[NTLK] Battery Packs and Battery Trays

[Alan Grassia]

Hello Forrest and Newton Friends,

Thanks again for the encouraging words, Forrest!  I appreciate it.  You and the other kind folks here have encouraged me to repair both an eMate and and OMP!

I saw that Frank Gründel has rebuild directions on his website (https://www.pda-soft.de/hardware.html) for eMate and MP 2x00 packs.  (And the MP 110, 120, and 130.)  I just haven't gotten up the nerve to try and cut one open.

I have one AA tray that came with my MP 2000 and a battery pack that isn't holding a charge that came with my eBay MP2100 (upgraded MP 2000 by Apple).

I agree about the eMate.  From all of the reading that I have done, it was just the rechargeable pack.  Mine's not holding a charge, so at some point, if I want to show it off at my local Apple store, I'll need to attempt the rebuild.

The OMP, from a couple of repair videos that I have seen, does have a 4x AAA battery tray.  You can see one in Colin's This Does Not Compute - Fixing a Common (and Inevitable) Apple Newton Problem video (https://youtu.be/gH15tMUMUcU) starting at 5 min and 8 sec.  Someone as already reached out to me directly from this list with a private offer to buy one.  Thanks again to that person.  I appreciate the offer.

Cheers,
Alan Grassia
 
-------------------------------
OMP, MP 2000, MP 2100, eMate 300
 
Website: http://blog.smartphonefanatics.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alanmgrassia
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangrassia
 


On 7/11/21, 3:28 PM, "NewtonTalk on behalf of Forrest" <newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net on behalf of newton_phoenix at mindspring.com> wrote:

    Alan:

    IMHO it is actually not all that difficult to rebuild a Newton battery pack properly (I have not done and cannot speak for the eMate). It just requires a steady hand—and lots and lots of patience.

    As for the MP2x00: you are far better obtaining a AA battery “sled”. Buy some rechargeable alkaline NiMH AA cells—preferably 8, keeping 4 as spares on the charger—put the other 4 in the sled and put that into the Newton. 

    Last I saw these sleds were selling for a ridiculous price on eBay, but someone here might have one to offer.

    I don’t believe there was a similar product made for the MP or eMate.

    Mahalo,
    Forrest 

    Sent from my T-Mobile iPhone 11

    > On Jul 11, 2021, at 11:15 AM, Alan Grassia <alan.grassia at gmail.com> Was a wrote:
    > 
    > Hello Newton Friends,
    > 
    > As my Newton collection grows, I wanted to inquire about rechargeable battery rebuilds.  While I am willing to take on tasks like replacing capacitors and eMate hinge repairs, I don’t want to mess around with trying to rebuild battery packs.
    >  
    > I wanted to know if there was anyone in the United States or Canada who does this kind of work at reasonable prices.  I am looking for someone to rebuild battery packs for a MP 2000, an eMate 300, and an OMP.