DCE Blizzard accelerators and clock batteries

[x56h34]

As many of you already know, DCE continued manufacturing Blizzard accelerator cards for Amiga 1200 after acquiring rights from Phase 5.

In the case of DCE Blizzard 1230, 1240, and 1260 lines, the on-board battery has been changed from the standard VL2020 Panasonic rechargeable lithium battery, to the regular CR2032 Varta Lithium battery (non-rechargeable).

Now, the standard Phase 5 used VL2020 is a special type of rechargeable lithium battery and while your Amiga is on, it recharges through the accelerator. The regular CR2032 could potentially explode if tried to be recharged.

Recently, I've desoldered the CR2032 battery from my DCE Blizzard 1260 accelerator and replaced it with a brand new VL2020. To my surprise, VL2020 started to receive charge and it was recharging normally as it does on Phase 5 made Blizzards.

Could it be that Blizzards auto sense which type of battery is used and according to type recharge or not recharge it?

This would be good to know, as there could be a lot of DCE made Blizzards out there with dangerous regular non-rechargeable CR2032 lithium batteries on them which could explode by receiving charge.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone knew an answer to this puzzle. :-)

[Hyperspeed]

Yikes that sounds dodgy!

DCE's reputation took a beating in the later years with the CyberStorm PPCs all going back for repair and disappearing into a black hole.

Also, my SCSI-IV kit is a v8.5 DCE version and isn't too reliable. Not only did I get it new and it lacked a rear expansion retainer but it has nasty transmission errors all the time and a giant capacitor where the 2nd SIMM should rest.

CR2032 is ridiculous, particularly soldered on!

[amiga1260]

Where did you get the information from?

I also have a Varta battery on mijn Blizzrd 1260 an used it about six years.

Most new PC motherboards also use the same battery 2032.

[PG]

Hmm, please dont make this another "im mad at DCE so i have to spread dirt" thread.
Ok, i havent got a DCE board near me so i had to look at a picture of it.
I noticed a difference between the Phase5 and DCE version, the DCE has a diode instead of (what i think it is) the charging resistor.
(Near the 150 pin connector, between the battery and the crystal.)
It would be perfectly ok to use a CR2032 if you just modify the board, and im sure DCE also did it.
I dont understand why you got the idea to replace a CR2032 with a VL2020 in the first place..?
I do respect that people are angry at DCE but personally i have never had ANY problem with their products.

"Could it be that Blizzards auto sense which type of battery is used and according to type recharge or not recharge it?"

No, if a CR2032 is used, you should replace it with a CR2032.

[Framiga]

"Hmm, please dont make this another "im mad at DCE so i have to spread dirt" thread."

why not? its against the Geneve Convention?

They are doing a good job NOW with the NG Amiga mobos but they still thieves for most of us. (remember the dozens Classic board NEVER returned back)

@x56h34

if your card was brand new and you are 100% sure that the battery was never replaced, then yes it was theyr fault. (not really a news) ;-)

[_ThEcRoW]

"hey are doing a good job NOW with the NG Amiga mobos"
Are they making new mobos really? I thounght it was eyetech.

[Framiga]

apart that eyetech is making and has never made a bleep (they are not an HW manufacturer), i was speaking about Pegasos, eh!

[PG]

Framiga wrote:
"Hmm, please dont make this another "im mad at DCE so i have to spread dirt" thread."

why not? its against the Geneve Convention?

What i mean is that i dont want any more false rumours, making Blizzard 1260 owners nervous and changing battery to wrong type and maybe destroying their card while doing so.
No offence,if youre angry with DCE of course tell us about it, no problem.
Im just tired of rumours that are not true...
Some other "facts" that are floating around:

1.DCE made Blizzard 1260 has no 68020 fallback mode: not true...
2.DCE made turbocards are badly soldered: well i have had both a Phase 5 and a DCE 1260.
The DCE made was much better soldered.
3.Phase5 Blizzard 1260 are of higher quality than the DCE 1260: i had no problem with my DCE card, my Phase5 failed and i had to change cpu.

[Framiga]

[x56h34]

@PG:

I am not trying to put down DCE in any way. I am just trying to get educated on the topic, that's all.

I've replaced the battery since the VL2020 usually works rock solid for 10+ years (I've never had a P5 card with a VL2020 that needed to be replaced yet due to being dead) unlike the regular CR2032 which on my 1260 card was around 5 or 6 years old already, and I simply wanted to swap it. :-)

[PG]

Ok, after some reading i understand more why many people are so angry with DCE...

[Hyperspeed]

My DCE SCSI-IV kit had design flaws and bits missing that the Phase 5 version didn't (despite having an updated ROM). No retainer bracket for the rear expansion port and a capacitor blocking the 2nd SIMM slot - and I bought this brand new.

I remember the hassle of changing the dual-CR2032 setup on the Sega Dreamcast's 'VM' memory cards and they cost 5 GBP a pair! They would slowly drain down and you couldn't charge them back up. The same for the N64 memory paks and the Sega Saturn's internal RAM.

The VL2020 type can be recharged. Who wants to keep putting batteries into their Amiga trapdoor every 3-6 months and then into landfill?

And here's another tip: If you want a PCMCIA SRAM card for memory or solid state disk access look for the Centennial brand as the Mitsubishi Melcard uses the same cruddy CR2032 batteries.

Think of the environment, think of your wallet, think of your time - DCE may have screwed up on this but I love them. If just for the SX32-Pro.

:-D

[PG]

"The VL2020 type can be recharged. Who wants to keep putting batteries into their Amiga trapdoor every 3-6 months and then into landfill?"

Yes, VL2020 is a rechargable battery, but you cant just replace a CR2032 with VL2020 if the board is designed for a CR2032.
And, a CR2032 will last much longer than 3-6 months, that is a fact.

[x56h34]

What confuses me is that a VL2020 works fine and keeps recharging on a DCE B1260 card, after removing the original CR2032 from it.

I guess it could be that either type can be used with Blizzards, but DCE simply wanted to save money on production and did not include the more expensive VL2020. Just a guess. :-?

[PG]

To be honest it confuses me to.
Are you sure about this, how have you measured the loading current?
Normally, you CAN (if you know what you are doing) replace a rechargable battery (for example a VL2020) with a NON-rechargable but then you have to find and replace the charging resistor with a diode.
So you only have current flowing in one direction and no loading current.