Thanks again for the great read.

As a teen, on my zx81 I remember typing line after line of hex numbers.

If the rampack didn’t wobble and fail and I hadn’t missed a line or entered one twice then I’d play something new.

I must have saved the thing somehow, but I can’t remember…

It’s a precaution. If you were to damage the exposed battery it could cause it to heat up and probably catch fire.

You do no want a lithium battery fire in your house.

If you’re going to do it make sure you have enough time to do it all in one go so you don’t have to leave the back off.

It’s not a long task, I think setting the blank drive up afterwards took longer than the actual drive swap

Yes, well worth it.

I see all the important tips in the comments apart from doing it with a discharged battery.

I had no issues when I did mine.

In the UK some shops would sell you a single cigarette for less the ten of our new pennies. Around '86 I think.