Do we need a clock battery for old Macs-?

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Level 1

17 points

Do we need a clock battery for old Macs-?

I have many old G4 macs I got them very cheap here in Sendai Japan. After the earthquake many people must have sorted out there old stock and thought not to keep heavy things in the house and also they may not work because the Lithium 3.5 v Clock Battery is very expensive,almost half the cost I paid for iMac G4 lampshade, I have 7 of them and the Apple pro speakers most of them work but the Batteries need checking. They are in Good condition ,I must say Japanese take careful handling of Macs most of them were very clean and the Media never used or opened.I do not want to buy a Battery because they are made in Israel.

I wonder if I can use it without.

Macube-OTHER

Posted on Sep 28, 2015 2:21 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 28, 2015 2:37 AM in response to sheffi

The batteries seem to be about £10 in the UK. If you have dome-shaped iMac with the screen on a pivoted arm, replacing the battery isn't entirely simple - see this page:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+G4+15-Inch+700+MHz+EMC+1873+PRAM+Battery+Repla cement/7030

(note a comment at the bottom of the page which suggest you can omit a couple of steps). The page omits to point out that you must replace the thermal paste when you reassemble the Mac or it will overheat.

The PRAM battery maintains the clock and the network settings, plus a few other minor parameters, in the absence of mains electricity. Some Macs won't run at all if the battery is dead, but many will be OK as long as you don't disconnect them from the mains - if you do the clock will revert to a much earlier date and the network settings will be lost.

I do not want to buy a Battery because they are made in Israel.

If you are going to take that attitude you are going to make any repair process problematic; though I would have thought the batteries were just as likely to have been made in China.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Sep 28, 2015 9:36 AM in response to sheffi

No idea where they're made, but these people ship just about anywhere...

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAA36VPRAM/

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Answer 3

Oct 22, 2015 12:07 PM in response to sheffi

check the battery PMU and change for a new in u local state +/- $5

check via tools sites

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