GRiDPAD 1910 battery

From: Bill Sudbrink <bills_at_adrenaline.com>
Date: Wed Apr 11 20:48:47 2001

> Some machines use the battery as a shunt regulator -- that is to say they
> rely on the fact that the voltage across the battery pack, even when
> charged from a supply _capable_ of giving out a higher voltage, will be
> limited. This is one reason why many HP and TI calculators may be damaged
> if you connect the charger without a battery pack in place.

Hmmm... Are you are saying that running the machine from the
AC brick with no battery in place will damage it? If this is
the case, then the damage is done. I've run it for 20+ hours
with no battery in place. The diagnostic screen indicates that
the machine is aware that no battery is present.

> For the original poster, if you insist on using normal primary batteries
> (1.5V each), I would start with only 8 of them in series, which should
> give you 12V.

A little creative wiring and, voila! it works with 8... for about 10
minutes and then goes down. Diagnostic screen indicates battery
voltage of 10.6 volts with 8 new AAs.
Received on Wed Apr 11 2001 - 20:48:47 BST