You could've soldered the battery holder on the backside of the pcb. Would've stayed clear of other components and as a bonus made it possible to replace the battery without taking out the board.
Somewhere in the dark and nasty regions where nobody goes Stands an ancient castle Deep within this dank and uninviting place lives Berk (hello!) Overwoked servant of the thing upstairs (berk feed me!) But that's nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trap door For there is always something down there in the dark, waiting to come out Don't you open that trap door You're a fool if you dare Stay away from that trap door 'Cause there's something down there
For those who don't get the reference: th-cam.com/video/-9dbAQJIu1o/w-d-xo.html annnd... There is a full length soundtrack (partially played as end credit theme): th-cam.com/video/6wandkZSmpE/w-d-xo.html Also... Toto you absolute LEGEND for re-igniting my fond childhood memories again, lol.
Thanks for the video Noel. I did the CR2032 mod years ago. I did add the diode but not the 200K ohm resistor. I'll add one now. Best wishes from France.
If you look for tubular copper rivets they have them on ebay and aliexpress you can get some that are small enough "kits with sizes between .9mm and1.7mm or even up to 2.5mm diameter" to repair some via's on boards where they are missing. They can be cut to height or a small center punch chisel can be used to create a second flange once in place to sit kind of flush with both sides of the board and you just use solder to complete the connection.
What a coincidence! Last week I was trying to get my wife interested in some games and she told me she likes pinball... so I fired up the minimig core on the SiDi FPGA and launched... Pinball fantasies!!! :-) She liked it so much that I did set up my old A500 so she could have the original Amiga experience. My A500 has a trapdoor memory expansion without RTC, so there is no risk of battery leakage. Cheers!
Deactivate the acid with vinegar (high percentage one) than use water and backing powder to deactivate the vinegar and give it a good rinse with water. Or put the expansion into your dishwasher :).
@@goku445 Yes you are correct! Batteries contain acids or basics and salts as i know. You can also use citron acid concentrate to clean alkaline battery residue with it. But vinegar is the most common i think.
Thanks Noel. Another great video. I think I've done this mod at least half a dozen times on Amigas before. For the first half of the video I was thinking "Ohh no he's not gonna expose the CR2032 to 5v recharge is he?". Ohh me of little faith. :)
Thanks Noel for this great video! I seldom post comments but I discovered your channel 2-3 weeks ago and since then, I can't stop watching your videos again and again, I learn a lot out of them and I also recognize myself in some situations: I am myself designing and developing my own retro 8-bit computer based on a Z80 and some problems I met are similar to the ones you show in some videos😄 The latest one I can think of is a chip that doesn't "respond" when trying to read a value from it (with Z80's IN instruction). When trying to debug its pins by plugging a logic analyzer, the whole computer stopped working. The cause? the "failing" chip's CE/ChipEnable pin was not connected... So it was never outputting any value on the data bus. When plugging the logic analyzer, all the pins where pulled-down internally (with a big resistor), so CE was always considered low, messing up the data bus 😅
Those dark spots on the wide track indicate that the track got corroded under the mask. I've just repaired the HIC module with such a problem. Though the track looks intact - it's usually not! So, those spots should be cleaned up and track has to be restored, sometime with the help of a wire (in case the corrosion ate the track's full width). Thanks for showing Pinball Fantasies! I played it on PC with Adlib and this music really brings back those good memories!
I love how your t-shirts relate to the computer you're working on, but I reckon you should wear that Amiga t-shirt next time you work on an Atari ST. 🤣
Thanks for ordering me to remove the batteries from my three A500s -- needed that. All had leaked, but none too badly yet, so caught just about in time. 👍👍
Glad you were able to fix it! I replaced mine aswell maybe a year ago. When I took out my Amiga recently to recap it, I checked the system and the clock still got the correct date and time :-D So it worked perfect :-D
Man, I'm actually glad my A1200 didn't come with a clock chip by default. I got a Microbotics 4MB/FPU board with a clock in 1993, and it had a CR2032 on it already (it's a great board). Alas, I did lose my A3000T to a bad battery, as it was way too much damage for me to fix myself. I sold it to another guy who specializes in those repairs, and I can only hope he got it up and running again.
3:06 That trace that seems to be going from the M6242B to the negative of the Battery pad looks too damaged. The trace connects to the big square pad of the battery but that pad looks totally gone.
Saw this video last night, today I got out the Amiga from the under-stair cupboard. Removed the RAM expansion, had to desolder the metal shield and yes the battery has a white fuzzy coating round it. Sigh. Looks like the corrosion is spreading under the solder mask, but hasn't reached any other components yet. Thanks for the heads up.
You might just be the first guy I've seen properly showing how to do the CR2032 conversion. I've been dying to find a simple guide as I have an MSI 486 board I need to fix. Super cool, thanks!
This problem affects other makes of vintage computers, not only Amigas. The Amigakit store sells a CR2023 holder with built-in diode for exactly this application. The hole and pin layout is standard, so this works on other makes of computers. The Varta batteries are also still available as an industry-standard part (eBay has them) with the same pin layout. Note that these are NiMH, which is compatible with the original NiCd battery, but better technology. Note also, rechargeable lithium cells have different charging requirements from NiCd or NiMH, so will likely need a modified charging circuit if you want to use these.
Had to do this too, my CR2032 adapter had long legs so I was able to have it raised off the board enough to to clear the A500 trapdoor rails. Other than that, I was also lucky in my timing. Some leakage but nothing major and thankfully nothing damaged.
at 4:11 i can see traces that are a little corroded . i usually scratch the green of the trace completely and see if there is small broken link . only then i am pretty sure the trace is fully functional . exellent cleaning i usually do that with acetone. Exellent job . ty
I totally removed the wrong battery a few years ago. :) I was just seeing a battery on my Blizzard 1230 card and decided to panick-snip the connector to get it out. Sooooooo stupid as it was akin to the CR2032. * sigh * After that I decided to give the Amiga a total revamp by someone who actually did know what he was doing. :)
some serious nostalgia here for me, adding a switch to my 512K ram expansion board was my first ever hardware mod, I went a bit further though and actually drilled a hole in my case for the switch, and then seeing you fire up Pinball Fantasies - that was one of my favourites also! Many teenage hours spent on this particular 'fantasy' :)
You could also use lir2032h rechargeable battery which are drop in replacement for cr2032 and would not need the diode + resistor, and could potentially work longer.
I imagine you know this trick, but, when desoldering components having big lug pins (such as the dead battery,) it is helpful to cut away the component, from its pins, before applying heat. This eliminates the battery's mass serving as a heat sink and sucking away the heat that is needed to reflow the pins. This reduces the reflow heating time (a.k.a. "dwell time",) which reduces the likelihood of lifting a pad, or trace. I hope that helps folks just learning to solder.
Do it! A while back I checked a computer I hadn't looked at in years and years, and the battery had eaten an actual hole about 1cm across through the bottom of the metal CASE - and the motherboard was ruined. But other machines were fine - it depends if you get lucky or not but the risk is only going up!
Are you talking about this video? I'm seeing almost 4000 views and a bit over 500 likes, so the ratio is about 12% (which is still really good I think). 50% would be insane! 😃
@@NoelsRetroLab At the time I was watching the video - probably early, on you had 770 views approx. and just under 400 likes, I suppose that means the early viewers are your best fans.
Enjoying the project Noel. Your videos are among the best in the business, if not the best. Picking the best is like picking which one of your children you will save when the ship goes down. You have a very good chance!
Also, 17:34 "And now, it's time for some party land" might've been a good time for the dancy party :P Or another dance party. For that matter, why do we even need an excuse to do a dance party? DANCE PARTYYY! \ö/
@Noel's Retro Party Lab YES we need this :'D Of course, it's not quantity of viewers that matters but quality! Our views are better! I'm sure TH-cam accounts for this somewhere in the stats. Maybe you have to buy some kind of premium service to see the view(er) quality metrics :'D
Love watching your videos here on You Tube. So educational and informative that i find your restoration of old gem consoles so absorbing. Well done indeed and carry on that great work :)
Fairly sure the Amiga 500+ itself doesn't have an onboard clock, yet it has a VARTA battery on board. I remember watching a video, hearing it has a varta, I immediately pulled mine out of the cupboard and snipped off the battery.
Shottky diode has lower voltage drop, so the battery will last way longer with it compared to regular diode. Alternatively you could use rechargable ml2032 instead of non-rechargable cr2032
It's sad that Commodore and others would have never even thought about the problems those pesky batteries would cause in the future back when making the machines, I was given an early Amiga2000 some years ago and I knew the first thing I needed to do was open it up and remove the offending item. Sadly I was too late, far too late the horrors I found inside was like no other leakage I'd ever seen, with over half the entire board corroded. There was no hope for it so I salvaged the chip set and other parts and cleaned them up but never got around to testing them but I suspect the CPU was probable dead.
When checking the voltage to the real-time-clock chip, you measured the supply voltage relative to ground at a point on the PCB. Ideally, you should have measured between power and ground pins on the IC since that would also verify both PCB power traces to the chip. I am pretty sure that the negative trace to the chip still has a break in it (now hidden under the battery holder). I would also have considered a supercapacitor rather than a non-rechargeable Lithium battery, since this would also work well and would mean no other circuit changes would be required.
Instant NiCad-removal! Please spread the word! (even some TH-camrs try to push charge those old blooming NiCDs without mercy. I was really horified by todays LMNC video)
Exactamente el mismo trabajo que le hice a mi 500. Por suerte encontre en su momento el datasheet de la pila CR que recomendaba el diodo+resistencia. Todo funciono perfecto en el programa de Test. Luego descubri que muchas versiones del Workbench tenian un bug y no tomaban bien el RTC. Hay mucha info al respecto. (Sorry for the spanish post. Saturday laziness kicked in)
I've got two A500+, they have the varta death hell batteries right there on the motherboard, right next to the data path. One of them is going to need some tracks rebuilding... doh. The other is okie dokie. good job I checked them a little while ago and tore those leaky horrors off the boards (well, unsoldered them anyway).
Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet but did you look into using a LIR2032 rechargeable 2032 battery instead of using the resister and diode? I have heard you can replace the varta with the coin cell holder and the LIR2032 without any modifications to the circuit.
I have Pinball Fantasies for the 64-bit Atari Jaguar! Stones and Bones is my favorite board. I got a score over 10 billion on it one night after 4 hours of "in the zone" play!
My original A500 memory expansion board died due to leaking battery corrosion. It was a mess. Luckily it was confined to the board and didn't migrate to the main PCB
You should use germanium diodes. They have way lower voltage drop ( i have a few as that said .2v) I think they have a bit higher leakage but i doubt it will do anything. Also lithium cells dont explode, i tried charging several of them and they didnt even leak, they just degraded even further. (As in 2.5v before charging, 1v after charging.)
I suspect that by the time the battery voltage drops enough that the voltage after the diodes is below 2V, it's already way dead so I don't think it would make much of a difference. Interesting about the charge current though. The datasheet sounded really picky about restricting that, so I figured bad things would happen. Good to hear it's not that bad 😃
The top layer track from the negative battery terminal to the RTC IC (under the battery holder) seem to be broken... you haven't checked the continuity between BAT - and GND of the RTC IC, and during measuring back-up voltage you have used a ground jumper next to the battery instead of GND IC pin. The IC will hold the time even without battery attached for a few minutes.
Yes, that was my first thought too, but I did check it (probably off camera). I think I showed the connection of ground battery connector to pin, and pin to RTC IC though, so that should be fine. Or am I misunderstanding it?
@@NoelsRetroLab It seems ok, but even if the continuity is there now, the corrosion inside that square pad may progress over time. The ground jumper pin is connected directly with the round battery pad, on the bottom layer, and only a capacitor is there. The main battery ground goes on the top layer via the square pad, to the RTC. That wide track from the square negative terminal to the RTC didn't look too good, same about the track between the round pad, where you have connected the battery holder pin, to the square pad. On the camera, you have only measured the positive battery at the IC, while you took the negative terminal from that jumper pin, which is on the other side of the damaged and potentially broken track. And one more remark - IPA is not good for neutralizing the leaked alkaline, some mild acid, like a vinegar, is much better.
There is a recharable version of the CR2032 and other CR coin cells available i think. The CR prefix is changed to some other letters but i can't remember what they are.
You can get lithium ion ones which are called LIR2032. Some modifications to the board might still be required to avoid the lithium cell exploding, as the charging requirements are different to NiCd cells.
I had some sort of hybrid A500, that had like 4mb in total or something (or maybe 8mb?) I can't remember exactly... can't remember what expansion was in it, but it was very similar, although a little longer, and I believe there was a ribbon with a chip that replaced an existing one on the main board..... was sooo long ago, wish I had never sold the thing :(
I had exactly the same problem with an old 386(and its cursed battery of course...) I opened a few months ago. It doesn' t power up, so I locked it away again. But to return to the beautiful reality, I have seen a video with another similar type of battery(CR2032) having an extra "M" letter, I think. they were rechargeable. Can you do some research and tell us if it works?
I've read that it usually lasts 2-3 years. So not great, but it's OK. Heck, batteries in smoke detectors only last a year and you have to go all around the house climbing on ladders to replace them 😃
There was a track going from the - side of the battery (now under the holder) which looks like it isn't connected. Where did it go, was it connected and was that important? :)
I own a Amiga 3000, attached a battery wired two pin slide on cap connector, relocated battery off the motherboard to side on motherboard, battery completely wrapped.
instead of using a CR2032 and killing the charging circuit with a diode, wouldn't it have save time and effort to use a supercapacitor in replacement of the Varta battery? I think that's what in my HP servers, but I'm not so sure any longer.
Why not just get the ML2032? They are the same size but rechargeable. Also, good soldering practice says to cut legs of components to size before soldering as the snap of the cutting tool might make breaks in the solder invisible to the naked eye.
I'm not a battery expert, but I don't think you can just permanently leave the ML2032 batteries charging. I think you need some extra logic to stop it when it reaches a certain voltage. Mostly I just used the 2032s because it's what I had around and it was simple enough.
Interesting theory about cutting the leads first. I have read a similar caution many years ago about dropping solid state devices on hard surfaces as it could crack the junction. However in the past 40 years I have hand assembled hundreds of through-hole PC boards cutting the leads after soldering. Never experienced the problem you describe. Perhaps this comes form ultra reliable construction directives. Like NASA on a space probe or satellite construction where later repair is simply not an option.
I've been worried about my A500 for ages, But it is wrapped up in foam and burried under a lot of other stuff at the back of a small part of the attic that I cant get to since my accident. Oops.
Wierdly the Ram showed up as Slow/chip ram rather than the usual fast ram. I wonder what the difference is as all the 500 half meg expansions of the time were Fast Ram. I used to have to use the command fastmemfirst to get the max 512k chip ram for use in Soundtracker :)
They were using NiCd batteries because they were rechargeable, at that time rechargeable Li batteries were at most experimental, and even today they need quite a sophisticate circuitry to make them safe. Said that, I still have a couple rechargeable NiCd batteries from that time that don't have any problem, the ones I have seen exploded are all Varta branded.
@@ernestuz RTC can run for years from a single coin cell, it doesn't need to be rechargeable. And lithium coin cells don't leak at all. For example see the backup coin cells in Nintendo game cartridges.
Ooo, I caught that Turrican 2 theme in there! :'D I love that song! Also, 16 bits is absolutely /perfect/ I say :P I even (occasionally :-\) work on my own (toy) 16-bit ISA that I hope to implement in hardware some day
Turrican 2 had some of the best music on the Amiga! And we're all drawn to good experiences we had. I'm still more comfortable in 8-bit land, but I can see the attractiveness of 16 bits 😃
Hi Noel, I think my previous comment was removed because of the URL I've included. My apologies I'm not advertising for anyone. All I wanted to say is that there are PCBs to solve the problem with CR2032 batteries including a diode to avoid charging the battery by the Amiga. I also indicated that the RTC chip 72421 is much better than the existing M6242 as it's more accurate, it does not need an oscillator, and it does not need the adjustment variable capacitor. I hope you keep my comment :) and sorry for posting the URL earlier; non-intentional.
Hi Ali, I'm afraid that was TH-cam removing comments automatically. I didn't even see your earlier comment. I knew about the pre-made PCBs with the fix for the charging current (I just didn't have any with me), but that's very interesting about the RTC chip. I didn't know about the 72421 and its advantages. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
@@NoelsRetroLab No worries Noel. I really love all the videos you make and the amazing ideas that you come up with. I have several Amigas (actually, more than 7!!). The RTC 72421 and M6242 are supposed to be pin compatible yet the former is much more stable. I have modded my A500plus onboard RTC as well as all the memory expansions that come with the older M6242.
It would have been a schottky diode that was used " In a normal diode, the voltage drop is between 0.6 to 1.7 volts, while in a Schottky diode the voltage drop normally ranges between 0.15 and 0.45volts."
Stupid question... There was already a diode between the battery and 5v you couldn't just change it and also change the resistor to the correct value? (Instead of the 2 components at the resistor spot)
Not stupid at all! As far as I can tell (by looking at the card since we don't have schematics) there's a diode allowing current to flow from the 5V supply to the capacitor and then on to the RTC chip. But that same current would flow into the battery, that's why we need to put a diode pointing in the opposite direction. Hard to explain without a drawing. Does that make sense? Or did I misunderstand your question?
Okay, I got a question for you: I've got an Amiga 1200 with a processor and RAM upgrade + a recent addition; the Indivision AGA Mk3 scanline doubler, which gives my Amiga an HDMI-port (no analogue to digital conversion as it's grabbing data directly from the graphics chip). After adding the scanline doubler, I can only run the Amiga for a few minutes before it crashes with random errors and sometimes just a fullscreen random color. After the first crash I can only run it for seconds. Do you think heat is the issue? And how would I go about solving that, if it is? If you need any more information, please don't hesitate to ask. If you want to PM me, that'd be awesome too. I work in IT fixing PCs and the occassional Apple devices, but this Amiga has me stumped. Please, I desperately need help.
It's really hard to diagnose like this 😃 Hop on over to Discord (link in the description) and tell us about it in the repair-help channel. As for the heat, that should be easy to test: Try leaving the case off, or blowing a fan and seeing if things change. You can go as far as using a cold spray like I did in one of my videos to narrow it down. Good luck!
@@var67 again, I don't get it either? Was that perhaps a defective diode? That's why I avoid buying those hobbyist parts packs where you get an assortment of parts for $1 or whatever i.e. old fashioned Radio Shack. These are often "floor sweepings" from assembly lines.
You could've soldered the battery holder on the backside of the pcb. Would've stayed clear of other components and as a bonus made it possible to replace the battery without taking out the board.
Hmmm... I think you're right! That's thinking outside of the box. Literally! 😃
Nice idea but might of had the same problem fitting issue as well but always amazing how many different ways people fix the same issue
Would'nt it stop the trapdoor going on and have the computer sat on the battery ?
@@frankowalker4662 You're correct.
If you have an Amiga 2000 in the attic, it's even more important to remove that battery. On the 2000, it's mounted right next to the CPU.
Yes, absolutely!!
Somewhere in the dark and nasty regions where nobody goes
Stands an ancient castle
Deep within this dank and uninviting place lives Berk (hello!)
Overwoked servant of the thing upstairs (berk feed me!)
But that's nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trap door
For there is always something down there in the dark, waiting to come out
Don't you open that trap door
You're a fool if you dare
Stay away from that trap door
'Cause there's something down there
For those who don't get the reference: th-cam.com/video/-9dbAQJIu1o/w-d-xo.html
annnd...
There is a full length soundtrack (partially played as end credit theme): th-cam.com/video/6wandkZSmpE/w-d-xo.html
Also...
Toto you absolute LEGEND for re-igniting my fond childhood memories again, lol.
Thanks for the video Noel. I did the CR2032 mod years ago. I did add the diode but not the 200K ohm resistor. I'll add one now. Best wishes from France.
You're welcome! Glad it was useful. The resistor is not reeeeeally needed, but it's just a nice backup.
If you look for tubular copper rivets they have them on ebay and aliexpress you can get some that are small enough "kits with sizes between .9mm and1.7mm or even up to 2.5mm diameter" to repair some via's on boards where they are missing. They can be cut to height or a small center punch chisel can be used to create a second flange once in place to sit kind of flush with both sides of the board and you just use solder to complete the connection.
Great video. When installing the wire replacement for the damaged trace you can scratch off the solder mask and solder it on to the remaining trace.
Thanks! Interesting, I didn't think of it, but I think you're right and that would work. I'll have to look into it next time this happens.
What a coincidence! Last week I was trying to get my wife interested in some games and she told me she likes pinball... so I fired up the minimig core on the SiDi FPGA and launched... Pinball fantasies!!! :-) She liked it so much that I did set up my old A500 so she could have the original Amiga experience. My A500 has a trapdoor memory expansion without RTC, so there is no risk of battery leakage. Cheers!
Deactivate the acid with vinegar (high percentage one) than use water and backing powder to
deactivate the vinegar and give it a good rinse with water. Or put the expansion into your dishwasher :).
Right. I didn't get into that since I don't think there was enough liquid spilled, but that's a good approach.
I think someone mentioned it is not acid but basic. So white vinegar makes perfect sense to neutralize the base.
@@goku445 Yes you are correct! Batteries contain acids or basics and salts as i know. You can also use citron acid concentrate to clean alkaline battery residue with it. But vinegar is the most common i think.
Thanks Noel. Another great video. I think I've done this mod at least half a dozen times on Amigas before. For the first half of the video I was thinking "Ohh no he's not gonna expose the CR2032 to 5v recharge is he?". Ohh me of little faith. :)
Thanks! That would have been a dangerous slip! 😃
Thanks Noel for this great video!
I seldom post comments but I discovered your channel 2-3 weeks ago and since then, I can't stop watching your videos again and again, I learn a lot out of them and I also recognize myself in some situations:
I am myself designing and developing my own retro 8-bit computer based on a Z80 and some problems I met are similar to the ones you show in some videos😄
The latest one I can think of is a chip that doesn't "respond" when trying to read a value from it (with Z80's IN instruction). When trying to debug its pins by plugging a logic analyzer, the whole computer stopped working.
The cause? the "failing" chip's CE/ChipEnable pin was not connected... So it was never outputting any value on the data bus. When plugging the logic analyzer, all the pins where pulled-down internally (with a big resistor), so CE was always considered low, messing up the data bus 😅
Nice work noel saved and will last for many years with its new battery .
Pinball dreams nightmare table is my favourite. You have to get the right version though. As the original seems to freeze progress for some reason.
A LIR2032 (with or without PC pins) is a recharge version of that cell.
Good idea for that resistor and diode. I replaced such old Varta battery a couple of months ago on a KCS power pc board. I used also a 2032 for that.
Those dark spots on the wide track indicate that the track got corroded under the mask. I've just repaired the HIC module with such a problem. Though the track looks intact - it's usually not! So, those spots should be cleaned up and track has to be restored, sometime with the help of a wire (in case the corrosion ate the track's full width).
Thanks for showing Pinball Fantasies! I played it on PC with Adlib and this music really brings back those good memories!
They also make 2032 rechargeable batteries. Love to see if that could be used on the board. And restore the recharging function.
I love how your t-shirts relate to the computer you're working on, but I reckon you should wear that Amiga t-shirt next time you work on an Atari ST. 🤣
Maximum trolling level reached! 😃
I would use a 15 mm drill when fixing an Atari ST 😉😁
Thumbs down from all the ST users - 3
*SHOTS FIRED!*
-
_Killing Game Show music starts.._
Thanks for ordering me to remove the batteries from my three A500s -- needed that. All had leaked, but none too badly yet, so caught just about in time. 👍👍
Great to hear that!! 👍
Glad you were able to fix it! I replaced mine aswell maybe a year ago. When I took out my Amiga recently to recap it, I checked the system and the clock still got the correct date and time :-D So it worked perfect :-D
Man, I'm actually glad my A1200 didn't come with a clock chip by default. I got a Microbotics 4MB/FPU board with a clock in 1993, and it had a CR2032 on it already (it's a great board).
Alas, I did lose my A3000T to a bad battery, as it was way too much damage for me to fix myself. I sold it to another guy who specializes in those repairs, and I can only hope he got it up and running again.
Yes, they're the bane of Amigas! So many of them died to leaking batteries!
Oh so there's a contender for Adrian's 8bit Dance Party, yay!
3:06 That trace that seems to be going from the M6242B to the negative of the Battery pad looks too damaged.
The trace connects to the big square pad of the battery but that pad looks totally gone.
Saw this video last night, today I got out the Amiga from the under-stair cupboard. Removed the RAM expansion, had to desolder the metal shield and yes the battery has a white fuzzy coating round it. Sigh. Looks like the corrosion is spreading under the solder mask, but hasn't reached any other components yet. Thanks for the heads up.
Disaster area. The loudest rockband in the Galaxy. Leader is Hot Black Desiato.
He's spending a year dead for tax purposes.
Does anyone else remember the cartoon stay away from that trapdoor!
You might just be the first guy I've seen properly showing how to do the CR2032 conversion. I've been dying to find a simple guide as I have an MSI 486 board I need to fix. Super cool, thanks!
Thank you! Glad it was useful. It's really pretty simple 👍
This problem affects other makes of vintage computers, not only Amigas. The Amigakit store sells a CR2023 holder with built-in diode for exactly this application. The hole and pin layout is standard, so this works on other makes of computers. The Varta batteries are also still available as an industry-standard part (eBay has them) with the same pin layout. Note that these are NiMH, which is compatible with the original NiCd battery, but better technology. Note also, rechargeable lithium cells have different charging requirements from NiCd or NiMH, so will likely need a modified charging circuit if you want to use these.
Sharp dental tools are great for getting under bent-over leads and prying them up.
Had to do this too, my CR2032 adapter had long legs so I was able to have it raised off the board enough to to clear the A500 trapdoor rails. Other than that, I was also lucky in my timing. Some leakage but nothing major and thankfully nothing damaged.
at 4:11 i can see traces that are a little corroded . i usually scratch the green of the trace completely and see if there is small broken link . only then i am pretty sure the trace is fully functional . exellent cleaning i usually do that with acetone. Exellent job . ty
I totally removed the wrong battery a few years ago. :) I was just seeing a battery on my Blizzard 1230 card and decided to panick-snip the connector to get it out. Sooooooo stupid as it was akin to the CR2032. * sigh * After that I decided to give the Amiga a total revamp by someone who actually did know what he was doing. :)
some serious nostalgia here for me, adding a switch to my 512K ram expansion board was my first ever hardware mod, I went a bit further though and actually drilled a hole in my case for the switch, and then seeing you fire up Pinball Fantasies - that was one of my favourites also! Many teenage hours spent on this particular 'fantasy' :)
You could also use lir2032h rechargeable battery which are drop in replacement for cr2032 and would not need the diode + resistor, and could potentially work longer.
You need to add charging circuitry for the LiR2032 since it's a lithium-ion battery.
Maybe the "one-handed jumper" was intended to be used for a hot-swap of the battery without loosing the clock?
I imagine you know this trick, but, when desoldering components having big lug pins (such as the dead battery,) it is helpful to cut away the component, from its pins, before applying heat. This eliminates the battery's mass serving as a heat sink and sucking away the heat that is needed to reflow the pins. This reduces the reflow heating time (a.k.a. "dwell time",) which reduces the likelihood of lifting a pad, or trace. I hope that helps folks just learning to solder.
you could probably mount the resistor on back on the board that it would work fine and the amiga door would close fine
Yet another great video & tutorial :) Thanks Noel
Glad you liked it!
Now you have me thinking about all the stuff I have hiding in my storage... May be time to go Varta hunting!
Yes! Your computers will thank you for it!
Do it! A while back I checked a computer I hadn't looked at in years and years, and the battery had eaten an actual hole about 1cm across through the bottom of the metal CASE - and the motherboard was ruined. But other machines were fine - it depends if you get lucky or not but the risk is only going up!
Almost 50% of viewers liked your content. That's a really good ratio.
Are you talking about this video? I'm seeing almost 4000 views and a bit over 500 likes, so the ratio is about 12% (which is still really good I think). 50% would be insane! 😃
@@NoelsRetroLab At the time I was watching the video - probably early, on you had 770 views approx. and just under 400 likes, I suppose that means the early viewers are your best fans.
Man I wish I could have an Amiga. Maybe you could cover Amiga emulation, how to set it up and enjoy the Amiga virtually.
Yeah but he moslty work with hardware. Emulation is not too hard to set up. :)
Why no supercap as replacement?
Enjoying the project Noel. Your videos are among the best in the business, if not the best. Picking the best is like picking which one of your children you will save when the ship goes down. You have a very good chance!
Also, 17:34 "And now, it's time for some party land" might've been a good time for the dancy party :P Or another dance party. For that matter, why do we even need an excuse to do a dance party? DANCE PARTYYY! \ö/
Channel renamed to: Dance Party Lab 😃 (Honestly, it would probably get a lot more views then).
@Noel's Retro Party Lab YES we need this :'D
Of course, it's not quantity of viewers that matters but quality! Our views are better! I'm sure TH-cam accounts for this somewhere in the stats. Maybe you have to buy some kind of premium service to see the view(er) quality metrics :'D
Love watching your videos here on You Tube. So educational and informative that i find your restoration of old gem consoles so absorbing. Well done indeed and carry on that great work :)
Great video! I love the Amstrad version of Funky Stars.
Fairly sure the Amiga 500+ itself doesn't have an onboard clock, yet it has a VARTA battery on board.
I remember watching a video, hearing it has a varta, I immediately pulled mine out of the cupboard and snipped off the battery.
Shottky diode has lower voltage drop, so the battery will last way longer with it compared to regular diode.
Alternatively you could use rechargable ml2032 instead of non-rechargable cr2032
Sure ?
more Voltage on the Chip. Chip drains more Power
it's possible...
;-)
@@Ratzfaz Sure :) Chip will drain more or less the same power, so its the matter of how much we lose on a diode
It's sad that Commodore and others would have never even thought about the problems those pesky batteries would cause in the future back when making the machines, I was given an early Amiga2000 some years ago and I knew the first thing I needed to do was open it up and remove the offending item. Sadly I was too late, far too late the horrors I found inside was like no other leakage I'd ever seen, with over half the entire board corroded. There was no hope for it so I salvaged the chip set and other parts and cleaned them up but never got around to testing them but I suspect the CPU was probable dead.
When checking the voltage to the real-time-clock chip, you measured the supply voltage relative to ground at a point on the PCB. Ideally, you should have measured between power and ground pins on the IC since that would also verify both PCB power traces to the chip. I am pretty sure that the negative trace to the chip still has a break in it (now hidden under the battery holder). I would also have considered a supercapacitor rather than a non-rechargeable Lithium battery, since this would also work well and would mean no other circuit changes would be required.
Instant NiCad-removal! Please spread the word!
(even some TH-camrs try to push charge those old blooming NiCDs without mercy. I was really horified by todays LMNC video)
Varta! Destroyer of worlds.
Exactamente el mismo trabajo que le hice a mi 500. Por suerte encontre en su momento el datasheet de la pila CR que recomendaba el diodo+resistencia. Todo funciono perfecto en el programa de Test. Luego descubri que muchas versiones del Workbench tenian un bug y no tomaban bien el RTC. Hay mucha info al respecto. (Sorry for the spanish post. Saturday laziness kicked in)
I've got two A500+, they have the varta death hell batteries right there on the motherboard, right next to the data path. One of them is going to need some tracks rebuilding... doh. The other is okie dokie. good job I checked them a little while ago and tore those leaky horrors off the boards (well, unsoldered them anyway).
Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet but did you look into using a LIR2032 rechargeable 2032 battery instead of using the resister and diode? I have heard you can replace the varta with the coin cell holder and the LIR2032 without any modifications to the circuit.
I have Pinball Fantasies for the 64-bit Atari Jaguar! Stones and Bones is my favorite board. I got a score over 10 billion on it one night after 4 hours of "in the zone" play!
My original A500 memory expansion board died due to leaking battery corrosion. It was a mess. Luckily it was confined to the board and didn't migrate to the main PCB
Lets expand up on this. If you have any old items with batteries make sure that the batteries are removed.
You should use germanium diodes. They have way lower voltage drop ( i have a few as that said .2v) I think they have a bit higher leakage but i doubt it will do anything. Also lithium cells dont explode, i tried charging several of them and they didnt even leak, they just degraded even further. (As in 2.5v before charging, 1v after charging.)
I suspect that by the time the battery voltage drops enough that the voltage after the diodes is below 2V, it's already way dead so I don't think it would make much of a difference. Interesting about the charge current though. The datasheet sounded really picky about restricting that, so I figured bad things would happen. Good to hear it's not that bad 😃
Removing the battery is particularly important on the A500 Plus because it's on the motherboard, which then gets ruined by the leakage.
Nice repair! Keep up the good work.
The top layer track from the negative battery terminal to the RTC IC (under the battery holder) seem to be broken... you haven't checked the continuity between BAT - and GND of the RTC IC, and during measuring back-up voltage you have used a ground jumper next to the battery instead of GND IC pin. The IC will hold the time even without battery attached for a few minutes.
Yes, that was my first thought too, but I did check it (probably off camera). I think I showed the connection of ground battery connector to pin, and pin to RTC IC though, so that should be fine. Or am I misunderstanding it?
@@NoelsRetroLab It seems ok, but even if the continuity is there now, the corrosion inside that square pad may progress over time. The ground jumper pin is connected directly with the round battery pad, on the bottom layer, and only a capacitor is there. The main battery ground goes on the top layer via the square pad, to the RTC. That wide track from the square negative terminal to the RTC didn't look too good, same about the track between the round pad, where you have connected the battery holder pin, to the square pad. On the camera, you have only measured the positive battery at the IC, while you took the negative terminal from that jumper pin, which is on the other side of the damaged and potentially broken track.
And one more remark - IPA is not good for neutralizing the leaked alkaline, some mild acid, like a vinegar, is much better.
Interesting video. However why not just use a rechargeable CR02 equivalent?
Pretty fun. 16 bits just seems like so many to me :)
There is a recharable version of the CR2032 and other CR coin cells available i think. The CR prefix is changed to some other letters but i can't remember what they are.
You can get lithium ion ones which are called LIR2032. Some modifications to the board might still be required to avoid the lithium cell exploding, as the charging requirements are different to NiCd cells.
I had some sort of hybrid A500, that had like 4mb in total or something (or maybe 8mb?) I can't remember exactly...
can't remember what expansion was in it, but it was very similar, although a little longer, and I believe there was a ribbon with a chip that replaced an existing one on the main board..... was sooo long ago, wish I had never sold the thing :(
with that kind of leg difference (on the CR2032 holder) I'd probably just bend the pins slightly, just jam it in, then solder it ¦3
I had exactly the same problem with an old 386(and its cursed battery of course...) I opened a few months ago. It doesn' t power up, so I locked it away again.
But to return to the beautiful reality, I have seen a video with another similar type of battery(CR2032) having an extra "M" letter, I think. they were rechargeable. Can you do some research and tell us if it works?
IPSTORM next? YESSSSSSSSSSS…..
How long does such a replacement battery typically last?
I've read that it usually lasts 2-3 years. So not great, but it's OK. Heck, batteries in smoke detectors only last a year and you have to go all around the house climbing on ladders to replace them 😃
You seem to have a huge backlog of videos, how interesting!
Well, the early ones aren't up to the same standards of the ones I'm making now, but hopefully you'll still find some you enjoy 😃
@@NoelsRetroLab all your videos rock Noel, now, please do that CPC 664 repair video :P you know it will be awesome
Nice video Noel. Can we sue Varta for all the damages we have to deal with ?
Haha! Good luck. Besides, I'm sure in their product description they say something about having to replace them after 5 years 😃
@@NoelsRetroLab Hehe. Yes. Btw, do you know how long does those coin cells last when used for this application?
There was a track going from the - side of the battery (now under the holder) which looks like it isn't connected. Where did it go, was it connected and was that important? :)
I own a Amiga 3000, attached a battery wired two pin slide on cap connector, relocated battery off the motherboard to side on motherboard, battery completely wrapped.
instead of using a CR2032 and killing the charging circuit with a diode, wouldn't it have save time and effort to use a supercapacitor in replacement of the Varta battery? I think that's what in my HP servers, but I'm not so sure any longer.
Why not just get the ML2032? They are the same size but rechargeable.
Also, good soldering practice says to cut legs of components to size before soldering as the snap of the cutting tool might make breaks in the solder invisible to the naked eye.
I'm not a battery expert, but I don't think you can just permanently leave the ML2032 batteries charging. I think you need some extra logic to stop it when it reaches a certain voltage. Mostly I just used the 2032s because it's what I had around and it was simple enough.
@@NoelsRetroLab Fair enough. They probably work like all other Li-ion batteries; you shouldn't have them constantly connected to a charger.
Interesting theory about cutting the leads first. I have read a similar caution many years ago about dropping solid state devices on hard surfaces as it could crack the junction. However in the past 40 years I have hand assembled hundreds of through-hole PC boards cutting the leads after soldering. Never experienced the problem you describe. Perhaps this comes form ultra reliable construction directives. Like NASA on a space probe or satellite construction where later repair is simply not an option.
I've been worried about my A500 for ages, But it is wrapped up in foam and burried under a lot of other stuff at the back of a small part of the attic that I cant get to since my accident. Oops.
Wierdly the Ram showed up as Slow/chip ram rather than the usual fast ram. I wonder what the difference is as all the 500 half meg expansions of the time were Fast Ram. I used to have to use the command fastmemfirst to get the max 512k chip ram for use in Soundtracker :)
Pinball Fantasies! What a game!
Seriously. So good! I feel kind of bad that I never explored the TV show table much at all.
Lithium button cells was invented in 70s and they were still using crappy NiCd batteries.
They were using NiCd batteries because they were rechargeable, at that time rechargeable Li batteries were at most experimental, and even today they need quite a sophisticate circuitry to make them safe. Said that, I still have a couple rechargeable NiCd batteries from that time that don't have any problem, the ones I have seen exploded are all Varta branded.
@@ernestuz RTC can run for years from a single coin cell, it doesn't need to be rechargeable. And lithium coin cells don't leak at all. For example see the backup coin cells in Nintendo game cartridges.
Why not use an ML2032? It's rechargeable. You might need additional circuitry - just a thought. Not sure.
I'm not sure I would have used a zener instead of a normal diode in that application.
10:00 oooor we can use a VR2032 insted - rechargable CR2032 batery :)
Disaster Area is my favorite band.
Who was the smart-asses that designed it to have the battery directly onto the board?
Ooo, I caught that Turrican 2 theme in there! :'D I love that song!
Also, 16 bits is absolutely /perfect/ I say :P I even (occasionally :-\) work on my own (toy) 16-bit ISA that I hope to implement in hardware some day
Turrican 2 had some of the best music on the Amiga! And we're all drawn to good experiences we had. I'm still more comfortable in 8-bit land, but I can see the attractiveness of 16 bits 😃
Buen trabajo!!👍
worth noting that it's not a VARTA thing, it's NiCd batteries in general.
There are the type that allow with recharge for the coin cell battery but can be tricky to find
Hi Noel, I think my previous comment was removed because of the URL I've included. My apologies I'm not advertising for anyone. All I wanted to say is that there are PCBs to solve the problem with CR2032 batteries including a diode to avoid charging the battery by the Amiga. I also indicated that the RTC chip 72421 is much better than the existing M6242 as it's more accurate, it does not need an oscillator, and it does not need the adjustment variable capacitor. I hope you keep my comment :) and sorry for posting the URL earlier; non-intentional.
Hi Ali, I'm afraid that was TH-cam removing comments automatically. I didn't even see your earlier comment. I knew about the pre-made PCBs with the fix for the charging current (I just didn't have any with me), but that's very interesting about the RTC chip. I didn't know about the 72421 and its advantages. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
@@NoelsRetroLab No worries Noel. I really love all the videos you make and the amazing ideas that you come up with. I have several Amigas (actually, more than 7!!). The RTC 72421 and M6242 are supposed to be pin compatible yet the former is much more stable. I have modded my A500plus onboard RTC as well as all the memory expansions that come with the older M6242.
I don't quite understand why the voltage drop of the diode + resistor is only 0.2V. Isn't a diode drop usually 0.6V or 0.7V?
It would have been a schottky diode that was used " In a normal diode, the voltage drop is between 0.6 to 1.7 volts, while in a Schottky diode the voltage drop normally ranges between 0.15 and 0.45volts."
Stupid question... There was already a diode between the battery and 5v you couldn't just change it and also change the resistor to the correct value? (Instead of the 2 components at the resistor spot)
Not stupid at all! As far as I can tell (by looking at the card since we don't have schematics) there's a diode allowing current to flow from the 5V supply to the capacitor and then on to the RTC chip. But that same current would flow into the battery, that's why we need to put a diode pointing in the opposite direction. Hard to explain without a drawing. Does that make sense? Or did I misunderstand your question?
@@NoelsRetroLab oh I see thanks!
Okay, I got a question for you: I've got an Amiga 1200 with a processor and RAM upgrade + a recent addition; the Indivision AGA Mk3 scanline doubler, which gives my Amiga an HDMI-port (no analogue to digital conversion as it's grabbing data directly from the graphics chip). After adding the scanline doubler, I can only run the Amiga for a few minutes before it crashes with random errors and sometimes just a fullscreen random color. After the first crash I can only run it for seconds. Do you think heat is the issue? And how would I go about solving that, if it is? If you need any more information, please don't hesitate to ask. If you want to PM me, that'd be awesome too. I work in IT fixing PCs and the occassional Apple devices, but this Amiga has me stumped. Please, I desperately need help.
It's really hard to diagnose like this 😃 Hop on over to Discord (link in the description) and tell us about it in the repair-help channel. As for the heat, that should be easy to test: Try leaving the case off, or blowing a fan and seeing if things change. You can go as far as using a cold spray like I did in one of my videos to narrow it down. Good luck!
Will you incorporate the switch into the casing for convenience?
Nice video and again with the amazing shirts #16bitdanceparty
The horrors. Varta
better idea is replace type of battery, maybe a rechargeable lithium battery can be added there with step down module
What kind of diode did you use or recommend? It has to be a Schottky diode or?
The diode type isn't super crucial. I used 1N4148 because I had that on hand, but you could use a Schottky with a small voltage drop if you want.
@@NoelsRetroLab Thank you very much! I wish you a nice weekend Sir!
@@var67 again, I don't get it either? Was that perhaps a defective diode? That's why I avoid buying those hobbyist parts packs where you get an assortment of parts for $1 or whatever i.e. old fashioned Radio Shack. These are often "floor sweepings" from assembly lines.
VARTA!!!! When will us retro nerds rise up and destroy the evil Varta and its minions?
memegenerator.net/instance/30408613/this-is-sparta-meme-this-is-varta
@@NoelsRetroLab LMAO!
THIS...IS...VARTA!!!!!! 😂😂😂😂
I'm curious, why didn't you use a rechargeable 2032? Would that not have worked? Thanks! :)