Terri Kennedy
Experienced Member
Ni-Cd batteries for things like the VAX 4000 series of CPUs are becoming harder and harder to find. I've ended up with NiMH ones, ones that don't even say what cell technology they use, and ones with AA instead of AAA size cells.
This eBay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/310432371314 is for batteries which are actually a drop-in replacement for both the 2-slot cover on the VAX 4000-200 and the 5-slot cover on other BA4x0 MicroVAX systems. They should also work on any other systems that use 3,6V Ni-Cd batteries in the 3 x AAA form factor.
The connectors on these are not the right ones, so you'll have to splice the leads or have your own pins/crimper (and optionally connector body if you don't want to re-use the existing connector).
I expect that once these are gone, there won't be any more made, at least not in pre-packaged assemblies like these. So at this point you should probably treat this as a "last lifetime buy" and stock up if you ever think you might need some in the future. Shelf life in storage seems to be excellent (there's no date code on these, but an earlier order from 1999 was still good when installed in a VAX 4000-705A). It is important to disconnect the battery if your system won't be used for an extended period, because once you run these down to 0V they're gone forever. That's easy on the 5-slot front cover and a real PITA on the 2-slot cover, so I hide an on/off switch under the cover on the 2-slot version so I can disconnect the battery if the system is going to be stored for an extended period.
This eBay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/310432371314 is for batteries which are actually a drop-in replacement for both the 2-slot cover on the VAX 4000-200 and the 5-slot cover on other BA4x0 MicroVAX systems. They should also work on any other systems that use 3,6V Ni-Cd batteries in the 3 x AAA form factor.
The connectors on these are not the right ones, so you'll have to splice the leads or have your own pins/crimper (and optionally connector body if you don't want to re-use the existing connector).
I expect that once these are gone, there won't be any more made, at least not in pre-packaged assemblies like these. So at this point you should probably treat this as a "last lifetime buy" and stock up if you ever think you might need some in the future. Shelf life in storage seems to be excellent (there's no date code on these, but an earlier order from 1999 was still good when installed in a VAX 4000-705A). It is important to disconnect the battery if your system won't be used for an extended period, because once you run these down to 0V they're gone forever. That's easy on the 5-slot front cover and a real PITA on the 2-slot cover, so I hide an on/off switch under the cover on the 2-slot version so I can disconnect the battery if the system is going to be stored for an extended period.
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