The Macintosh Portable Battery

[David Sheehy]

My Mac Portable arrived, and predictably the first task is to replace the dead battery. I like the way the original battery is easily installed and removed, and the battery itself is quite aesthetically pleasing as far as brick-shaped objects go.

So I'm going to "repack" the battery case with a sealed lead-acid battery of similar specifications. By stroke of luck, I already had a lead-acid battery of the right voltage and similar capacity, and it happens to have almost the perfect dimensions to fit neatly inside the original battery casing. Comparison photos:

The original battery is 6 Volts, 5 Amp-Hour. The replacement is 6 Volts, 4.2 Amp-Hour. You can buy an almost identical battery (but it's now 4.5 Amp-Hour) from Jaycar, or many other suppliers. Here's where I got mine. The original battery weighs 1,258 grams, while the replacement weighs in at 782 grams, quite a saving.

Next step is to cut open the case and deal with the chemical mess inside. Has anybody opened up one of these before? I wonder if a recycling station would accept the contents of a battery in a plastic bag or something.

[applefreak]

Portable Macintosh 5120 and 5126
Lead Battery Replacement

there is no 'chemical mess' inside, only 3 cyclon batteries

[applefreak]

[David Sheehy]

Neat. So, dremel the top off, or is there another way to open it?

[Franklin Johnson]

Sounds cool! I wish I had bid on a Mac Portable last week on eBay! I didn't because I wasn't so sure what all it would take to replace the battery. I'll watch to see how you do! Good luck with re-packing the battery!! :-) :-)