"Roy J. Tellason" bravely wrote to "Greg Mayman" (11
May 04  12:06:48)
 --- on the heady topic of "SILICON CHIP ON LINE"

 RJT> Greg Mayman wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

 GM> I still have a 40m and an 80m that came out of my Compaq. I
 GM> _might_ use then one day to build a low end machine with some 486
 GM> m'boards I bought "as-new" that I haven't got around to using
 GM> yet...

 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
 RJT> it in there or not.

The big problem changing those barrel batteries is that they are often
glued on top of a few circuit traces and the glue won't yield easily
making it dangerous to break a foil trace if forced too much.

You could always avoid the problem and use a 4 AA battery pack adaptor
plugged into the external battery connector. There is sometimes a
jumper to set or remove to select the external battery but it is often
marked on the silkscreen.

But you should *always* remove the old barrel because the leaking
electrolyte will dissolve the traces in the vicinity. If it can't be
removed then encase the barrel in a blob of silicon so it won't leak.

 Mike
 ****

... Batteries not included.
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30