I now think that was just the top end of the normal charge temperature range -- it's literally been more than ten years since I've had a working battery in this machine, and about that long since I've had anything with NiMH batteries (I mostly jumped straight from NiCd to Li-ion -- and I've still got NiCd in my R/C gear, which dates back to 1987; not sure if those batteries are still good, but I can upgrade them to NiMH if they aren't).

Even if I have to watch the battery temperature during charge, this is a big step up; it lets me (for instance) haul this computer down to Starbuck's or the local library and use wifi while I sip or do research without having to search for an outlet and fool with the power supply brick. A couple hours of run time is plenty for most things I'd need to do with a portable machine -- and it might get an occasional double take if anyone notices it doesn't look like the modern super-thin, melted-looking notebooks.

Many hours later, the fully charged battery is at the same temperature as the rest of the machine; looks like I'll only need to keep an eye on the heat during charging. I'm good to go for the foreseeable future!

Cool Beans. Luv it when a plan comes together.

rokytnji wrote:Cool Beans. Luv it when a plan comes together.

Same here. It nice when you get to figure it out with a little help from your friends. __{{emoticon}}__

Hopefully final follow up on this -- today I toted the laptop along to Starbuck's, and connected via their"free" wifi (no charge, but you have to agree to their terms to use it, probably gave them total ownership of everything on my hard disk by clicking through -- good thing there was nothing on here but antiX!), while on battery. I easily had the oldest computing device in the building, and it worked as well as it does at home on external power. Next time I rebuild this battery it'll take less than an hour, since I won't have to spend time opening the case and I'll know what to watch for. Should last several years before that's needed again, though. Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. __{{emoticon}}__