Many of you know that leaking lithium batteries are one of the reasons why old hardware dies - especially 1980s/90s Macs and home computers (e.g. Amigas).
So far, I have not heard of battery leakage problems with NeXT machines, so I'd love to hear about your experience. I took the batteries out of all my retro machines including the NeXT. So far, only a single machine, a Mac IIcx, was affected. Unfortunately, NeXT machines refuse to start without a battery, so swapping batteries in and out is a bit impractical...
For Macs, there is a replacement PCB available that fits in the battery holder and takes a CR2032 coin cell (
https://www.tindie.com/products/siliconinsider/macbatt-cr2032-pram-apple-macintosh-battery/). This is too short for the NeXT battery – do you think it makes sense to create a similar PCB for NeXt machines?
I picked up all my NeXT boxes over 15 years ago (68030 cube back in 2001) and have never had a problem with the batteries. Now I do exercise them quite regularly (if not much during the summer when I spend most of my time outdoors) so note if they begin losing time, indicating a failing battery (which takes 5+ years, in my experience).
Quote from: stepleton on January 09, 2023, 12:38:57 PMPreviously on the NeXTcomputers.org forums... (http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php?topic=4658.msg27139#msg27139)
Thanks! I wonder why I didn't find this thread in the first place...
The Panasonic BR 2/3A lithium cell is quite possibly the most chemically stable battery I have ever seen. I still in a blue moon see them with a good charge 30 to 35 years strong. They also have an incredible shelf life and in low-current devices they will probably last forever.