Someday, They Have To Die...

Like many of us here on Applefritter, I own a multitude of computers, and like many of us, I lament about how much space they occupy. I've taken the steps necessary to shrink my collection to something a bit more manageable; so far, the PC's have flown away, but the Macs are doing so slowly. That's fine with me, as I'm still waffling over which machines to retire.
Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that make us decide when we aren't quite ready to. I refer to a machine that suddenly stops working in a normal manner. In this case, it's my Portable. I've had this machine for a number of years, and it has been like the old lumberjack's axe; the upper case and the logicboard have already been replaced once. There are still some cosmetic issues, but those pale compared to the latest issue. It has stopped booting.
"Galatea" has had a rough life. At about the same time I began working on the iBook, the Portable started acting up. I've long since removed the battery, which typical of this breed died sometime back. I still have it, though all it does is to make the carrying case heavier and nothing else. Since then, I've resorted to two methods of keeping the unit running. The first was to run power, 9V, through the PRAM connector. Then, when my PB150 died, I transferred its power supply to the Portable, and it seemed to run okay.
Then, it started hanging on boot. This was similar to the problem it had that prompted the replacement of the logic board. But it was different. It was really trying to boot, but hangs. Also, on those occasions when it did boot, it would immediately crash whenever the harddrive would spin up. All signs of power management issues.
I've heard that it is not really wise to run more than 3 amps through the charger. That was really all it was designed for, simply to charge the battery, not to power the computer. I chose not to heed that warning. My failure to do so may have cost me.
The nature of Mac Portables is that what they have in mass they make up for in sensitivity. These heavy machines are really pretty delicate. When I first received the unit, it was way up there on the cool factor for me. I'd wanted one since the early 90's, after I saw it on the infamous November 1989 Macworld issue. I got it for a song, case and all, and at that time the battery still worked, even after all of those years. The previous owner had taken great care of this machine.
Now, the grim reality is that it may have been damaged. It has had a rough couple of years, enduring two cross country moves, being dropped, losing a few lines on the LCD, cracking the case, having my cat damage the carrying case. None of those killed it. Or perhaps they did, cumulatively. I may have just accelerated events.
Which is a pity. This was the primary machine I wanted to preserve to run my System 6 apps when on the road. I have a Plus, but somehow it just isn't the same. Lacking a PB100, there is now no longer a way for me to do that with the same panache.
Nothing lasts forever. Every now and then, they die. I just hate it when I may have been the cause.