thanks Bob... though in this case my 'zeners' do not seem to have any printing on them. but i guess that's a mistake i won't be making again. i am sorry to trouble you with such trivial matters. i simply wanted the other contributor (and you) to know that the suggestion was a profitable one that resulted in finding a mistake! since then ive also received my 'new' SRAM... though it made no difference. i like the theory about a grounding short somewhere since it explains why i keep wiping out the lithium button cells... though cant seem to find a short yet...
