Re: How do you change the clock/control panel battery on a 170?

Hello James,

Am 19.02.2024 um 17:58 schrieb James H. H. Lampert via MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

… which again points to a PSU issue. Has certainly nothing to do with the battery.

I'm firmly convinced that forcing the IPL to manual mode has to do with the box having no idea what time it is at IPL time.

I believe you. At any rate, this contradicts my own experiences, and one of one friend who also has a 170. His TOD clock battery was also empty but that did not change the IPL mode for him. But he was running V4R2 back then which might make a difference. I have not yet experienced a box with an empty TOD clock battery running something newer than V4.

At any rate, yesterday, with the box powered down, I unplugged it, let it stand until everything was dark, then plugged it back in. With a good battery, and a running TOD clock, the LCD lit up within a few seconds, and when I hit the start button, it immediately started powering up and IPLing, and it did a fully unattended IPL.

Causality and coincidence are distinct concepts. :-)

The PSU was still warm. I know from experience that some parts (especially worn electrolytic caps) work better when warm. The small trickle current when cold warms the malfunctioning parts until they "behave" good enough for the PSU to come to life, and the LCD will light up with considerable delay.
I'm firmly convinced that the TOD clock battery has nothing to do with your observation.

:wq! PoC