You Can Still Get New iBook Clamshell Batteries in 2020

[@MightyJabbasCollection]

Sorry you're having some issues. Mine still says 4400 mAh, but I've only cycled it handful of times myself. Honestly, it's difficult for me to use a clamshell long enough to run the battery down completely. So I'm less interested in total battery life as I am in being able to use the computer without being tethered to an outlet. Interestingly I have one original Apple battery that still works fine, although Coconut Battery lists the original capacity as 3200 mAh (and current capacity is 2933, so it's doing pretty good for a battery that's close to 20 years old!).

[@ActionRetro]

I'm honestly still really happy that I got a working battery. The seller was quick to offer an exchange as well. Even if I was stuck with this one though, I'd be really happy with the 5ish hours I'm seeing. It's really cool watching DVDs on the clamshell too! I can make it through about two movies which is super sweet.

[@bixbabble3935]

Action Retro How did the replacement perform?

[@georgesenda1952]

When you click on the link New Egg says the item is not available so its time to remove the dead link.

[@jerrybomcool]

Lost its mAh from being left in storage fully charged. Li-Ion’s should be left between 20-80% normally left at 50% brand new

[@zachz96]

From what you were doing with that computer, It's hard to believe it's 20 years old. I remember when you couldn't run a modern operating system on a 20 year old computer let alone watch KZbin with it.

[@josiahbarkhau9359]

The classic 300 - 500 life charge cycles!!!

[@BCThunderthud]

My favorite part of this was the mention of TenFourFox, I hadn't heard of that before but it could make my 10.4 machines (i.e., all my Macs) a lot more useful.

[@darthrevan2063]

Tenfourfox as of this year is dead. The person who made it abandoned it.

[@guts2048]

@@darthrevan2063 well he put a lot of work in it and the community will continue the work

[@Zen-Koru]

where can I find a iBook g3 clamshell battery now? I want to use my clamshell on the go and for collage but having to keep it plugged in is a pain, on ebay the only ones I can find that work would be original ones but those don't hold much of a charge anymore, on amazon its just the non clamshell g3 cube looking battry, and on newegg it no longer exists, please any help will be apricated, I love this laptop and I do want to get it working as much as ppossible

[@wyattcampbell-berroth29]

where would I find one now? I have an iBook g3 clamshell and i just searched newegg and it came up no results

[@skinnie88]

Great video. I only have a Powerbook G4 1.5GHz 12', bought a battery on aliexpress (brand LMDTK) for about 20eur. Not bad for the price, about 2.5-3h. Apparently Newegg sells it also.

[@ActionRetro]

Nice!

[@sparrow6190]

In my experience it has never been good for batteries to run to zero, especially when brand new. Run them low yes, but completely dead stresses the battery too much and they lose capacity each time. I pay close attention and know how to make my 18650 batteries last a long time. This is something I've learned from experience, I vape a lot and don't like buying new batteries at all. When they lose capacity I repurpose them for other projects. that's why I wasn't surprised but actually expecting your end results to be that way. It's the same idea as with car batteries, only not so drastic. If you run a lead acid battery dead you can ruin the battery one time.

[@EvertG8086]

Raw li-ion cells maybe, but for battery’s on a controller. It never allows them to actually get to a critical voltage.

[@amdintelxsniperx]

@@EvertG8086 if its a good controller . if its not set up right to say cut off at 10 percent then it will drop the cells to lower then 3.4 ish volts which damaged the cells

[@destrierofdark_]

the thing is, for the battery controller to recalibrate, you have to discharge it to a programmed-in voltage for dead empty, which in these is 12v of pack voltage.

[@KamiKitsuneVA]

I hope they come back in stock soon, I wanna buy one for mine for an upcoming trip!

[@stereodelay6601]

Please let us know if you find another place to order them.

[@MrKillswitch88]

These kind of batteries can be picky with use and age though there are ways to get old cells to where they accept some charge despite being so old. The oldest working lithium battery I have is from around 1998 or so while I've had some decent luck getting batteries from the early to mid 2000s to work with some up to their rated capacity. Those who are good with tools already know to just rebuild the packs with new cells.

[@RWBHere]

Good quality cells are more robust than people often think. I have some 18650's which were salvaged from an obsolete late 1990's laptop in about 1994.The cells were rated at 1200mAh when new and they all still hold about 1Ah. We use them in LED flashlights, with LED's rated at 1 to 3 Watts. The cells are stored at ~80% SOC until needed, and mostly in ambient temperatures of between 10°C and 25°C. (It's Northern England. 😉) I keep saying that the cells will be replaced when they die, but they're more likely to outlive the flashlights, and they are only recharged a few times each year.

[@deathventure]

Beyond the battery might actually being bad, you do know that doing full discharges on li-ion batteries isn't good for them right? If the individual cells go below I think 1.2V, they have to go into a different higher current charge mode. Now being that it's a multi-cell system, if one of those cells went faulty or under voltage, the controller cannot deal with a single cell charge issue.Eventually the faulty cell will bring the other cells down with it and boom, no more battery. Most of the time, the nominal life you can keep on battery is between 90% and somewhere above 35% if I remember right. Don't let the charge get under 35% and unplug it by 95% and that should actually extend the overall lifetime of the battery.

[@EvertG8086]

The battery is on a controller, the cells will not get to critical voltage under normal use.

[@thecollectordaily]

Sean, do you know of anyone that is selling the batteries? I have been trying so hard to find one and can't.

[@bibasik7]

CoconutBattery isn’t magic. It can only tell you what the battery monitoring system tells it. The battery monitoring system can estimate the battery capacity, but it takes many cycles for it to get a decent estimate.

[@misterrocks3035]

Am looking to maybe find and play around with a late iBook or PowerBook system - the replacement battery scene seems pretty dismal for them as it stands. Anyone got some hints?

[@myawen_]

Did you get it returned/exchanged? I don't see a follow-up video for how the story ends. :)

[@ActionRetro]

Yes they actually replaced it really quickly! The new one works perfectly!

[@myawen_]

@@ActionRetro Oh good. I'm looking for a battery for mine. I've used it without a battery since 2007 haha. Newegg Canada doesn't have that battery in its catalog, so I wonder if I should make a US account and try to have it shipped to Canada.

[@myawen_]

I’m back. I didn’t get one and don’t see it listed on Newegg. EBay options seem sparse as well. Have you been able to source any more of these batteries since?

[@jorisw_]

2022 and this battery now costs $300 on newegg.

[@someguy872]

Nice video, i don't even own a G3 Clamshell.

[@williamcodywinter]

Did you get a replacement and did it work better?

[@stereodelay6601]

Is this battery still available? I can’t find it anymore.

[@segaboy9894]

Really hoping for a battery rebuild video. I want to rebuild the battery for my iBook 900, but I need a hotshot KZbinr like you to give me confidence. :D

[@ZingOnMate]

Might get one for my Graphite iBook G3 Clamshell

[@ActionRetro]

Totally worth it

[@ZingOnMate]

I agree

[@ZingOnMate]

Only problem is I’m in Australia, the shipping fees from the U.S to where I am are not the best

[@manonthedollar]

So what happened with the exchange? I AIN'T SEE NO VIDYA UPDATE.

[@transitengineer]

Great informational video. One reason, I never jumped on a chance to add one of these clamshell G3 laptops to my collection is because thought that no batteries were available. For myself, using my G3 Powerbook Fire-wire laptop computer which, is also from the year 2000, my benchmark is to be able to play a 90 minute DVD movie. With a new battery at first, I am able to get about 2.5 hours, then later 2.0 hours, then later 1.5 hours, and then later 1.0 hours and it keeps dropping. Wish, I knew how to rebuild them since, I have about four that are completely dead. Do you know any source where, I can buy a new or refurbished battery for my G3 Powerbook?

[@ActionRetro]

Thank you! Unfortunately I don't see any G3 Powerbook batteries around, but the 8 Bit Guy did a great video on how to rebuild batteries: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKOnn4eOptSkoK8

[@guts2048]

I think its possible to buy for the ibook g4 too there is one on a serbian site and its only 30$

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

Nice That You Can Get Batteries For The Clamshell

[@IanLandesman]

Any recommendations for battery for my G4 12"? Takes a dead A1079 battery. Can't find a guide on how to go about replacing cells and would love to be pointed in the right direction. Thank you!

[@fixins]

New case with used 18650s? I've got re-used in "new," things before.

[@rickame]

I have a bunch..about 10 clamshell ibooks, all colors and some I moded to have slot drives and bigger hard drives...but no good batteries. I searched and the cheapest I found was more than $200...so has inflation hit the battery market in the last year...I'd definitely buy one or two for $60. Anyone know were I can buy one for less than 200?

[@aaancom]

Maybe do a video on your time working for that battery company.

[@jacobchristopher8995]

They don’t sell it anymore 😞

[@thomasrichardson2402]

I need a new battery for my PowerBook G3 Pismo, a replacement I bought about 9 years ago finally gave up on life, any suggestions??

[@thedopplereffect00]

My guess is they just put used batteries in there. Did they have date codes? They probably assume you wouldn't notice because most people wouldn't run that extensive of tests. They probably have a small stack of new batteries they give the few people who request a replacement. Then they win with good customer reviews even though they don't deserve it.

[@michaelpastras]

plz get it reassembled and clean it !!! it`s so sad to see a so rare ibook so dirty

[@danielson9579]

Does lit have a ssd in it because they save battery life to 🙂

[@donnieanderson2423]

Right now as of 05/17/2021 they are $214.00 US Funds... : (

[@nonstopmaximum2141]

How'd you get the wifi working on your iBook? I have a non-SE firewire iBook with the older OS 9.2 and whenever I open the AirPort app it always detects nothing.

[@MiriamMoncrief]

Just subscribed to you.. thanks! Any chance you can make a video on how to hook up to the internet using a USB adapter.. unfortunately just having an airport card isn't doing the trick for me..I'm just so confused lol..thanks for all your retro videos!

[@ActionRetro]

Thank you! That's a good idea. What's going wrong with your airport card though?

[@MiriamMoncrief]

@@ActionRetro I have an airport card but someone on eBay said it won't work with ecrption..I would have to get the edimax nano wireless USB adapter running wap instead of wep..it's confusing and am prob setting it up wrong..

[@HardDriveGuruOfficial]

I'm planning on trying to get my bondi clamshell on the internet once I get the battery problem worked out (needs a new battery and new adapter), so a video on that would be extremely helpful!

[@shawnmulligan3471]

@@MiriamMoncrief The original AirPort card is 802.11b, and only supports WEP encryption. With most wireless networks, you'll be able to see it because by default they will still see 802.11b devices, but almost all routers now default to WPA encryption, which you can't use. The G3 iBooks can't use AirPort Express cards, which support 802.11g and WPA. Getting a USB adapter would work (in OS X; OS 9 can't use WPA encryption no matter what AFAIK). If your router supports multiple networks, or you have an extra access point, you could set up a separate WEP network for it. I do that for some old devices that are WEP only. If you do that, you usually want to use MAC address restriction so unknown devices can't connect as easily, and only have it turned on when you are actively using it, because WEP is pretty easy to break nowadays.

[@jjmarcos81]

Looking for a new battery for my Clamshell as well... $149 USD on eBay... any other realistic alternatives?

[@myawen_]

I’m in the same boat. You’re finding new ones? I’m coming up empty. :(

[@jjmarcos81]

Unfortunately, nope. I have purchased the cells and I plan to put them together when I have time to do so. See kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKOnn4eOptSkoK8

[@stereodelay6601]

@@jjmarcos81 Any link for that $149 battery? I can't find any online.

[@bigblocky4229]

2022?

[@LetsPlayKeldeo]

UHHH the clampshell looks like its moldy on the inside from those shots from the underside ! What happend there M

[@HardDriveGuruOfficial]

The plastics used on older computers tend to yellow substantially over time, especially if they're constantly exposed to sunlight. It's more common on the beige/brown computers from the 90s and earlier, but it's still possible on newer plastic. :)

[@MegaSegawa]

Pretty good french, ngl

[@RowanBird779]

115 months is only 10 years 🤔

[@omfgbunder2008]

They shouldn't sell them fully charged, lithium ions don't like that

[@dennisdobransky5977]

with all laptop batteries i only charge them to 95% and discharge to 5% max low, battery will last longer. youre killing the battery going from 100% to 0%

[@sparrow6190]

Shouldn't have run it down to zero, but 5-10%

[@LAHegarty]

Out of date batteries, probably been sitting for 15 years+

[@MikanBox]

You could live on the edge and just modify the clam shell to take the cells directly. Even more on the edge if u use those chinese cells that lie about their capacity. (i performed the mod..... i only get like 25 minutes off the cells lol)

[@damian9303]

You can get new batteries for pretty much every laptop, but they’re all non-genuine reproductions.

[@stereodelay6601]

Where?

[@onigvd77]

batteries shouldn't go below 30% of their capacity, it degrades the chemicals that hold the charge. By repeatedly discharging the battery, it's only making it worse.