A500+ Battery

[chris65]

Thanks to a previous post re battery leakage, I checked my own A500+. Indeed, the battery (for the clock back-up) was leaking as well! I have now removed it and cleaned the motherboard. As I am thinking of a replacement, does anyone know if the 3.6V battery is a rechargable or not? Any help is much appreciated - I am very glad I found this community!

[Ohforf]

Yes, it's a rechargable NiCd Battery.
If you find a 3,6 V NiCd Battery of the same size and Shape,
it should be easy to replace (but it won't last forever)

The most popular Replacement is a Lithium Battery
but it needs a special Socket.
(you find the same on almost every modern PC Mainboard)
Note : These Lithium Batterys are not recharchable,
so you will need a Diode to prevent Charging
otherwise it may explode or leak.

Another solution worth trying :
did someone ever use a Gold-Cap ?
should be a nice experiment

[InTheSand]

Has anyone ever tried 3xAA or 3xAAA rechargeables? These usually seem to be 1.2v each...

 - Ali

[Ohforf]

InTheSand wrote:
Has anyone ever tried 3xAA or 3xAAA rechargeables? These usually seem to be 1.2v each...

 - Ali

I tried that on an old PC Mainboard.
Of course, it works, but :
- You need a Battery Box, NiCd Batterys don't like soldering
- most NiCd's are Hi-Current Types, they Discharge    themselves a bit more over Time

[Oliver]

I've just gone through this with an old synth.  Have you checked the PCB for damage to any traces?  If the battery has been leaking for a while this can easily happen.  Boards can quite often be repaired.

For the battery replacement, the Li types will generally last very well, and won't leak.  Also, there are Li batteries made with solder leads, which can be convenient if you don't want to install a socket.  Be careful insulating any conductors which may short.  You do have to be careful with the diode too.  If you're not confident with electronics, you may be better off just using a battery equivalent to your original.  All these batteries are not too expensive anyway.  Usually about $10 to $20.

I would think using multiple AA or AAA batteries would cost more, and be more difficult to fit.

-Oli

[metalman]

Another solution is to solder wire leads to the battery so its no longer on the motherboard, making future replacement easier, the 3.6V NiCad's on the motherboard last about 3years +/- (they are (3) 1.2v cells stacked)

[koaftder]

Maybe i'm just lazy, but i just clipped mine and i couldnt care less what the time stamps on files are. Not having a battery hasnt affected my usage patterns one bit. Is the battery providing power to something other than just the rtc?