I have a Wall Street Powerbook G3 that is having a battery charging issue.  I've done a re-set (shift, fn, ctrl, power) zapped the PRAM, and run the Battery Re-set 2.0 several times, swapped the slots and even tried a new battery.  Battery icon shows no charge and no lightning bolt indicating it is charging.  Could this have something to do with the PRAM battery?  Do techs have other ways of re-setting the power manager unit?

The unit runs on adaptor power (a newer one from an Apple re-call) with no problems.

Not sure if this will help much:

PowerBook G3 (M3553):
The PowerBook G3 (M3553) has two different ways to reset the Power Manager. The first is to use the reset button to the left of the Serial port.

Resetting the Power Manager


1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Restart the computer by holding down the reset button to the left of the Serial port for 10 to 20 seconds.
3. If the computer does not restart, repeat step 2 three or four times.
Resetting the Power Manager and PRAM

Resetting the parameter RAM (PRAM) when the computer is shut down also resets Power Manager. The following process resets both the Power Manager and the parameter RAM.



1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Make sure the Caps Lock key is not down.
3. Restart the computer. Immediately after hearing the startup sound, simultaneously press and hold Command-Option-P-R. (If you do not hold down the key combination within 5 to 10 seconds after the computer restarts, you must repeat steps 1-3.)
4. Hold down the keys until you hear the startup sound again. Then release the keys.
5. If the computer shuts itself off, press the reset button on the back of the computer to turn it back on.
6. When the computer has finished starting up, restore any custom settings for the desktop pattern, memory, network, AppleTalk, trackpad, power conservation, and so forth.

PowerBook G3 Series (M4753)

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Simultaneously press Shift-Fn (function)-Ctrl (control)-Power.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the Power button to restart the PowerBook computer.

PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze Keyboard) (M5343)

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Press and release the reset button on the rear of the computer. The reset button is located between the external video and modem (RJ-11) ports.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the Power button to restart the PowerBook computer.
Note: When you reset the power manager, wait at least 5 seconds before pressing the power button to start up the computer. If you do not wait at least 5 seconds, the reset procedure may fail. (If you suspect that the reset procedure has failed, press and release the reset button again and wait 5 seconds before pressing the Power button.)

My wife has one of those.  She followed the advice of how to recondition the battery and reset the PMU.  However, at about a year, it jsut wouldn't hold much charge.  About 20 minutes before shut down.

Replace the battery.  That system is at least two years old (they stopped manufacturing in late 2001 IIRC)

Fortunately there are plenty of new batteries available out there.

GReat little system.

Tie chain around it, use as boat anchor, buy IBM-compatible.

On that model the biggest cause of power problems is the sound card where the adapter plugs in.
Check to see if it wiggles when plugged in. if so
the receptical is likly broken from the board. they can be resoldered if you are careful but is is not a job for a non-tech. the part runs in the
50-90 $ range if I recall correctly.

If it was the backup battery you would loose the time/date settings when you pull the battery and let it sit for awhile.

Do you know that the battery is a known good unit?

If not then try a good one and see if it works.

I am in the process of getting my apple certs,
and have been working on them since there was
a Mac.

It has had a new PMU board ($400) put in and yes the solder connection was fixed at that time (about 2 years ago).  A year ago another place charged $60 to reset the Powermanager and test and charge the battery when I couldn't get it to boot.  I'm OK with about a $60 charge but likely will forgo replacing a board.

Edit...I did lose the date and time settings ....went back to 1904 so there is a possibility the PRAM battery needs replacing.  

Post your question on the ResEx forums.

[url]resexcellence.com/forum/[/url]

They can help you.

When you reset the PMU it will also reset the date and time.