Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

Ever Botched a Battery Change?

I was swapping out the batteries in my VDX when the contact spring somehow fetched up the negative terminal of one battery and it wouldn't conveniently "pop" out. With one battery removed I scrambled to get the fouled battery out before losing the memory on my device (which necessitates a twenty plus minute synch to input my contact database.)

I've blown the battery exchange once before under similar circumstances; has anyone else suffered as I have?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 216

I did the exact same thing the first time I changed the batteries on my Plat. I had to pry the incorrectly installed battery out with my pocket knife. Lost all of my data (before I started using Backup Buddy or bought a backup module). Thankfully, since I had not gotten it very long ago, there was not much to lose! I haven't made that mistake again.

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 501

Oh, yeah

Infrequently it happens -- though using Backup Buddy, and making sure I do a hotsync before doing the change, this doesn't cause a problem.

Two interesting "twist" scenarios:

1) On occasion, my VDX will freeze after the battery change. (I.e., I need to do a reset. Probably due to all my bloody hacks...) The first time this happened, it froze with a blank screen, and I assumed that the batteries I'd placed in (all rechargable NiMH) were bad, and I scrambled around to try to find good ones. Of course, the screen stayed blank, so I just threw up my hands and took the batteries out... and the VDX cleared itself, thus requiring a 1/2 hour Backup Buddy restore.

2) When I got my FlashPlus CF drive module, I made the mistake of leaving it in the Springboard slot while changing batteries. Big mistake! By the time I got the new batteries in, the memory had already been blanked out. I assume this is because the FlashPlus demands power from the batteries, even when the VDX is off, and that the usual ~3 minutes of time you have for changing batteries is diminished (or eliminated) by the demands of the CF drive module. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

At any rate, I now remove my FlashPlus before changing the batteries.

The moral is: Thank you, Backup Buddy!

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Jeff Meyer

"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."

Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 383

I don't have any back-ups except my HotSyncing.

Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Northern California
Posts: 12

"I bought a Prism to Avoid Such Maladies"

Or an Edge ... I have an Edge. It's rechargeable too. I don't think I could handle the hassle of replacing alkaline batteries every month (or shorter or longer, depending on intensity of usage).

Speaking of alkaline ... and speaking of botched replacements ... have you had success with NiMH batteries? Long ago, I was thinking of using them in my old Palm IIIe (a gift in ancient days, not purchased of my own volition), but I heard you should only use non-rechargeable alkaline. I don't remember where I heard it. Or why. Hmmmmh.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

quote:

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Originally posted by Bbonnn
Speaking of alkaline ... and speaking of botched replacements ... have you had success with NiMH batteries?

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