Chicony 386 motherboard and leaking battery \ VOGONS

Chicony 386 motherboard and leaking battery

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First post, by muon

Posted on 2018-03-30, 12:30

muon Offline

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Hi!. I have a Chicony mainboard. The battery is in the end of life: it works properly, because it still keeps the CMOS RAM information, but it is dropping the acid:

Suggestions ?? Recommendations ??

I was thinking of removing it - cutting with the scissors the splice points. is it right? - and replacing it with another one. I don't know if this kind of battery is available now. The model can be seen in this other picture:

Or would you put something else ?? The motherboard without battery would work ? (if I know, when it goes out CMOS RAM "forget" the values , but does it work properly?)

Thanks in advanced

Reply 1 of 4, by Anonymous Coward

Posted on 2018-03-30, 12:36

Anonymous Coward Offline

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Looks like it's not leaking yet, it's just rusty. You should remove it ASAP.
J10 should be an external battery header, and you can still buy the lithium battery packs (or make your own).

You can use something like a pair of nail cuticle clippers to remove the barrel battery.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 2 of 4, by jesolo

Posted on 2018-03-30, 13:47

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Second Anonymous Coward's recommendation.
Here's a reference guide: http://pc-restorer.com/replacing-cmos-batteries-in-old-pcs/
Easiest method is to remove the barrel battery and replace it with a battery pack by connecting it to the external battery header. The external battery header is normally non-chargeable.
If you do wish to use the existing connectors, and you use non-chargeable batteries, be sure to place a diode in between.

Reply 3 of 4, by muon

Posted on 2018-03-30, 14:56

muon Offline

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Thanks a lot for the info.

I was thinking in put something like that:

with a LIR 2032 ( rechargable version of Cr2032): http://www.dx.com/es/p/lir2032-rechargeable-l … 79#.Wr5Pa2vtZhF

But in the link that jesolo provide, says some old PC motherboards doesn't work properly with 3V instead 3.6V

Reply 4 of 4, by gdjacobs

Posted on 2018-03-30, 22:12

gdjacobs Offline

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I solder leads onto the battery contact points and use 3.6V NiCd battery packs from cordless phones. I always tape or tuck the battery into a position so it won't drain onto anything sensitive in case of a leak.

NiMH should work fine as well if NiCd is unavailable due to environmental regulations.

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