The Powerbook G3 Pismo PRAM Battery Issue

Many people are throwing out their old Powerbook G3 Pismos because they won't turn on anymore. There is a very simple fix for a Pismo that won't turn on. This also affects the Powerbook G3 Lombard as well. I have personally bought two of these laptops off of eBay with this simple problem for much cheaper then the regular price. It literally took me the seconds to fix. Many people are selling their Powerbook G3 Pismo or Lombard for cheaper then it is actually worth because of this simple problem.

All you have to do to fix this problem is lift up the keyboard and you will see a battery on the right near the hard drive. Gently just yank this battery out and cross your fingers. I recently asked a person on eBay who buys and resells a lot of Pismos if he saw a lot of Powerbook G3s with this particular problem. I was stunned to find out when he replied that over two thirds of the Pismos he receives have this simple and easy to fix problem.

The battery in question is the PRAM battery. The PRAM battery on the Pismo stores the clock settings and BIOS settings as well as the power settings. When the power settings get corrupted and this battery dies, the Pismo won't start. You can easily run your Pismo without a PRAM battery and sync your computer with your Internet time. In fact I am typing this article on a Powerbook G3 Pismo with the PRAM battery problem. I purchased it for only $50 dollars, when the Powerbook G3 Pismo usually goes for around $150 dollars on eBay.

In conclusion, the Powerbook G3 Pismo has a known issue with its PRAM battery that sometimes results in the Pismo not starting. Many people just trash their Pismos fearing logic board failure, or some other expensive failure and that it won't be worth it to repair their old Powerbook G3. This doesn't apply to Powerbook G3 Wallstreets however, so don't get your hopes up to high Wallstreet owners. Lombards do suffer from the same problem as well. Many people overlook this simple problem that takes thirty seconds to fix. Removing the keyboard is simple and doesn't even require taking out any screws. The battery is right there visible to the naked eye as soon as the keyboard is taken off. So before you throw out your Pismo or practically give it away on eBay, yank out that old PRAM battery.