Dreaded "Low Battery"..

[Harvs]

Okay,  I went to Radio Shack and bought a 2032 Battery Holder for $1.49..

As Buzz said, it wasn't near as hard as I was expecting to unsolder the battery and solder in the battery holder.   The solder tabs are pretty large..   As mentioned I do have a good soldering station, I don't know how easy it would be with a cheap soldering iron, but none the less, I was able to get it done in just a few minutes...

So I reinstalled the board, turned the machine on and nothing happens.   All the yellow lights are solid on and the red light is slow flashing.

What does this mean?  Do I have to Clear/Key the machine?

Thanks,

-TheChad

Varta batteries are hard(er) to desolder.. Coin batts aren't.


Did you make sure your + and - are correct when you placed the holder in? The bottom contact on the holder should be - and the side/top contact should be +..

[Harvs]

And yes, clear and key the machine..


 

[TheChad]

Varta batteries are hard(er) to desolder.. Coin batts aren't.


Did you make sure your + and - are correct when you placed the holder in? The bottom contact on the holder should be - and the side/top contact should be +..

Yes I made sure the +/- were installed correctly..

The Varta battery was already removed.  Not by me, but it's already gone.  There is no jumper, but I guess it doesn't need one.

I must have bumped the game chip, I re-seated it and all works good now..  I had to clear several errors with the jackpot key, but once I got threw those, the machine booted right up!

No key/clear needed..

Thanks for the help.

-TheChad

[foster]

No need to clear it after a battery change.

[Harvs]

Sweet! Glad it worked out..


-I guess I can put my clear chips away next time.., I do carry a 224 on me at all times though..

[coorslight115]

Just did a bunch of enhanced board machines. After banging my head against the wall with Netplex Display errors, I did two things. I replaced the green varta battery and the coin cell, and if it had the affected Win-Tach power supply did the jumper wire and cut the trace repair. All came right up and ran fine. No more issues. Have a good source for both the green batteries and coin cell , PM me if you need some reasonably priced.

[Buzz]

I don't like them but battery holders are done all the time. There is nothing difficult about replacing a battery, remove the board from the tray and you will see you are not working with small traces.

Buzz,

Why do you not like battery holders?   I guess I fail to see a downside?

While your at it if you haven't done so already remove the green battery. The green battery will leak in time and ruin your board. It is only needed on the enhanced board.

Either my board didn't have the green battery, or someone before me already removed it, because it's  already gone!

(What does this battery do?  Surly it has some purpose!?)

Thanks!

-TheChad

Why I don't like battery holders, I'm going to ansewer a question with a question.
 
Have you ever had a flashlight that you had to beat the crap out of it to get it to work ??  Why does this happen , because the battery/battery's are loosing contact with each other, the bulb, or maybe ground. What if all those items were soldered to each other, ansewer no place to loose contact. Same thing on a MPU, use a holder and maybe it will loose contact and maybe it won't.  Solder the battery and it will not loose contact.  That's just one more maybe I don't have to worry about. Plus it's a little cheaper not to use a holder, look at all those Penny's I don't have to stick in a holder to make better contact.

[CVslots]

I have to agree with The Buzzard on this one...man that hurt to even type it...

Battery holders are just one more possible point of failure. How many times do you have to change a battery? Once every 3-4 yrs??? Maybe even longer???

Had a guy the other day who TAPED a coin battery to the board with blk electrical tape....He couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work , as he had snipped off the original yellow coin, but was "smart" and took care to leave the legs so he could tape to them.....

[Ken]

Had a guy the other day who TAPED a coin battery to the board with blk electrical tape....He couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work , as he had snipped off the original yellow coin, but was "smart" and took care to leave the legs so he could tape to them.....

This has to be a money maker ... super glue with a ferrous content without causing galvanic corrosion.

[TheChad]

The ONLY flashlights I've ever had that problem with, were the cheap throw away ones.   NEVER had that problem with a MagLite, or my high end LED flashlights...


I understand your point, but I think the risk of that is soo minimal in this application and even if it were a problem, replacing the holder would be the same as replacing the soldered on battery....


I just think its s non-issue  in this application...    There are also different types of coin battery holders...  I'm not that thrilled with this radio shack one, thigh if works fine..  If I ever have to replace it I will buy a different kind, one that the battery "clips" into the holder.


-TheChad

[PLUNGER BOY]

I use the Radio Shack battery holders  they have not once failed yet   . If i had a stock pipe of the yellow solder in types i would use them but i don't  . If you keep your machines a long time the battery will fail over time.  When i first got my machines it was not long after that the battery's went dead . 2 years later some of them are having to be replaced . I do not have to risk heating up the board again BECAUSE the battery holder is in place . Just pop the old one out , New one in and your done (less the push the button and turn the key a few times)  I have serious doubt that the board will take 3- 4- 5 different solder jobs before failure  . If i sold machines i would change to the holder system to keep buyers from screwing up boards and then blaming me for a low battery . Just my take on the subject not necessarily the same opinion as others . Also how much movement do you think a machine in a home would have  ? For a battery to come loose or a bad connection you would have to drop it and other things would break first or come loose   P.B.

[TheChad]

I use the Radio Shack battery holders  they have not once failed yet   . If i had a stock pipe of the yellow solder in types i would use them but i don't  . If you keep your machines a long time the battery will fail over time.  When i first got my machines it was not long after that the battery's went dead . 2 years later some of them are having to be replaced . I do not have to risk heating up the board again BECAUSE the battery holder is in place . Just pop the old one out , New one in and your done (less the push the button and turn the key a few times)  I have serious doubt that the board will take 3- 4- 5 different solder jobs before failure  . If i sold machines i would change to the holder system to keep buyers from screwing up boards and then blaming me for a low battery . Just my take on the subject not necessarily the same opinion as others . Also how much movement do you think a machine in a home would have  ? For a battery to come loose or a bad connection you would have to drop it and other things would break first or come loose   P.B.

    

I agree 100%.   I think you are far more likely to have a failure due to soldering the board multiple times (Or even once if you do a hack soldering job), then the 1 in 1,000,000 chance the battery holder will fail.

If I sold machines, I too would solder in a battery holder.   The 2032 batteries are ALOT cheaper than the solder in batteries, and they are available EVERYWHERE, so if/when someone needs to change it, you can walk them threw it in a couple of minutes and anyone can do it with out screwing anything up!

The Radio Shack battery holder works fine, The only thing I'm not thrilled about it, is the battery rocks in the holder, Due to the contact's in the center of the battery,  I don't foresee any possible loose connection issues due to the way it's made, I just like the Computer Motherboard type holders, where the battery basically "clicks" into the holder and doesn't move.

That said, I seriously doubt I'll ever have an issue with the Radio Shack holder.

-TheChad

[777sizzler]

My opinion.  Oh boy.  I also have not to long ago used the radio shack batt. holders and used the thin coin cell 3-v batt. for them.  No problems,was affordable and easy to do, They even had the stuff in stock while I was at the adjacent grocery store next to radio shack.  That was just convient at the time. Are there better holders-yes,  Do I think these will fail from normal use-no.  Do I think a solder conecction is best-yes. As a note, ever wonder why all the modern boards have a Batt. holder-some numerous ones on them where you can replace the batt.(s) with the slide of the thumb?. - Old to new.  Old works and new works-  All in each's personal preff.  I know what I choose--What works best.   

[Buzz]

When I said I didn't like the holders, I didn't say that I had never installed holders. matter of fact my one and only order for them was from Mouser for either 50 or 100 of them. So I installed a lot of them, I also uninsulated a lot of them. I can tell you for a fact I didn't install and un-install because I need practice with a soldering iron.

Now I think we are unsure of the life span of a 3 volt battery in a S 2000, 4 to 5 years are the range that I've read. I can say for a fact that I've checked a whole lot of battery's and you will never find a battery in a S 2000 with less than 2.75 volts ( I think it's closer to 2.80 ) For some reason when they get close to 2.75 they drop to zero voltage.  End results are all the use you are going to get out of a brand new 3 volt coin battery is no more that a quarter volt. I wouldn't think a fellow would be to lazy to solder in a new battery ever so many years
 
Now I'll tell you what I use in S 2000, Game Kings, and I Games, just a old school 1/2 AA 3.6 volt Lithium Battery. If I can get 4/5 years out of a 3 Volt, then no reason to think I won't get 12/15 years out of 3.6 volts. Oh and on these machines there is room to install two 3.6 battery's parallel, that's ball park 24/30 years between battery changes. I guess that will put me somewhere around 98/104 when the next change will be needed. I don't think I'm gonna give a S**t.
 
Kevin why are you only getting two years out of a battery ?? Could it be because your using a holder ?? 

[777sizzler]

We did not talk about the thinner the battery vs thicker either.  The thicker lasts longer.  Why-Let you all figure it out- .  Also and this has been debated for years.  Take two idenical s-2ks and have one showing credits and the other with zero credits let them sit for two months and see what you got-chk the batt. voltage!.  --Another topic I know the answer. Don't want to hear about zeros and ones-!.

[PLUNGER BOY]

a
 
Kevin why are you only getting two years out of a battery ?? Could it be because your using a holder ?? 

  Good question Buzz  I don't know I joined NLG   Oct 13 2010  time flies by so i guess it was a bit longer than 2 years .Within 6 months of S2000 ownership i asked  about the battery problem on the 500 series boards and was told that the holders were a good option .I think you may have said you used the solder in types . The solder in types were not locally available so i used the holder type  . Lately i have had to change about 7 of the battery's  CR2032  (note)  also had to replacs the Enhanced battery's  CR2354 and they come in a holder  . All of the machines have a TITO device in them . I have no idea what function the battery does . All i know is it needs it to work. Maybe the TITO device drains the battery's. The machines are used on weekends mostly except my MOMS which is a daily thing . just put in battery's for her also.  777sizzler posted  leaving credits on the machine drains the battery  . Buzz is a great source of information on this site and generous with his time and parts i wish you another 24 yrs  or more . I may still need help .  P.B.

[Buzz]

Kevin  I could care less if a fellow uses a holder or not. Where I have a problem is someone saying a holder is better. OK if easier is better then they are correct, but with a half a brain anyone can see that with a holder there is a possibility they can loose electrical contact. With a battery soldered in there is no possibility of that happening.
 
I think I invented this word when my Sons started getting cars, it's "Tinker-itis" I really think this term would apply to most of the good folks on this site. You put a holder in, you did something different, tinker-itis, why don't we see if there is a way to use Velcro to hold the reels strips in ?? That would be easier wouldn't it ?? I think I would make a pretty large bet on this one, if you read every post on this forum I'll bet at least half the errors posted are self inflected. If the fellow had left the door closed there wouldn't have been a error. I really don't mind, keep on screwing them up and I learn something. Another way of looking at it " No F/Us NO NLG )"

[TheChad]

I think I invented this word when my Sons started getting cars, it's "Tinker-itis" I really think this term would apply to most of the good folks on this site. You put a holder in, you did something different, tinker-itis, why don't we see if there is a way to use Velcro to hold the reels strips in ?? That would be easier wouldn't it ?? I think I would make a pretty large bet on this one, if you read every post on this forum I'll bet at least half the errors posted are self inflected. If the fellow had left the door closed there wouldn't have been a error. I really don't mind, keep on screwing them up and I learn something. Another way of looking at it " No F/Us NO NLG )"

All this coming from the man with "If it Ain't broke give me a minute, it will be!" In his signature!

It's al a hobby!   Why not tinker?  If no one tinkered, look at all the thinks we wouldn't have!

Buzz we love you man!


-TheChad

[therockinelvis]

For anyone interested, I use a "AA" battery holder with a 3.6 volt AA battery. Solder the leads and mount outside the tray.  I keep an eye on the voltage and change the battery while the machine is on so I don't lose any info. or settings.

[Buzz]

If you will read the entire signature I think you will see a different meaning. Besides if I break it I fix it all by myself.
 
If there is any fun in a slot machine it's fixing them, and I've never had any fun solving a puzzle by having someone else telling me the solution.
 
NLGs Motto " IF IT AIN'T BROKE GIVE ME TIME IT WILL BE "