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24 comments
Tube❄️Time

haha it has a list of disclaimers rolled up around it. that is just so IBM.

Tube❄️Time

and it is three very tiny cells wired in series! these are 1/3AAA cells.

Tube❄️Time

the replacement cells i found are meant for solar garden lights, apparently?

Tube❄️Time

i 3d printed a jig to help me weld the tabs in place. you'll see why in a bit.

Tube❄️Time

yes, the little cell goes in the round hole.

Tube❄️Time

then i put down a little 3d-printed plastic spacer, and then the first nickel strip goes on top of that.

Tube❄️Time

two cells done, now i just need to weld them all together.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

now you see the trick. the first tabbed cell goes positive terminal down. the tab sticks out in the groove in the front. then the other cell gets arranged in the little trough that holds it at the correct angle.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

then i bend and mush the cells together after welding, and line it up for the last cell. the trough has enough room to support 2 cells.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

i didn't grab a photo of me welding the solder tabs, but it's a similar process. lastly i put a length of heat shrink over the whole thing to hold it all together and insulate it. sadly the precut length of heat shrink is just a tiny bit short. oh well.

drewelmore replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Very cool! But what did you use for a disclaimer? :-P

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

quick fit check, and it works! these cells have a button on the end that is 1mm longer than the original, so i had to flip the battery pack around to get it to fit.

Michael Katzmann🐈 replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime ..yeah, I had to do the same thing to replace the aging backup battery in my HP8665A sig gen.

The 350mAh NiMH cells
Joe Pasqua

@tubetime I need to replace the "secret” internal NiCd in a Palm Vii and those cells look like they might be close to the right diameter. Can you tell us the dimensions?

Tube❄️Time

@bitsplusatoms 10mm x 16.25mm including the button at the top.

Joe Pasqua

@tubetime Thank you. The Palm battery is 10 x 61 (including the nickel tabs on the ends). I'll take the wrapper off mine to see how it is composed.

Harvey Sandstrom

@tubetime Very coincidentally, I recently discovered these cells when I was looking for something non-lithium for a small wearable.

Tube❄️Time

@cd0 yeah it is giving me ideas. you can also get small lithium cylindrical cells meant for vapes.

abortretryfail

@tubetime You know, props to whoever was sourcing components for IBM back then that those things didn't leak all over the place.

Hopefully your new ones keep their act together as well.🤞

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