3v lithium batteries

[blakerwry]

How long are these things good for anyway?

I have had some in use for over 10 years and the computers seem fine. I tried to test the battery in one of these systems... turns out it's soldered(maybe glued) into the removable socket (what a misnomer).

I was taking some other batteries out of a couple dead mobo's for spares and was thinking of ways to test them. I hooked one upto a flashlight bulb but the it could scarcely light the bulb for more than a few seconds. The second battery could not light the bulb at all... this seems very suspect to me.

Could it be possible that these batteries are infact dead after just a year or 2 of operation? if so, why are these dead and my other 2 are good after 10 years?

 

[Tea]

Because life is like a box of chocolates.

Sometimes they last three weeks, sometimes they last almost forever. I have no idea why. (Batteries, I mean. Chocolates last about three minutes.)

 

[NRG = mc²]

I've never had to change a battery on a mobo but two months after I got my Asus board I'm using now it went dead. Everytime I remove the battery I have to re do all the BIOS settings. Either the battery is dead or something is wrong with the board

 

[blakerwry]

may I ask... why don't you just not remove the battery?


What is the normal time the capacitors keep the CMOS information?

I have seen a battery out for 15 minutes or so reset the CMOS... but I will not forget the 486 or 5x86 we had at work ...it took several hours.

It was only made worse becasue after about a 1/2 hour or so we put the battery in, only to find out the cmos hadn't been cleared and we had to start over again

 

[Cliptin]

I've never had to change a battery on a mobo but two months after I got my Asus board I'm using now it went dead. Everytime I remove the battery I have to re do all the BIOS settings. Either the battery is dead or something is wrong with the board

I used to have a MB that started doing that after I loaded the machine up with PCI cards. I'm thinking it was a buggy ACPI implementation. Although I'm also thinking it was because the PS was under powered and draining the battery.

Is the battery truly dead; or did the CMOS just lose it's marbles?

 

[NRG = mc²]

Sorry, I must proof read stuff and not type posts when I'm on the phone :roll:

The CMOS looses its contents when I pull the power out of the plug. So I suspect a dead battery but its a little early for the battery to fail right?

Perhaps the board is defective, I havent bothered to replace the battery and probably will never....

 

[Mercutio]

I have a bad time with FIC boards losing their battery early - sometimes only eight months or a year along.

I just tell my customers how to fix it themselves (short lecture on ESD included, no charge) and that one really doesn't know how long a battery has been sitting around or what conditions it's been stored in. I realize in the days of JIT inventory that it's probably not the case that these things have been sitting in a warehouse for two or three years (which as I understand things, is the lifespan of a 3V lithium battery), but people seem to buy it.

 

[Tea]

Yup. You seem to get some lots of boards with three-parts knackerd batteries, other ones are just fine. (Menatl note to self: remember to order another couple of dozen, we are out of spares. If you buy in bulk they are heaps cheaper.)

 

[blakerwry]

Sorry, I must proof read stuff and not type posts when I'm on the phone

The CMOS looses its contents when I pull the power out of the plug. So I suspect a dead battery but its a little early for the battery to fail right?

Perhaps the board is defective, I havent bothered to replace the battery and probably will never....

that sounds exactly like a dead battery to me... I dont think they are that expensive... and they are usually a sinch to change with some assitance from a small screw driver.


What do the batteries go for anyway? a couple dollars? can you get them at walmart? or do you have to go to a techie store like best buy or a computer shop?

 

[timwhit]

Radio shack should have most of the batteries available, they will rip you off though.

 

[blakerwry]

that's true... batteris and cables... I'm sure somebody is making 1000% profit on those things.

<off topic>
I remember working at the movie theatre in high school and we calculated the profit on popcorn. It was somewhere near 20,000%.
</off topic>

 

[Will Rickards WT]

When I worked at CC a 10 foot printer cable was $25. The cost was like $5.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

do you have to go to a techie store like best buy or a computer shop?

I usually hit compusa or microcenter.
If I need something like that quick, I go to radioshack because they are a lot closer.

 

[Will Rickards]

So I've got to replace a bios battery in an HP Pavilion 540n.
I think practically all motherboards these days and the past x years are all the same 3V lithium battery, correct? I don't want to have to open the machine once to get the battery information and another to install it. They've got it in a cabinet thing and it is difficult to get it in and out of there. Anybody know the model number of the battery? CR1220?

I tried HP online support but they didn't know the model number to buy.

 

[Mercutio]

They all look the same to me. Even the ones in the last couple HPs I had open.

 

[Bozo]

Everthing that I have changed the battery in lately has used the CR2032 number. That would include Intel, Supermicro, Asus, IBM, and Gateway motherboards.

Buy one of each and return the one you don't use. :-D

Bozo :joker:

 

[Will Rickards]

Well I think the only difference between the 1220 and the 2032 and others like the 2025 are not the size but the maximum amps or in this case miliamps. So I think you can use a 2032 in something that takes a 1220 but if you used a 1220 in something that takes a 2032 it would not have enough amps.

So I'll just buy a 2032 and cross my fingers. Thanks.

 

[Stereodude]

Uh...

Those numbers are the thickness and diameter of the battery.

 

[Will Rickards]

Well okay then

 

[MaxBurn]

I do remember seeing the CR2032 quite often in computers. I also work with a lot of PLC's for building management and I think they have a soldered in CR2062. At any rate I have only had one failure of this battery type in my PLC's in the entire new england area for two years, and ironically that happened last week. Hope he doesn't have a power blip till I get back there with a battery...

 

[Will Rickards]

So I'll just buy a 2032 and cross my fingers.

CR2032 it was and problem solved.
Thanks.