S2000 Main Battery Low Question

[Lilrascal]

Well my S2000 has been working flawlessly.  The nieces and nephews love coming over to play.  The other day it stopped working, and I got the message on the LCD  Call Attendant - Main battery Low.  I did some reading, and pulled the board, but I am confused on which battery needs replacement.  Is it the 3.6 volt battery? Or the 3 volt button batteries?  Or am I better to just replace them all?  I realize the 3.6volt battery is soldered in, but how do the button batteries come out?  Are they soldered in?  Then I read I have to do something with the chips after that?  I am confused.     Is there a good tutorial some where?

Is there a place that I can send the board, and have the needed repairs done, so I don't screw up the board try to solder them? 

Sorry for all the questions, but any help would be truly appreciated.  The nieces and nephews were bummed last time they cam over and couldn't play. 

[cowboygames]

Main battery is the button battery and depending on the board it could be soldered on or in a holder. A picture is worth a thousand words. Also, the 3.6 v battery is either relevant or not depending on which board you have. If the button battery is soldered on then the green battery is irrelevant. If it's in a holder then the green battery is also essential for operation

[Lilrascal]

OK.  I will post a picture.  I tried to lightly pull the button battery before, and couldn't tell if it was soldered, or just tightly in a holder.  I will go take a picture now.

[Lilrascal]

OK.  After looking at it closer, There is some corrosion around the 3.6V battery.  If I am using the voltmeter right, I measure only .12 volts DC there.  The button battery upon closer looking apprears to be soldered on the bottom, but I could be wrong.  Here are the pics.

[Lilrascal]

Here is the button battery

[Lilrascal]

I just checked the 3 volt button battery with voltmeter and it measured 2.7 volts.  Could the 3.6 volt battery drain if left unplugged for an extended time?  There are times when it is not used for a month or two.  If that is the case, will leaving the machine on for a time recharge the battery?

[cowboygames]

The 3v battery is the problem and solders in. Be careful about polarity when replacing. The green battery will die if the machine is left turned off for a long time, but on your board it isn't needed anyway. Take it off when you replace the other one. It's a subject of debate, but it's better safe than sorry to run a jumper wire between the 2 negative terminals on the board where the 3.6v battery was after removing it. Seems to be neccessary in some cases and not in others so it's recommended to just go ahead and do it as it may help, but won't hurt.

As a side note, your green 3.6v battery looks as if it's starting to corrode which will damage the board, so it needs to go anyway

[Lilrascal]

WOW!  That is the first I read about not needing and removing the 3.6v battery.  Nice to know.  Any advice on unsoldering and re-soldering the 3V battery?  Is it soldered on the top tab as well, or just at the bottom?  Will I have to get those clear chips after I replace it?

[cowboygames]

The battery may have some solder on both sides of the board, but desoldering from the back side should get it. It's a good idea to add just a bit of new solder to each tab BEFORE removing the old battery as it makes it easier to remove the old solder that way. You won't need to clear the machine after the change as it doesn't lose programming memory with the lose of voltage due to battery removal although there will be a couple of errors you'll need to clear using your jackpot reset key. If possible try to do the change with no credits on the machine, but if you can't, it is what it is. Post back here if you have any questions when you get to doing it. If there's a TV repair shop nearby, you might get the replacement battery and have them do it if you're not comfortable trying yourself. Be sure to follow the instructions on green battery removal as well

[cowboygames]

Correction, Buzz pointed out I made a mistake on the 3.6v battery. It has 2 positive leads and 1 negative, so the jumper wire needs to go on across the 2 positive leads. Same thing only different.

Thanks for catching that Buzz

[Lilrascal]

Thanks for the help.  I bought a battery holder along with one with pre-soldered clips in case the holder did not work out.  I wasn't comfortable with soldering it without destrying the board.  So I took it to a TV repair place that for $20 soldered in the holder, and removed the 3.6v battery and put on a jumper as you advised.  I was a little worried because I thought his soldering work could have been neater.  Put the board back in.  Got the ram errors and chip mismatch, but just reset through them, and all seems to be working.

So the 3.0 volt battery is not rechargeable right?  So it won't matter if I leave the machine off for extended periods right? 

Thanks again for the help.

[cowboygames]

The 3v battery is not rechargeable. It supplies power for memory backup when the machine is tirned off or unplugged. How long it lasts I suppose will vary depending on how long the machine is left off. Seven + years in a casino I would think. In a home environment? I don't know if anyone really knows, but 2 years give or take would be my guess

[DiscGolfer]

Thanks all for the help this thread provided. I, like some on this thread, was not comfortable soldering to the board. This is what I did to avoid that. It seems to be working so I hope this helps someone. I ordered the coin battery and holder from Mouser Electronics. I also purchased some male and female pins from an electronics store. I removed the 3V coin battery by cutting the tabs next to the solder on the battery so there is about 1/2" or so tab sticking out of the board so I could solder the pins to the tabs. I removed the part on all four pins that crimps around the wire to reduce the height the assembly will stick up. I then used needle nose pliers to grab the top of tab to collapse it in half so it would slide in the pin to help hold the pin in place while I soldered. I crimped the pins on the holder also to hold it in place while I soldered. The finish product is the holder simply plugs onto the board for easy removal to replace the coin battery when necessary. I know I didn't explain this very well so I will try attaching some pics. I hope this helps.

[DiscGolfer]

Here is a pic of the finished product. Also I removed the 3.6V as described earlier and did not use the jumper on the positive terminals. I noticed that the terminals were solid at the board so maybe some are not so that is why some needs jumpers? Just a thought. I have also attached a pic of that. Thanks again for the help.