Battery question

I just bought a Dynamo Solitaire Challenge cab that works currently but I am worried about the battery. It has a 3.6volt lithium battery. If it dies I know the game will not work but can I just replace it? Will the battery leak acid all over my board and destroy it? Should I change it now or can I just wait until it dies. Please help me. Thanks!

Hi,

not familiar with that particular board so I can't say whether it is protected or not or indeed if you can recover it if it is !!!

A lithium battery is LESS likely to leak (lithium is very nasty stuff!) than a ni-cd or alkaline cell !

What I would do is trace the tracks from the battery to find two points to solder to (one for positive one for negative) and depending upon your battery type (lithium cells are not rechargeable whereas Lithium Ion are as a rule ... check carefully charging a non rechargeable battery can cause one hell of an explosion!) solder a replacement in on "flying leads" ....

You need to solder the new one in on the new points leaving the old one in ..... ensure that it is in properly before proceeding. Connect it via two leads (try to keep leads around 12 inches ... not enough to drop the voltge but enough to move battery to a safe position ... off board in case it does leak!)


Desolder the old battery using minimal heat. Power will still be supplied via new pack.

probably the safest way of doing things with an unknown board ... some boards tolerate removal of voltage for a few mins with no probs so you can do a straight swap out.

attach battery somewhere safe - velcro is very good for this !

remember to change battery before it goes !!!!

an improvement would be to solder a high capacity capacitor (as used in some pc boards ) across where the old battery was ... it would charge from the new batteries but when you change them it would sustain the board for long enough that you wouldn't have to mess about !!

Sorry for long winded post .... long day ....lol give me a shout if I can help anymore.

Iain

Wow thanks for all the info. So are you saying that if I do not replace my battery before it dies then my board will probably die? By the way my battery is in a long black rectangular case with a red wire and a black wire coming out of the case. So could I just clip those wires right in front of the battery and then connect/solder them to a new 3.6volt nonrechargeable lithium battery. Also where can I get another battery? Thanks again!

I do not know what will happen if the battery is removed - I will try to find out for you.l

You should be able to get a lithium battery of a suitable type from most electronics places - in the uk it would be RS components , farnell (Newark in the states I beleieve), etc - package type doesn't matter as you have it off the board already - just make sure it is the right chemical type (lithium) and 3.6v.

Once you have one you could do the following to be safe - on the wires leading from the battery scrape a little insulation away on each one and solder the new on ein across the leads .... DO NOT DISCONNECT the old battery until you have done this ! Heatshrink or insulate where you have soldered to prevent shorts.

Once it is all done snip the wires at the case of the battery - this will ensure you have a constant voltage throughout. Insulate the newly snipped end (heatshrink, etc ) and you are done.

In about 2 to 3 years uninsulate the cut ends solder a new battery in and desolder the other one. Insulate the small batch of bare wire.

Repeat every two to three years !

Iain

Thanks alot for all of the info, I appreciate you help!

Certain lithiums are rechargable (not only LiIon), I go along with Iain, if you feel your non chargable batts are about to expire, piggy back(with a charged battery) then snip the old/original battery out.
Im so happy snkneogeo didnt go the suicide way

Thanks for the info, you now of a place I can get a new battery from online or otherwise?