VOGONS


First post, by Baoran

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I built my favourite retro pc last year and the motherboard has a barrel battery and I replaced it with a new barrel battery when I built it.
How many years I can safely use the barrel battery before I need to replace it again?

Reply 1 of 13, by .legaCy

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Baoran wrote:

I built my favourite retro pc last year and the motherboard has a barrel battery and I replaced it with a new barrel battery when I built it.
How many years I can safely use the barrel battery before I need to replace it again?

I think that as long as it holds any charge it should be good, the moment it doesn't hold a charge it is time to desolder or clip it off.
I never store any hardware with batteries, even CR2032.

Reply 3 of 13, by bjwil1991

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If treated properly, about 5-10 years. It goes by the climate in your area (humidity, heat-cold and vice versa) that can also contribute to that factor as well for the barrel battery.

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Reply 4 of 13, by Mister Xiado

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Always an opportunity to replace it with a more reliable battery type. I'm dragging my feet on replacing my G4 Quicksilver's barrel battery with a CR2032 socket and appropriate circuit to prevent Macsplosion. In my experience, CR2032 cells typically last about 20 years, sometimes longer. Unless you put them in a Dreamcast VMU; in which case, they seem to last about 72 hours.

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Reply 5 of 13, by Baoran

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Are there any battery holders on ebay that already have that 4 pin connector for that external battery header on motherboards? If I found those, I would order 5 of them. I have been trying to search for them with different keywords on ebay for many times.

Reply 6 of 13, by elod

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Baoran wrote:

Are there any battery holders on ebay that already have that 4 pin connector for that external battery header on motherboards? If I found those, I would order 5 of them. I have been trying to search for them with different keywords on ebay for many times.

Not seen them either but you can get holders with wires and then solder another proper wire to it. You can get the wires with crimped connectors.

Reply 8 of 13, by Baoran

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Interesting solution, but I think I would rather solder a new battery every 5 years 😜
That reminded me that I am not exactly sure where and external battery holder would fit in the case of my retro pc.

Reply 9 of 13, by treeman

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initially I soldered it to the motherboard too but then I got sick of opening the case every few months in my paranoia to see if the battery is starting to leak, this way easy to to visual inspection and away from anything important incase leaks, but everybody is different, works in my case

Reply 10 of 13, by gdjacobs

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If it's mounted in the case but isolated from the components somewhere close to the bottom, there's absolutely nothing to check. If your CMOS settings get wiped on power off, pop open the case, check for and clean up any leaked battery juice on the bottom, and change the battery. At worst, you'll de-oxidize a small patch on the case. The motherboard is elevated and free of danger.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 11 of 13, by Baoran

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gdjacobs wrote:

If it's mounted in the case but isolated from the components somewhere close to the bottom, there's absolutely nothing to check. If your CMOS settings get wiped on power off, pop open the case, check for and clean up any leaked battery juice on the bottom, and change the battery. At worst, you'll de-oxidize a small patch on the case. The motherboard is elevated and free of danger.

That would only work in a tower case most likely. Unfortunately most of my old AT cases are horizontal. Only space might be somewhere below the psu and that would not be easy to access.

Reply 12 of 13, by gdjacobs

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There's usually a place at the front of the case or at the side, even on a desktop case.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 13 of 13, by Tetrium

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.legaCy wrote:

I never store any hardware with batteries, even CR2032.

^This

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