Hi all,

My CMOS battery -- also called the Backup Battery
or the RTF battery -- is dying. When I power up my
Thinkpad I will occassionally get error codes
indicating that the battery is not present or
that the CMOS has been erased.

Today at one point when I tried to power up the computer
didn't even respond--despite the NiMH battery being good--
until I plugging in the AC power.

So I've been shopping for a replacement for this
specific CMOS battery (FRU 12J1695) but I am finding
few places that have the original.

Thus I have 3 questions:

1. I found a battery store locally (first one
I've ever seen) and they claim they can make a
new CMOS battery for $10 that will be compatible.
How likely is that? IBM's manual says using
any part but theirs may cause an explosion.

2. I found a store online that claims to sell
a compatible battery. Another (Index Computer...
that name sounds familiar in a bad way)
claims to have the original, but doesn't
say it's new. Anybody know of a reliable online
store for these batteries?

3. I am aware that Lithium batteries will
explode if (A) they are shorted, or (B)
they are charged. But would putting in a
slightly incompatible battery cause this?
For instance suppose they get the voltage
wrong at the local store?

Thanks for any help.