The bad battery thread

chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
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10,830
Just saw Slerch board picks ,his two slot battery has Green stuff coming out of it..


....I am going to assume that battery leakage may come quicker due to where the board(machine) is being stored due to weather changes...

Cold Basement,Back Yard Shed..Garage,Storage Unit

..or Livng Room under minimal climate change
 

slerch666

updyke,
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May 23, 2002
Posts
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Chris1- Only thing I can say is, I have the cab you sold me. It was in my garage at my old house (no heat, no AC, slightly damp given the area was surrounded by trees). I just took the battery out over the weekend, as you saw, it was JUST starting to get a little green hair growing out of it.

The other board was a 4 slotter. I removed the battery but it had exactly zero wrong with it. No green hair or anything. I removed it anyway since I don't use it nearly as often as I should or would like and I don't want to deal with leakage.
 

slerch666

updyke,
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Hello...I come here basically daily to surf threads but I have been way out of focus when it comes to messing with the MVS..my kids play my cabs more today then I do,....with the new baby I just don’t have the time..
I have known about this dead battery issue for a long time and knew there was a thread here but “sorry’ after reading page after page I have a headache..

I need some selective help..

I went to turn on the BIG RED 4 Slot MVS and my Soft Dip settings were back to factory UH OH..
The games in slot 3-4 were not selecting,registering..(cab off..I open the cab up and reset the third game and then game 3 and 4 work..That’s weird..

I change my soft dip settings (no level credits on screen) and leave the cab on for a few hours.Back on later it’s holding my setting,but I know the battery is going...Loss of settings seems to happen more then it used to..
It’s one of those jobs I am WEARY to do but I can solder..
I have a soldering set as I replace GBA/GBC bateries..

What I need to know is..
Is this a simple de-solder battery out and solder it in?,..”any special solder type I need”..

Where is the Battery on a MVS 4 Slot (Big Board) I assume I have to split the boards..

I want to keep it simple..just get a replacement battery and install it.

I went looking on ebay
Is this what I need?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEO-GEO-REPLACEMENT-BATTERY-FOR-MV4F-BOARD-/380331269179

That battery would work just fine on your board.

I would recommend, rather than that swap, why not do the replacement as was posted quite a few pages back:

http://pineconeattack.com/2008/10/03/how-to-replace-the-battery-on-a-neo-geo-mvs-4-slot/


This way you never have to separate the boards again and you can mount the battery somewhere else in the cab so that if this new battery DOES leak, it won't damage anything. And if you take the time to find the female end for the phone battery you buy, you could actually build a connector for it, so if you ever need to replace the battery, just unplug and plug in. Very simple. That's what I plan to do.
 

chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Posts
10,830
NEO GEO MVS 4 Slot Board..(BIG RED VERSION 3

Ok,I turned on my cab today after being off for a week and again the soft dip settings were off,not saving,I can instantly tell there is a problem as I can hear the neo jingle play as I keep the demo sound off..(cab played perfectly though)

I’ve been worried bout this battery leaking,no time to pull it with no power here,hurricane sandy problems and family sickness
Today getting off my butt from being sick ,I figured..let me pull this battery out toda to be safe,hoping no acid damage.

UGH: the battery is hidden...I have to split the board so I do so very carefully..
..the battery is held in like glue,I could not seem to get the goo off easily to pull the battery..I got it out..I see no acid damage but a tiny trace ender it looks to be broken(maybe)

I don’t have a battery and planned to do an external battery set up so I solder two wires to the batteries old pins back in the board

I just want to be able to play the cab while I wait for a new battery set up that I have to buy..Peoplecome over and t sucks to have the cab not working


So I carefully put the board back together,back in the cab fully in.. and the first thing that comes up on screen MEMORY CARD ERROR
Oh crap I have a memory card in..Pull that out and the gams come up.WHEW..

But the Sound in the games is broken up for every slot,I’m getting this high pitched popping sound,games sound like they are missing sound,..like the music is playing yet no action gameplay sound.. It’s horrible..
I clear the back up ram..no change

Hardware test for sound.left ,right,center is ok...

I reset the carts..unplugged the wiring..same thing..

The sound in the games is severely messed up..


I AM SO UPSET,This cab is my Baby..I’ve owned it since 2001..Maybe I should of left it alone..

.What’s my options?


http://photobucket.com/MVSBADBATTERY

Here is how it sounds

http://youtu.be/0RaTi_tQ4Ag

I split the board again..
The broken trace is the first trace under the battery ..in the CN10 are..the trace is paper thin..
 
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chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Posts
10,830
That battery would work just fine on your board.

I would recommend, rather than that swap, why not do the replacement as was posted quite a few pages back:

http://pineconeattack.com/2008/10/03/how-to-replace-the-battery-on-a-neo-geo-mvs-4-slot/





This way you never have to separate the boards again and you can mount the battery somewhere else in the cab so that if this new battery DOES leak, it won't damage anything. And if you take the time to find the female end for the phone battery you buy, you could actually build a connector for it, so if you ever need to replace the battery, just unplug and plug in. Very simple. That's what I plan to do.


Thank you..

This is exactly the mothod I planned to use..I have two wires coming off the board now..I searched around my junk for old cordless phones ..I find the batteries to be 2.5v : (..but I may be able to use the female molex end from the phones ..or some other mini plugs I have around here..
Cordless phones I can get at flea markets for a buck(used) so i should be abnle to get this female end..

I haven't bought the battery yet though,I'm still sorting out a bad track bad sound issue.
 

chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Posts
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UPDATE..Got Proper Sound Back

Here is how it sounded

http://youtu.be/0RaTi_tQ4Ag

I took the board apart several times re-sandwiching it ....going over the edges looking at the white pin blocks around the edges ..it seems sometimes a slight bowing in the center of these pin blocks occurs,its so slight,razor thin..

I kept tested the board but fully wiring it in,grounds all molex connectors and every time the same sound problem..
I also tested the sound via the Headphone jack on memory card reader and still the sound was bad..

Took the board apart again,Staring at every inch of it with high power glasses and lighting..I find minor misc scrapes on the board but nothing that looks problematic..I can’t find any other broken lead-trace but the one under the battery area..all he pins in the pin block are intact and straight.

I put it back together late last night..I get sound,normal sound..what the heck..But I’m happy.
But only two slots of four are reading games.

The Game line up has been..(for around a year now)
Slot 1 Shock Troopers
Slot 2 King Of Fighters 02
Slot 3 Strikers 1945
Slot 4 Neo Turf Masters

So I changed the line up,random..the game jumped to Neo Turf Masters in slot two.
So I changed the line up to
Slot 1 Neo Turf Masters
Slot 2 Shock Troopers
Slot 3 Strikers 1945
Slot 4 KOF 02

The games now cycle and all work...but now I have an the extra neo spec jingle before I think KOF 02..I don’t have a UNI Bios Chip,it’s a standard USA bios..The neo spec jingle didn’t show up before and I don’t think it can be turned off without a uni bios chip..it’s strange,must be caused by the game line up...

I don’t like the line up.I prefer it with Shock Troopers in slot 1 but the cab won’t work this ay,it kills slot 3-4 when I try to set my original line up..
Does the battery missing cause all that?

I tested everything I could in the cab,playing the games making sure all the controls work..I don’t know what the broken trace is for,it’s in the CN10 area..Maybe it’s for the battery..or the memory card.
I don’t care f t had something to do with the memory card,using a memory card is not that importan to me...but if it causes a new battery after installation to not work r not charge that would stink..
I plan to take the old battery that still is solid,and solder two wires to it’s posts today and wire it back to the wires I now have running off the board from the battery circuit..I ant to see before I invest in any new battery et up if I actually get a connection from the old battery as it will still hold a charge.

I will admit my soldering skills are not top notch but they hold.

I wanted to install a uni bios chip but I will never split this board again..UGH
http://photobucket.com/MVSBADBATTERY
NEOGEOMVSPROBLEM016.jpg


NEOGEOMVS082.jpg
 

chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Posts
10,830
Third Update..

I soldered two wires to the left over tabs on the old battery(it’s not leaking) and wrapped it in a taped housing....I spliced it]s wires in to the wires I now have coming off the board..placed the battery,secured off to the side.

Turned on the cab..Ran it for 20 minutes..Set my Soft dip setting and also swapping the cart line up again..
Slot 1 Shock Troopers
Slot 2 Neo Turf Masters
Slot 3 Strikers 1945
Slot 4 King Of Fighters 02

played the games making sure everything is working ok.

Checked everything I could in hardward test ,everything seems ok...

Turn off the cab...turn it back on ,soft dip settings are saved...
Did that a few times..let the cab run for an hour,...turn it back on..soft dip settings are saving..turned it off for the night.turned it on at noon today soft dip settings are saving..
Ok,that’s good news,now I can progress to a new battery set up ..and am safe that I my board will no longer suffer bad battery leakage damage..
(thank you )thank you Steve too..

PROBLEM..
If I turn the cab on with a original Neo Geo Memory Card in the Memory Card reader on the front of the cab now the cab goes instantly into this screen and won’t come out of it unless I turn the cab off.



If I insert a original Neo Geo Memory Card after playing a game the game will ask if I want to save the data,I select Yes,then on screen it says this card can’t be formatted...Save NG...Your card is still inserted..
..I tried two mem cards both these cards used in this machine before I pulled the boards battery..

So I cleared=formated both cards in my other cab,that has an old UNI BIOS chip..(4 slot)..I tested the cards and they save in this cab..

They still cause the Big Red 4 Slot Board with bad trace to go into Memory Card ERROR...

Right now I don’t know if the MVS boards bad trace is causing this memory card problem ,BUT it's he only answer..my next step is to get out my stack of MVS manuals and read a schematic to see what are this trace is for..


FORTH UPDATE:

If I leave the cab off for two days or more the cab gets funny..Strikers 1945 in slot 3 will have a HISS when starting the demo...If I put t in slot 4 it's ok..If it's not that,.The third and forth games in slot 3-4 won't come up,or just the forth game in the 4th slot..
If I remove the games and switch slots they show up..I removed all games and cleaned the contacts..I still have the old battery wired in..waiting on new battery in the mail..the old battery is dying in less then 2-3 days so I stopped making changes to the soft dips..I don't know why the board keeps acting up ..If i turn the cab on daily it's fine..Does the battery make so much of a difference..Should I just remove the old battery altogether?



............
FIFTH UPDATE

I got the battery off ebay,AN AMAZING DEAL for $10.00 shipped..
wired it up,instead of having to modify the battery for the 4 slot board as it's instructions say,,

Instructions say to run the cab for 24 hours atleast once a month to keep the battery charged..
I can do that so I've run the cab for a few hours in the last two days.the soft dip settng are holding..

My question is..Since I have the battery off to the side in the cab with around 7 inches of thin wire(pos neg) soldered onto the board battery leads..will this effect it's charging or how it interacts with the board..

MVSnBIKE014.jpg
 
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Teddy KGB

Капитан Борода
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Posts
2,744
Very helpful thread here. About to replace the battery on my 6-slot and I have the standard RadioShack 2032 holder that should fit.

I noticed these 3.6v Li-Ion 2032 rechargeable cells that would fit the holder. Has anyone tried to use these?
http://www.batteryspace.com/li-ionrechargeable2032buttoncells2pcslr203236v40mah20dx32mm014wheach.aspx

That being said, the "Cautions" section does mention to only use their charger. I guess the only thing that stands out for the charger is the automatic shut-off once the cell is fully charged and the charging voltage (4.2 +/- 0.1 Vdc) and current (150mA +/- 50mA). Is this much different than the charging voltage/current that the board provides itself? If not, I don't see why I couldn't use these... well, other than the battery's lower capacity (40-45 mAh) than the stock battery.

If it's a bad idea, I'll just go with the non-rechargeable 2032 3v batteries I have.
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
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Why not use a rechargeable with a bigger cell if you want to keep it as a rechargeable?
 

Teddy KGB

Капитан Борода
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Why not use a rechargeable with a bigger cell if you want to keep it as a rechargeable?

It's not that I necessarily wanted to go the rechargeable route. I was all set to do the 3v 2032 mod and noticed the aforementioned rechargeable 2032 3.6v button cells. It peaked my curiosity so I thought I'd ask if anyone had used these cells with a standard 2032 holder before.
 

Teddy KGB

Капитан Борода
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Thanks James for the specific 6-slot pics on JNX, and those that contributed here. Here's a few pix of my own battery swap on my newest 6-slot acquisition. I was lucky and had ZERO leakage whatsovever... even on the bottom of the battery. Just that annoying gunk they use to hold the battery in place.

IMG_0636_zps6ea64983.jpg


IMG_0642_zpsed1fc512.jpg


I threw in a new Universe Bios 3.1 while I was in there too. Looks good all cleaned up! Thanks again dudes.

IMG_0645_zpsc4fae361.jpg
 

channelmaniac

Mr Neo Fix-it
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4,275
It's not that I necessarily wanted to go the rechargeable route. I was all set to do the 3v 2032 mod and noticed the aforementioned rechargeable 2032 3.6v button cells. It peaked my curiosity so I thought I'd ask if anyone had used these cells with a standard 2032 holder before.

Original battery is NiCd. You can replace it with NiCd or NiMH, but I would NEVER use a Lithium rechargeable coin cell in place of it. They have different charge requirements and will go into a self sustaining chemical fire if their temperature gets too high. Use them ONLY in a circuit designed for charging them.
 

Teddy KGB

Капитан Борода
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Original battery is NiCd. You can replace it with NiCd or NiMH, but I would NEVER use a Lithium rechargeable coin cell in place of it. They have different charge requirements and will go into a self sustaining chemical fire if their temperature gets too high. Use them ONLY in a circuit designed for charging them.

Good info. As you can see, I just went with the standard coin cell and snipped the 470 resistor.

Great thread, definitely got my mileage out of it. :D
 

Tighe

Cheng's Errand Boy
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Jan 22, 2010
Posts
115
OK,

This is something you DO NOT want to do!

IMG_5803.jpg


This board was sent in for repairs... I won't ID the forum member that sent it to me even though he wasn't the one that installed it. This is a NON rechargeable lithium battery.

THIS is what is wrong with using that type of battery:

IMG_5804.jpg


See that 470 ohm resistor? It CHARGES the battery and should've been removed before the lithium battery was soldered in. It's amazing that battery didn't pop and leak its VERY corrosive fluids.

Thanks for this post Channel, I was able to replace the battery in my MVS!

 

master_d

n00b
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Jun 4, 2006
Posts
48
Anyone ever tried to replace the battery with a super capacitor? I'm not sure if this is feasible or not or how long you could leave the system powered off before the capacitor is completely drained, but would be willing to look into it.
 

Tighe

Cheng's Errand Boy
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Actually, I am wondering if NVRAM would be a good idea or possible.
 

master_d

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Actually, I am wondering if NVRAM would be a good idea or possible.

heh.. I had the same idea and posted a thread about it earlier in the week. I came to the conclusion that it's not a good idea because it would kill the real time clock.
 

master_d

n00b
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Jun 4, 2006
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What game needs the clock? Seems unnecessary.

I don't think any of the games utilize the RTC... I think it was mainly there to keep track of usage stats for arcade operators. I did order a sample 64kb parallel FRAM chip from Ramtron in case I wanna try to do a SRAM swap sometime, but as far as the battery for my MVS board, I'm leaning towards using a super capacitor to keep everything working.
 

Tighe

Cheng's Errand Boy
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The advantage of using non volatile memory is that you will have board that is more bullet-proofed. We all know how well those super capacitors work out on the Naomi.

Having the clock work is cool, but it is never used, so unless you are an operator unnecessary. :-) Like you said.
 

Mishran

New Challenger
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I'm glad I browsed this thread. Checked the batteries on my two FS, two FZ, and my 4 slot and one of my FZ boards had little fluid build up on the negative side of the battery. The other boards looked good. Removed it from all the boards anyway to play it safe. Just gotta snatch up some button cell holders to solder in place. Thanks for a very informative thread folks!
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
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master_d

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I wouldn't use a 5.5v battery. Keep it at 5v or below.
Oh I agree, but it's not a battery it's a capacitor. The capacitor won't produce more voltage than what is supplied to it in the charging circuit. The 5.5V value on the capacitor is the maximum amount of voltage you can apply across the terminals without risk of destroying it... an upper limit on the input voltage so to speak.
 
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Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
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Oh I agree, but it's not a battery it's a capacitor. The capacitor won't produce more voltage than what is supplied to it in the charging circuit. The 5.5V value on the capacitor is the maximum amount of voltage you can apply across the terminals without risk of destroying it... an upper limit on the input voltage so to speak.

I know all about that, I just missed the supercap part.
 
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