T22 Bios Battery has bent pins

[babyboomer]

I have an IBM T22 Thinkpad,

I would like to find out how to easily get to the receptacle with the pins the bios (backup) battery plugs into because I stupidly bent the pins, so I can't plug in the replacement battery.

The receptacle is in a very inconvenient location to even see the pins, and working on straightening them without easy access is practically impossible (especially for my old and large hands).

It seems to me that the receptacle is on the base part of the computer. If I remove the keyboard, will I be able to see and adjust the pins? If not, what else do I have to do to gain access to the receptacle?

Any help and/or suggestions are much appreciated.

Thank you!

[billp117]

The keyboard removal may help. The problem is being able to see the pins. You may need an LED flashlight and a small magnifying glass and a very small "tool" to straigten the pins. I would look for a tool similar to plaque remover or small scribe...maybe even a medium size needle. Pry the tool against the pins to get them standing straight...be gentle.

If that fails...perhaps a younger set of hands may help. My guess is you will get them straightened on your own. Good luck.

[billp117]

Here is another idea I found...

7mm auto pencil, cheapest you can find. Actually found a pin straightener in an old box of stuff and it was labeld IBM Pin Tool...inside was a bic 7mm pencil, with the internals missing. Remember the first ones, with the purple shirt clip on them? Thats the one. They probably paid an arm and a leg for it too. Only downside to this tool is it does it one pin at a time(I think it was actually made for motherboard jumper pins but works well on newer processors ....(me looks around for it so I can give you the FRU..)

[babyboomer]

I thank you -- it's very kind of you for your comment and suggestion of a mechanical pencil.

I'll try it this weekend and will report back.

Thank you!

[babyboomer]

Dear Billp,

Thank you! I got everything working. I removed lots of things down to the keyboard bezel, and then my son, who has small hands, straightened the pins with a dentist tool.

I feel very empowered!

Thank you again!