A4k Battery-backed clock

[SirStimpalot]

I'm fairly certain the clock battery in my A4000 is on its way out - but the behaviour isn't quite what i would've expected, so was wondering if anyone can confirm/explain it for me.

What I'm finding is that sometimes the clock will be at the time that I switched the machine off - eg. If the machine was last on at 8:30 yesterday, that will be the time and date it shows when I turn it on today. Other times it will be a date/time in 1996, while every once in a while it'll be something strange like a date and time in November 2003.

I would have expected the time to revert to the same point every time if it were a battery issue (I'm basing that on my experience with A500s and 1200s without battery-backed clocks).

And here's a long shot: Anyone happen to know where in Sydney would be best to start looking for a new battery? It's a barrel type.

Cheers

[SirStimpalot]

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions.

The A4000 has actually had the existing battery moved off the motherboard and placed in what looks like a 35mm film canister, I've had a look and it looks OK in itself - so leaks aren't much of an issue.

It seems I'll just have to go ahead and replace the battery - I suspected as much, I just wasn't 100% as the behaviour made me wonder if it wasn't something else going wrong. I was also hesitant to touch it as lately the system seems to fail if I even look at it the wrong way.

Again, thanks for the replies.