It’s the quiet fear lurking in every classic Mac owner’s mind: the dreaded battery bomb. Those little lithium PRAM batteries inside vintage Macintoshes are ticking time bombs. It’s not if they’ll leak or explode—it’s when. If you haven’t pulled that aging battery yet, now’s the time.
You’ve got a few ways to deal with the problem:
- Remove the battery entirely. The clock won’t keep time, but the machine will usually run fine. A few Macs, however, refuse to boot without a battery—looking at you, Macintosh II.
- Replace it with a new lithium battery every decade or so. Technically viable, but still risky.
- Use a safer CR2032 coin cell. This is the best modern option, but it requires a special holder. You can buy one, 3D‑print one, hack one together, or order a small circuit board and build your own. Internal or external holders both work; I prefer the cleaner look of internal mounts.
I decided to have my own boards made, based on Alexandre Marcoux’s CR2032 Toaster design. You can find the project on GitHub here. I ordered my boards through OshPark, and you can do the same. If you want something ready‑made, check Tindie, eBay, or the excellent SMC DONT4GET holders at Kero’s Mac Mods.
Whichever route you choose, the important thing is to do something. These batteries won’t wait forever.
Here are a few links to get you going.
Kero’s Mac Mods Store / Alexandre’s Github Page / My Oshpark link to order and make your own.
Happy Tinkering.
Rick