RISCPC600. Varta V280H battery alternative?

[ukretrogamer]

Having spoken with IanS at the ABug meeting this weekend, I dug out my RiscPC600 to:

a] Check its specifications (It's been a while)

and

b] Check the condition of the CMOS battery.

Re: Its specification, it has 130MB RAM (128MB+2MB VRAM), StrongARM CPU, running RISCOS 3.70 with an IDE HDD reported as 6GB, 1.44MB floppy and x52 CDROM drive. It has a 486 PC compatibility board and Ethernet card. It's also fitted with a video-capture board but I don't remember the manufacturer.

Re: the Battery, there were Green crystals on the metal casing and the edge of the battery where it touched the motherboard had begun to rust. Fortunately, there were no further signs of serious leakage but I removed the battery anyway, cleared and cleaned the holes of solder and cleaned away the few crystals which had started to migrate onto the main-board.

So. On to my main question then?

The Varta V280H battery I removed is (apparently) no longer manufactured. Is there a direct plug-in alternative for this battery?

If not, what's the best alternative to replace it with?

I've cleaned and inspected the area around the battery and prior to removing it, the RISCPC worked fine apart from the occasion hang - Usually while using MS-DOS and the 486 board - There's no fan on the 486 CPU, so I'm guessing that might be the reason for the occasional hangs? Even with the battery removed, the machine still boots just fine.

Ideally, I'd like to use a CF card in place of the HDD as it looks like the OS has been upgraded (possibly during the upgrade to StrongARM?) and there are programs installed which steadfastly refuse to run; so my plan is to fit an IDE-CF adaptor and format/re-install from scratch.

As I mentioned to IanS over weekend; somewhere, I have an upgrade to RISCOS4-point-something, which I purchased but have since misplaced during a clear-out.

I figure I'll replace the battery first and then look at re-installing from scratch onto a CF card.

So, battery alternatives?..

[Zarchos]

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9510&hilit=battery
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9436

[jms2]

When I replaced the battery on mine, I used a AAA cell in a battery holder, which I was able to slot into a gap in the case right at the front, away from the main PCB.

I'm dead against PCB-mounted batteries! The early Arcs had "remote" battery holders and even machines with heavy battery leakage are undamaged, whereas later machines are regularly destroyed due to their PCB mounted battery components.

[paulv]

Mine has a little veroboard installed with a diode on it and a CR2032 coin battery holder. I really should take some photos of it at some point. It was like it when I got my RiscPC and it's a very neat replacement...

Paul

[ukretrogamer]

Thanks all.

As the original was 1.2v, I might source a 1.2v NiCad AA and holder.

The original V280H was a rechargeable, yes?

If so, I may dispense with the diode, charge a NiCad AA in my quick-charger and use an AA holder mounted away from the board as suggested, allowing the RiscPC to trickle charge the AA when in use.

I was lucky to catch the original, just as it was about to go off. I don't want to risk the same thing happening again in the future.

It would be nice if I could source a sealed AA holder to prevent future leaks.

[1024MAK]

If you are going to use an AA cell, buy an industrial type NiMh rated for memory standby applications rather than a high capacity type, or a consumer grade cell. High capacity types and consumer grade cells have a high self-discharge rate.

No one will make a sealed battery holder, as all cells and batteries need to be able to vent in case of misuse or faults occurring.

Industrial type NiMh rated for memory standby applications are available with solder tags, so just use a cable tie base and a cable tie to fix in a suitable position

Mark

[1024MAK]

Rapid have various types that are suitable, see here. There are of course other suppliers

Mark