Re: Disk Drive (9114) battery pac: Refresh, replace or retire? Message #7 Posted by Tony Duell on 17 May 2004, 1:51 p.m., in response to message #1 by Cococollector
To answer your questions :
(1) Yes, lead acid packs do 'go off' with time, whether used or not. I doubt that any of the original 9114 batteries are still any good.
(2) Not really. You need to replace the battery.
(3) You can't connect the HP charger directly to the drive, but you can connect a 6V _DC_ power supply to the 2-pin mini-jones plug in the battery compartment. If you open up either the battery pack or the drive, the polarity is obvious (black -ve as usual), but if you're not sure I'll check the schematics.
(4) Take apart the battery pack (2 Torx screws on top, and clips round the edges of the cover). You'll see the block battery and the charger PCB. I am told you can still get suitable replacement batteries. However, 3 off 2.5Ah Cyclon cells (2V Lead Acid cylinderical cells) fit perfectly (they're available from RS components, and elesewhere). Wire them in series, fit them into the pack (terminals away from the charger PCB) and connect them to the wires that went to the original battery. All (3) my 9114s have Cyclon cells in them, and I've never had any problems.
As to whether it's worth doing, I _love_ the 9114, and regard it as the only worthwhile storage for the 41, 71 and 75 machines. Since I use those a lot (yes, they're old, but they're beautiful), I use my 9114 a lot too.
|