That board is known
for problems like this; check the archives for similar.

--
Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

> If you can move your power connector around,
> then check that and consider replacing the board.

John, Please add mind reading to you CV's list of talents.
Yup, there's a slight bit of movement on the power connector. Looks like
a new board is the fist place to start. Thanks v much for help!

Steve

John Johnson wrote:
> In article <Zpq9h.57851$Ib.37569@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>,
> Steve Whiting <sjwhiting@callnetuk.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Thank you for clearing that up :-)
>>
>>Steve
>>
>>Clever Monkey wrote:
>>
>>>Steve Whiting wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Have a much loved G3 Prismo PowerBook that won't now charge or
>>>>power-up with the adaptor plugged-in. Bought a new power adaptor in
>>>>the hope that it was the power supply at fault - it isn't.
>>>>
>>>>Before resorting to buying a new battery to checkout what's going on I
>>>>lifted the keyboard and saw a loose wire:
>>>>
>>>>http://www.whiteink.org/mac/looseWire.jpg
>>>>
>>>>...don't know if this is the cause of power problem?
>>>>...can't see where it came from or should go to!
>>>>
>>>
>>>This looks like an antenna connection for a wireless device.
>
>
> Yup. That's the antenna for the airport card.
>
> Another post covered the easy stuff (main battery, PRAM/backup battery),
> but it's also possible that the solder points on the power input
> connector have come loose. If you can move your power connector around,
> then check that and consider replacing the board. That board is known
> for problems like this; check the archives for similar.
>

In article <WAxah.62793$r4.32168@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net>,
Steve Whiting <sjwhiting@callnetuk.com> wrote:

> > If you can move your power connector around,
> > then check that and consider replacing the board.
>
> John, Please add mind reading to you CV's list of talents.
> Yup, there's a slight bit of movement on the power connector. Looks like
> a new board is the fist place to start. Thanks v much for help!
>
If it actually is that connector, it's large enough that re-soldering is
an option (provided you're moderately handy with an iron, that is). ISTR
that some people would pot a new/good connector in epoxy so that the
solder joint wasn't taking the mechanical load. Check the archives of
comp.sys.mac.portables for more info. This was a commonly-discussed
issue back when these things were popular ('02-03, maybe?).

--
Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

In article <null-78F773.08593427112006@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com >,
John Johnson <null@invalid.com> wrote:

> In article <WAxah.62793$r4.32168@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net>,
> Steve Whiting <sjwhiting@callnetuk.com> wrote:
>
> > > If you can move your power connector around,
> > > then check that and consider replacing the board.
> >
> > John, Please add mind reading to you CV's list of talents.
> > Yup, there's a slight bit of movement on the power connector. Looks like
> > a new board is the fist place to start. Thanks v much for help!
> >
> If it actually is that connector, it's large enough that re-soldering is
> an option (provided you're moderately handy with an iron, that is). ISTR
> that some people would pot a new/good connector in epoxy so that the
> solder joint wasn't taking the mechanical load. Check the archives of
> comp.sys.mac.portables for more info. This was a commonly-discussed
> issue back when these things were popular ('02-03, maybe?).

If you attempt to re-solder the connecter first look for the
broken trace. The connection cycles usually pulls a copper pad
away from the board and breaks the trace.

Once the broken trace is found then bond the connecter body to
the board with epoxy. A rigid connecter both takes future load
and is easier to solder. Then you can bridge the break with solder;
often a FINE copper wire will help control the solder so that it
bridges the break and not the gap between traces.

KLK

Erik Richard Sørensen <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.dk> wrote:

> 2, A dead internal LiION backup battery (clock battery).
> If this battery is dead, which it very well might be, especially if your
> Pismo is a 400mhz and to this one of the first of these. Then the
> internal LiION backup battery must be replaced.
>
> I had a similar problem just resently with my own Pismo 500mhz, but
> luckily it turned out only to be that the internal backup battery had
> been totally emptied. - I hadn't used the Pismo in more than two months,
> so both the external and internal batteries were totally emptied. I
> connected it to the main power and let it charge to two days, and then
> it was fit again ..
>
> cheers, Erik Richard


Please please give details about how to do this! I have a Pismo that
won't start up with various chargers nor a working battery. Where can I
buy this battery and where does it go? I'd love to resurrect this poor
machine.

In article <201220060338576965%veeeda-nospam@aolnospam.com>,
Lorraine <veeeda-nospam@aolnospam.com> wrote:

> Erik Richard Sørensen <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.dk> wrote:
>
> > 2, A dead internal LiION backup battery (clock battery).
> > If this battery is dead, which it very well might be, especially if your
> > Pismo is a 400mhz and to this one of the first of these. Then the
> > internal LiION backup battery must be replaced.
> >
> > I had a similar problem just resently with my own Pismo 500mhz, but
> > luckily it turned out only to be that the internal backup battery had
> > been totally emptied. - I hadn't used the Pismo in more than two months,
> > so both the external and internal batteries were totally emptied. I
> > connected it to the main power and let it charge to two days, and then
> > it was fit again ..
> >
> > cheers, Erik Richard
>
>
> Please please give details about how to do this! I have a Pismo that
> won't start up with various chargers nor a working battery. Where can I
> buy this battery and where does it go? I'd love to resurrect this poor
> machine.

An example of the battery:
http://www.ifixit.com/cart/catalog/..._or_Pismo_PRAM_
Battery_New.html

ifixit's fixit guide:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/Pow...mo/PRAM-Battery

HTH!

--
Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

> > > 2, A dead internal LiION backup battery (clock battery).
> > > If this battery is dead, which it very well might be, especially if your
> > > Pismo is a 400mhz and to this one of the first of these. Then the
> > > internal LiION backup battery must be replaced.
> > >
> > > I had a similar problem just resently with my own Pismo 500mhz, but
> > > luckily it turned out only to be that the internal backup battery had
> > > been totally emptied. - I hadn't used the Pismo in more than two months,
> > > so both the external and internal batteries were totally emptied. I
> > > connected it to the main power and let it charge to two days, and then
> > > it was fit again ..
> > >
> > > cheers, Erik Richard
> >
> >
> > Please please give details about how to do this! I have a Pismo that
> > won't start up with various chargers nor a working battery. Where can I
> > buy this battery and where does it go? I'd love to resurrect this poor
> > machine.
>
> An example of the battery:
> http://www.ifixit.com/cart/catalog/..._or_Pismo_PRAM_
> Battery_New.html
>
> ifixit's fixit guide:
> http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/Pow...mo/PRAM-Battery
>
> HTH!


Thank you so much. I brought the laptop in to a tech, but after a quick
check he said it would cost an hour of labor to figure out what was
wrong, and from there add in whatever parts needed replacing plus the
labor to replace them. I'd be willing to pay maybe $200 to fix it, but
I don't really want to have an open-ended fee for getting it to run.