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G4 PB 15" PRAM battery

Good morning.


Any recent luck in finding a NEW battery?


Does anybody know the specs for this battery? PN, size, voltage, etc ?


Thanks for your time.

PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8), G4 1.67 mHz 15" A1106 aluminum

Posted on Jan 24, 2016 6:09 AM

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5 replies

Jan 24, 2016 7:05 AM in response to Bruce A

Oh, sorry. Didn't read the description closely enough.


My older PowerBook works fine without the PRAM battery. It was dead so I just disconnected it, and have never replaced it. Unlike with a desktop Mac, the PRAM battery in a PowerBook is rechargeable, and its purpose is to keep the PRAM settings and sleep state while you swap out the main battery. The main battery serves the same purpose, as long as you do not need to swap it out during use or let it go completely dead.

Jan 24, 2016 9:44 AM in response to Bruce A

The PBG4 battery is integral with and soldered to the right-side USB board. It is not a standard battery.


I was given a 2003 PowerBook G4 in 2008 and, after about three years of searching, gave up on finding a new PRAM battery. Some people have posted that iFixit has them but I recently followed their links and found they took me to eBay where all the batteries offered were used. Used battery--used chewing gum--very much alike!


The newest used/pulled PRAM batteries are now 10 years old and I can't imagine that, even though rechargeable, they have much if any capacity left. Then there is the access issue. It takes a considerable teardown dealing with tiny and delicate connectors to even get the old right-side USB board out. As there is no way to effectively test a used battery without installing it, you could spent a couple of hours and find you receveid a bad battery.


My action was to keep a good main battery and not let the charge get too low. Apple no longer sells main batteries for the Powerbook G4 but OWC has some:


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP15AL54RS/


Kenichi wrote:


My older PowerBook works fine without the PRAM battery. It was dead so I just disconnected it, and have never replaced it.


Is yours a G3 or a G4 PowerBook? What you describe sounds like the G3 Lombard or Pismo, whose PRAM batt can be disconnected without a teardown. There is no easy way to disconnect the G4's PRAM battery.

G4 PB 15" PRAM battery

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