- 2022
- Mar
- 23
Just because it fits doesn’t mean it will work…
One of the things you have to deal with while using old equipment is ancient batteries.
This 1985 Kaypro 2X+88 machine has an early real-time clock, but hasn’t kept time for the better part of two decades.
Interestingly, the battery (the yellow cylinder in the right of the picture) was still available as an off-brand replacement. Voltage checked ok, but soldering the battery on the board resulted in a no-boot condition. The battery was removed and the board completely cleaned of any flux before re-installation and successful boot.
I’m not sure what happened here, but that’s another danger of old equipment - stuff may just not work anymore. I assume that either the little bit of flux on the board was causing issue, or perhaps the clock chip is now damaged from the long-term low voltage. In either event, I need to see if I can get a NOS clock chip before replacing the battery with an off-board 3V pack made up of standard alkalines.
The machine seems happy, and has been sitting at directory for quite some time.
This post is from my LinkedIn profile, you can view it here: