Replacing a Battery in a Performa 550

I think most of the data on that site was actually put together some time ago, when the hot new Quadra 630 was king. Some parts have been updated, but I agree with you that the site could use a major re-organization, probably by battery type. But the pictures are there, and that is one of its most useful features.

In my opinion, some users are looking for a narrow answer, like "what does it look like" and others want all the background then can get. Tom "Texas Mac Man" has a large PRAM battery tutorial with multiple references on his site, but there is so much information there that some may find it baffling and are not willing to wade through it all. I think there is room for both the "long answer" and the "short answer".

Like many things on the web, a site may provide a banquet of information, on your subject or a related subject, but if you are careful you can still use it to "snack" on just the information you crave.

Those Macs have a board that slides out the back. The battery is a 3.6 Volt battery the diameter of AA battery, but half the length. It is held in a cradle with a retainer with hooks on the inside, so that when you get the retainer off, it vaguely resembles the letter C. To get the retainer off gently, you need to apply pressure along the length, away from the center. If you brutalize it and the tiny hooks get broken, no great loss.

To get one quickly, visit Radio Shack. Make no mistake, they know NOTHING about Macs. They sell an alarm that uses the same battery in the sensors. Expect to pay about US$15. They are available online for US$6 to $8.

It is not a recharging battery. It is intended to act as a backup across occasional power outages. If you shut off the rocker switch or power strip every night, battery life will be greatly reduced.

This site has pictures and more info:

http://www.academ.com/info/macintosh/

Grant,

Thanx for the new reference site. I wonder why they did not list off the models using the 4.5 volt battery on this page:

http://www.academ.com/info/macintosh/early.shtml

They only say "Quadra 630 And It's Relatives"

A quick reference list of the odd ball models would be shorter than every model and if it had type 3.6 or 4.5.

Jim

Check this site for battery part numbers and sources.
Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial
http://www.geocities.com/texas_macman/pram.html

 Cheers, Tom

The Radio Shack part number for the correct battery is 23-026 but Grant is right--they have grown much too expensive there. Their last price increase was from US$11 to $15, a 36 percent jump.

Web order if you can wait a few days. I order PRAM batteries from this site primarily because they pay the shipping even on tiny orders. I'm sure that other also pay shipping but beware of those who don't. A minimum shipping charge can be US$5, making an apparent bargain no better than the RS price.

Grant,

Most kids just want the short answer "yes you can play Warcraft on this machine." Others want to know why. Three stopped by and aske a short question. Two hours later they left with several computers and parts from many more. For those who want to know more, nothing beats a stack of computers so they can visually explore the history of computing. Joni said she was a visual learner. She would have an eyeful here!

Alan,

I just picked up 200+ P III computers and a few P4s mixed in. The difference is that they have 10 to 30 gig IDE hard drives and 256 meg 133 RAM. Parts are parts. Time to sort out what is good to use in Macs and give the rest away.

Jim