Cartridge Battery Replacement
Hi there. I am the owner of a moderately large game collection and have found that some of my NES, SNES, and Genesis carts are losing their saves due to failing batteries. I've worried about this for some time but I think it's about time I took care of all of them (including my N64, and Game Boy carts) so I won't have to worry about them again for as long as possible.
I'm not especially concerned with losing my saves, although I'd love to hear about any options that might exist. I am thinking about modifying my games to use battery holders so future changes won't require resoldering. (if reasonably possible due to cart size) Is there a source somewhere that can tell me which games have what battery sizes? I really don't want to open them all up until I need to actually work on them.
I have too many games needing to be worked on to consider hiring someone to do this, especially since I'm not a stranger to a soldering iron, but I would appreciate any insight on what kind of batteries and holders (if applicable) that I should look at acquiring for this project.
Thanks in advance.
I'm not especially concerned with losing my saves, although I'd love to hear about any options that might exist. I am thinking about modifying my games to use battery holders so future changes won't require resoldering. (if reasonably possible due to cart size) Is there a source somewhere that can tell me which games have what battery sizes? I really don't want to open them all up until I need to actually work on them.
I have too many games needing to be worked on to consider hiring someone to do this, especially since I'm not a stranger to a soldering iron, but I would appreciate any insight on what kind of batteries and holders (if applicable) that I should look at acquiring for this project.
Thanks in advance.
Comments
Hi there. I am the owner of a moderately large game collection and have found that some of my NES, SNES, and Genesis carts are losing their saves due to failing batteries. I've worried about this for some time but I think it's about time I took care of all of them (including my N64, and Game Boy carts) so I won't have to worry about them again for as long as possible.
I'm not especially concerned with losing my saves, although I'd love to hear about any options that might exist. I am thinking about modifying my games to use battery holders so future changes won't require resoldering. (if reasonably possible due to cart size) Is there a source somewhere that can tell me which games have what battery sizes? I really don't want to open them all up until I need to actually work on them.
I have too many games needing to be worked on to consider hiring someone to do this, especially since I'm not a stranger to a soldering iron, but I would appreciate any insight on what kind of batteries and holders (if applicable) that I should look at acquiring for this project.
Thanks in advance.
if you are going to replace them i reccomend this battery holder for nes genesis and snes games
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Harwin/S8421-45R/?qs=Qom7kyPojXY6z0Gmx3V3RQ==
And the best battery would be a duracell cr2032 cr2025 cr2016 branded batterys.
for gbc and gb game you can get pretabed battries or what i do is pop the old battery off the tabs and tape a new battery down with electric tape.
also if you want to keep your saves you can get your self a retrode to back up your saves and rewrite the saves back to the cart after the battery is replaced.
Originally posted by: Nes Freak
or what i do is pop the old battery off the tabs and tape a new battery down with electric tape.
that never works for long just saying.
Originally posted by: Koopa64
Originally posted by: Nes Freak
or what i do is pop the old battery off the tabs and tape a new battery down with electric tape.
that never works for long just saying.
well for me it does. i use super glue and pull it around the battery as tight as possible. ive never had an issue so far and ive done around 10 battery's
Originally posted by: Koopa64
Originally posted by: Nes Freak
or what i do is pop the old battery off the tabs and tape a new battery down with electric tape.
that never works for long just saying.
well for me it does. i use super glue and pull it around the battery as tight as possible. ive never had an issue so far and ive done around 10 battery's
That sounds like a real mess to me... What happens in another ten years when you have to replace the battery again and it's stuck in with superglue?
The only thing I think I really need to know at the moment is if the battery holders will fit in an N64 cart as well. Then I'll figure out exactly how many I need, which I'll get around to in time when I know I can afford it. It's certainly shaping up to be more expensive than some $100 carts, but it'll be worth it in the end.
or what i do is pop the old battery off the tabs and tape a new battery down with electric tape.
that never works for long just saying.
well for me it does. i use super glue and pull it around the battery as tight as possible. ive never had an issue so far and ive done around 10 battery's
That sounds like a real mess to me... What happens in another ten years when you have to replace the battery again and it's stuck in with superglue?
nope not at all. i tape it and i just put a little on the end before i tape it down i dont put glue all over the battery. yeah that would be messy. it works that all i can say.
ive tried other ways. soldering would be the best way but not very safe with using high heat on lithium battries directly. i tried shrink tubing but it doesnt hold very well. the pre tabbed battries work but quality can be hit and miss.
I already tried popping off the tabs, to reuse them with tape (because tabbed batteries are a pain for me to get) and found it's far, FAR, easier to just heat up the old solder and replace the battery correctly.
The only thing I think I really need to know at the moment is if the battery holders will fit in an N64 cart as well. Then I'll figure out exactly how many I need, which I'll get around to in time when I know I can afford it. It's certainly shaping up to be more expensive than some $100 carts, but it'll be worth it in the end.
Be aware that there are only a handful of N64 games that use batteries to save (around 12 I think). The majority of N64 games that save to the cart do so using an EEPROM chip, which will not degrade anywhere near as quickly as a battery. Most GBA games also save to EEPROM, unless they have an internal clock or some other feature requiring a battery, such as the Pokemon games. Hope this helps!