Supercapacitor as a Board Battery Replacement?

[RyoGeo]

My battery is still functional on my 4 slot board, however, I'm pretty sure that it should come out. Hopefully, it hasn't leaked already. Anyway . . .

I was watching a video on replacing the battery with a coin batt cradle, and the person mentioned the option of using a supercapacitor as a replacement instead of a battery.

He said that, while they are hard to find, they are available in a size that fits the board. Once the board is turned on, the charge within the supercapacitor will last about 3 months, and it instantly recharges with every power up. Seems like a pretty slick solution to me in that, provided you turn the thing on once a quarter, you never need to change a battery ever again.

So, does anyone have any experience with this solution? If so, do you know where to source the part? If you install a supercapacitor, I would assume you need to keep the charging resister in place on the board, since it needs a charge to function, right?

Any insight/opinions welcome. A guide, if there is one, would be wonderful. I have to do something soon, or that old battery is probably going to melt a hole to China.

 

[RyoGeo]

I found a video specifically on installing a super capacitor that I thought I would link. It's actually a touch easier than installing a coin battery cradle in that the 470 labeled resistor stays in place. I know, "Duh, RyoGeo," but hey, I'm an electrical n00b, so be nice.

I'm still very interested to hear from anyone who has gone with this solution. How long does the charge last? Any problems? Can you recommend a source?

I found this link to what I believe to be the proper part. Am I right? Is this the right one?

Thanks, all. And I appreciate people answering the rudimentary questions I've been posing of late.

 

[fenikso]

I've never heard of that, but it sounds like a pretty boss solution. If you end up doing the mod, be sure to post up your results.

 

[xsq]

I'm still very interested to hear from anyone who has gone with this solution. How long does the charge last? Any problems? Can you recommend a source?

This solution has been discussed briefly a few times in the bad battery thread (1, 2, 3, 4).

I think it is a very intriguing solution, but since I had modded my boards with coin cells once I read about it, I haven't tried it. It should work and be easier - thing is, super caps might take some time (2 hours?) to fully charge and might not hold it as long as a coin cell does. I think about 3 months for a super cap vs. several years for a coin cell (one of mine is still going strong for significantly more than 3 years now)...

 

[nam9]

Supercaps can also leak... Easy to remove a coin cell if in storage...

 

[Heinz]

I survive without any batteries at all. It can be done.

 

[Westcb]

Supercaps can also leak... Easy to remove a coin cell if in storage...

This ^
Look at all the damaged naomi board due to super caps, seems like you should just replace with another rechargeable battery as the risk appears to be the same.