I just took in a Dell Inspiron 15 (3521) laptop. During POST it gives 5 beeps indicating a real time clock power failure. I opened the case and saw that the battery was loosely taped into the battery holder. Apparently, someone broke the clips that hold the battery in place. My question is, other than replacing the mobo, is there any method by which the battery can be secured into place?
CMOS battery holder clips broken
- Thread starter earguy
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phaZed
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The best way is to either replace the clip holder (Which is cheap and abundant) OR solder the leads from a battery that has them or solder your own leads directly to a CR2032 and to the MOBO.
OK. Thanks
Just to add, I would be careful if you opt for soldering leads directly to a battery, they can explode if you get them too hot.
Probably safer/easier to use a pre-wired cell like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3v-cmos-battery-2-pin-2-wire-cr2032-HP-Acer-Lenovo-Dell-/111618086135
Cut the plug off (one wire at a time of course!) and solder the wires in.
Probably safer/easier to use a pre-wired cell like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3v-cmos-battery-2-pin-2-wire-cr2032-HP-Acer-Lenovo-Dell-/111618086135
Cut the plug off (one wire at a time of course!) and solder the wires in.
Larry Sabo
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I wouldn't recommend trying that--the case is stainless steel and doesn't solder. That's why they tack-weld to it. The replacement battery with the tabs and wires already installed, as mentioned, is the way to go.
phaZed
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I assure you the solder sticks well. As far as heat, we're talking 1-2 seconds so nothing to worry about. Follow up with a small piece of heat-shrink tubing and it's good to go.
Larry Sabo
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What's your secret? I have never been able to get solder to attach to the case, and assumed it was stainless.
Edit:
I Just tried again, figuring maybe I'm doing it wrong. Sanded the battery surface to provide good bonding, applied rosin flux, set the iron (60W JBC with chisel tip) to 275C and rubbed the tip vigorously to the spot, trying to get the solder to stick. After maybe half a minute, I managed to get a tiny spot of solder no larger than the size of a pin-head to attach. However, the battery was extremely hot after doing this and I would be reluctant to push my luck doing this again. Maybe I'm using the wrong flux?
Edit:
I Just tried again, figuring maybe I'm doing it wrong. Sanded the battery surface to provide good bonding, applied rosin flux, set the iron (60W JBC with chisel tip) to 275C and rubbed the tip vigorously to the spot, trying to get the solder to stick. After maybe half a minute, I managed to get a tiny spot of solder no larger than the size of a pin-head to attach. However, the battery was extremely hot after doing this and I would be reluctant to push my luck doing this again. Maybe I'm using the wrong flux?
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Silver solder (ie solder containing a high proportion of silver) is what you need, I believe, to get good adhesion to the more difficult to solder metals.
I still wouldn't recommend it though. From my own experience, it doesn't take a lot of heat to make a button cell explode. I had one blow up inches from my face when I was a kid, after holding a soldering iron on it for probably just 10 seconds or so. Even if you succeed, there's a good chance the heat will have a detrimental effect on the battery, shortening its life.
I still wouldn't recommend it though. From my own experience, it doesn't take a lot of heat to make a button cell explode. I had one blow up inches from my face when I was a kid, after holding a soldering iron on it for probably just 10 seconds or so. Even if you succeed, there's a good chance the heat will have a detrimental effect on the battery, shortening its life.
Larry Sabo
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Pics of what, the pin-dot of solder on the battery? I'll dig it out of the trash and take one today. I scraped off the solder dot with a knife to see if it really was adhering to the case but you can still see how ineffective the attempt was.
Edit:
Here's a pic of the battery. I've circled the solder spot.
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wavey
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I tried soldering leads to a cr2032 a while back, luckily for me I was wearing glasses and so wasn't blinded when the cell exploded.
Won't be doing that again!
Won't be doing that again!
phaZed
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I made a quick video for you guys.
Larry, I think your heat is too low. It's taking you too long to transfer heat to the "spot" to be effective and is instead being sucked into the battery casing (The heat is).
Set iron to 400 degrees
I'm just using bog-standard Rosin Flux paste (Get the pen instead of a tub, lol).
For solder, I am using 62/36/2 rosin core Silver bearing solder.
Hope this helps! I have never had a mishap with exploding batteries.
Larry, I think your heat is too low. It's taking you too long to transfer heat to the "spot" to be effective and is instead being sucked into the battery casing (The heat is).
Set iron to 400 degrees
I'm just using bog-standard Rosin Flux paste (Get the pen instead of a tub, lol).
For solder, I am using 62/36/2 rosin core Silver bearing solder.
Hope this helps! I have never had a mishap with exploding batteries.
Larry Sabo
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Thanks, Aaron, you have proved your case--great video and good looking solder joint, too! I will have to try using higher heat. Perhaps it's the silver in the solder or possibly the flux used, I don't know. I have seen that flux highly recommended in a motherboard repair blog some time ago. Perhaps I'll try it with Kingbo, which is more aggressive than rosin flux. In any case, thanks!
