Replacing the battery on the MVS

Let's make one battery-specific thread regarding the Neo. Whatever information is posted in this thread I'll add to this first post.

The MVS (4-slot and 6-slot specifically) has a 3.6v 50mAh Ni-Cd rechargeable battery that helps hold things such as BIOS settings and high scores. This battery was designed with arcade ops in mind, meaning they assumed the machine would be in use on practically a daily basis. This is great for arcade ops, but bad for collectors, as most collectors don't turn on their machines everyday, let alone leave it on long enough to recharge. The end result is lost settings, and lost scores.

Alternatively, you can mod the Neo to accept a regular 2430 nickel-sized battery. This mod will help save your settings and high scores longer than the rechargable battery would without the need to power up the board on a regular basis. The process involves removing a 470ohm resistor attached to positive on the battery that leads to the backup ram on the board. Credit for the mod and pictures go to MKL.




I was about to do this mod when I had an idea. Most of you know the suicide battery on the CPS2 lasts about 5 years (argueably even longer when it's in storage). Is there any way we could mod the MVS to accept this battery? Surely the 2430 wouldn't last as long, and it would be incredible to have a battery that lasted this long in the MVS.

Thanks in advance!
Shmenge

Edit - You can also replace the battery with a cordless phone battery. The guide can be found here (courtesy Dinodoedoe):

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

I prefer the rechargeable battery solution with a cordless battery. Bigger badder = better, no? Less likely to die when fully charged and should last X times longer than the stock battery.

Dinodoedoe said:

I prefer the rechargeable battery solution with a cordless battery. Bigger badder = better, no? Less likely to die when fully charged and should last X times longer than the stock battery.

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My battery knowledge isn't that great, but that does seem like a viable solution. I think what it comes down to is this: the non-rechargeable battery is supposed to last, say about 5 years. You have to replace it before it dies, but you at least know when its about to go. With the rechargable batteries, even if you replace the stock battery with a more powerful one, you still need to power the machine every so often and forgetting to do so ends up with cleared scores. My main concern with the cordless phone battery is that my cordless phones only last a day or two before going dead, which makes me wonder how long it would last before you had to power up the Neo again. Also, even if you did leave the battery alone for a few days and it didn't die, you're still forced to leave the machine running for a few hours to fully juice up the battery again. Dont get me wrong, both work and I believe it's a personal preference more than anything. I just want to get some confirmation that the non-rechargable battery solution would last as long as I think it would.

The 2430 lasts about 5 years. And it's not like your MVS is going to die if the battery loses it's charge.

I still have some stock batteries in some of my MVS boards. I turn them on maybe once a month for a few hours when friends are over and I never lost my settings. If you are really concern about high scores then maybe you might want to look into memory cards. I know I will once I get my US 4 slot cab reassembled.

I don't think the memory cards save high scores. They only save your progress and stuff like that:

http://www.neogeoprotos.com/memcardfaq.htm

Xian Xi said:

The 2430 lasts about 5 years. And it's not like your MVS is going to die if the battery loses it's charge.

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Ah, thanks Xian. I understand the boards not going to die, I was just trying to find the best solution for my situation. Basically the people using the Neo use it maybe once every 2 weeks, so even though replacing this battery with say the cordless phone rechargeable is an option for some, I believe the non-rechargeable would be better in my situation. They care very much about the high scores, they just don't use it often enough to keep the battery charged.

Also don't forget that you can only store about 7 or 8 games on the MVS. Any new games will push and old one out of memory.

Quick question, does anybody know where I can find a BH2430T-C battery holder? Or does anyone here know of a calculator or something I could buy to rip it out of? I heard good things about digikey and they have them in stock, but something tells me I can't place a $1.00 order. It's not my credit card, which is why I'm askin.

Thanks again,
Shmenge

Mouser Part #534-105 24mm coin cell battery holder.

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsQtlBhqKq43TqAjO2aK%2b7m

Here's the schematic for the MV1C, of course courtesy of MKL.



Remove 300ohm resistor, D5 and D6.

ShmengeTravel said:

Quick question, does anybody know where I can find a BH2430T-C battery holder? Or does anyone here know of a calculator or something I could buy to rip it out of? I heard good things about digikey and they have them in stock, but something tells me I can't place a $1.00 order. It's not my credit card, which is why I'm askin.

Thanks again,
Shmenge

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So did you go coin cell or did you adapt the CPS2 battery? You can use the CPS2 battery as it has a higher capacity but the reason why I don't like them is because they are prone to leaking. I've never seen a coin cell leak at all. So even though the CPS2 battery might last longer I feel safer not having to worry about leaks.

Also just in case anyone is wondering the ratings are as follows, all are 3V lithium coin cell batteries.


Just for reference a usual CPS2 battery is 3.6v 1000mAH, this is why a lot of CPS2 boards last about 8-10 years in storage.

I've never pulled the cover off my 2 slot board, so I don't know if the battery is original or replaced, but I'd think it's original. How worried should I be about leakage? Should I just replace the sucker...it's probably pretty old. I do power the cab on at least once a week, and leave it running for quite a few hours.

In my experience with standard batteries (AA, C, D cells), they seem to only explode when you leave them in something for years and never power it on. I do admit, though, that I've not seen many exploded batteries in general.

I don't want battery acid killing by board!

You should check just in case.

hey... somebody else started a thread like this a while back... and i'm sure someone had one well before me :P

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175801

iammike said:

hey... somebody else started a thread like this a while back... and i'm sure someone had one well before me :P

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175801

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Actually your thread is different, just a replacement of the stock. This thread is about getting rid of the rechargeable battery and putting in a coin cell lithium in place and modifying the charging circuit.

Xian Xi said:

Mouser Part #534-105 24mm coin cell battery holder.

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsQtlBhqKq43TqAjO2aK%2b7m

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Does that one fit the two solder points like the one in the pic in this thread? I need to replace the battery on my 4-slot and don't really want to do the cordless phone battery thing again like I did with my 2-slot. That coin cell setup is just so clean looking.

Not sure about a 4 slot but the tabs are .807 inches apart, roughly 20mm.

Murray said:

That coin cell setup is just so clean looking.

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Yeah, its great. Got to get around to doing it to my Amiga 2000, they use the CPS2 style "barrel" batteries which leak all the time.

Xian Xi said:

So did you go coin cell or did you adapt the CPS2 battery? You can use the CPS2 battery as it has a higher capacity but the reason why I don't like them is because they are prone to leaking. I've never seen a coin cell leak at all. So even though the CPS2 battery might last longer I feel safer not having to worry about leaks.

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I actually havent ordered the holder yet. I'm just waiting on something first and then I'm going to order it. Once I do, I'll report back with how it went.