-=> Roy J. Tellason said to Greg Mayman
 -=> about "SILICON CHIP ON LINE" on 05-11-04  12:06.....

 RJT> That sounds like that 386dx40 router/firewall I have going here.  The
 RJT> only problem with it is one of those soldered-in nicad batteries that
 RJT> doesn't seem to want to hold a charge any more.  I have a new one
 RJT> sitting here on my desk, but don't know if I want to bother sticking it
 RJT> in there or not. 

I had a similar problem with the present m'board. But I bought a
3x AA cell holder for $2.50 from Dick Smith Electronics, and a
pack of AA alkalines from the s'mart. I found a plug on something
else that fited the external battery connector on the m'board,
and I've been running on that for about 18 months. The last time
I measured the voltage, it was still way up there like a set of
new cells.

The idea came from the need to replace the off-board battery in
my sister's computer. The exact replacement was about $40, so I
went the cheap way with hers. From the size of the AA cells
versus the original battery, I'd guess this cheap way out might
last two or three times as long 

And if you do go this way, remember to remove the link that
charges the onboard NiCad. Alkalines probably won't take kindly
to a charging current, however small.

   ,-./\
  /     \ From Greg Mayman, in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia
  \_,-*_/    "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E
       v
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

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