After several weeks telling me they could provide a CMOS battery, Dell changed their mind and said they can't get it after all.
The I went to local battery place and they want $50 to build one.
Does anyone have a suggestion where to buy a CMOS battery for a Dell Latitude CPx laptop at a sensible price?
does it have a voltage on it?
ebay or even the $1 will have the main types….even coles if it's a cr2032
It seems to be a special 7.2V NiMH thingy according to a search.
if that's the case, i'd pull the battery out and try and match it. 2 CR2032 batteries (stacked) would make 6 volts… and i'm assuming that would be enough to run a clock :/
http://www.energizer.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/pdf/special… (scroll to the bottom).
Just compare the existing dimensions there.
EDIT: it might not be a button battery, could be a line like this: http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_6-v40h-wr.htm
In that case i'd get the voltage, visit jaycar, buy a good voltage battery. Cut and resolder the battery onto the existing cable. Run some heatshrink over it and bingo, problem solved.
But the CR2032s being non-chargeable Li cells they might not like being charged as the NiMH would.
that is correct, there appears to be nimh button cells online. but appears op might have a line battery
cant edit my comment :/
It will more than likely be 1 or 2 CR2032 lithium button batteries which you can buy from most supermarkets/Dick Smith/etc.
http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/Power-Supplies/Batteries/C-D-AND-SPECIALITY/EN2032BP2?catargetid=1402860417&cadevice={device}
(sorry, tried to make hyperlink but it didn't work)
That would be true of many laptops, but not in this case:
http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_6-v40h-wr.htm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/computers-accessories/dp/B009XA95JA
Just a couple of examples, not suggesting that these are the best prices.
Fair enough.
Interesting…
Our Varta 6-V40H-WR replacement CMOS battery comprises:
six Varta V40H NiMH cells in a row.
a 2 pin connector.
8 cm cable.
shrink wrap marked "7.2V 40mAh Ni-MH, 6/V 40H, D P/N 60906".
You could almost make one yourself.
As a complete unit Jaycar may have the battery or point you in the right direction.
You'd still have to replace it though which sounds like a job.
Either way it won't be an easy job. Here is an explanation…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsQl7HAcFDU
I think you'd want to pay a shop about $150 to do this but is it worth it?
Yeah some of those laptops are hell to disassemble to reach some components. I had one where the BIOS battery (fortunately a CR2032 equivalent with metal tags so I had to stick the existing tag onto the replacement) required taking out the CPU heat sink in the process.
You could try not letting the laptop battery die? On my old Dell laptop, the cmos battery was kaput too, but as long as I didn't let the laptop battery die or remove it from the laptop, it seems to keep the time ok.
Thanks for the replies. I already have the laptop apart. And yes, it was a nightmare to get to the CMOS battery. Took it apart months ago in fact, but then found the battery was going to cost $50 - so I stopped there. Why? Well, the CD-ROM had recently failed, so I'd bought a new DVD burner from ebay USA. Replaced its two batteries that died (found they work on a TIMER - and act like they're dead after you've used them a certain number of hours - no matter if they're still good or not!)… Then the CMOS battery went too. In short it kept costing money and still wasn't working. I'd already spent so much on it, but kept thinking was it worth a little more after spending all that - but again - would that be the end of it!?
Anyway, when I disconnected the CMOS battery, the wires broke off. So now I don't know which way around they go. I did try ebay at the time. But one guy was selling it with three wires, another with two. And the second guy said in his auction description, in some laptops the wires had to be cut, reversed, and soldered - so just copy your original. Of course, with the two wires broken off - I had nothing to copy.
A set of stacked CR2032's wouldn't fit in the space. And every restart I have to change some BIOS settings before it will boot.
Thanks again.
So now I don't know which way around they go
what colours were the wires? generally they indicate the polarity (or it might be written on the MB)
Red & black. But they broke off at their own plug - and the white plastic socket on the motherboard itself was brittle and broke off too (which I wasn't clear on before).
There's little tin terminators on the end of the wires. Both wires broke off just above their terminators. So I now can't tell which wire went where. If I get a new battery, I'll probably try and work out the common circuit track with a multimeter.
If I were you I'd consign the laptop to desktop duty and live with a battery pack velcroed to the side with wires running into the laptop. You could get a 6 cell AA battery holder, put in 6 old alkaline cells in series with a diode to prevent "charging" of the cells, giving 1.3V * 6 - 0.6V = 7.2V. Alternatively 5 new cells giving 1.5V * 5 - 0.6V = 6.9V. That would be a cheap solution but no more portability.
Ah, a man after my own heart. ;-) I thought of drilling a hole and doing that if I couldn't find a suitable cheapie.
$5-10 on ebay
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DELL-Latitude-CP-CPi-CPt-CPx-Rese…
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DELL-Latitude-CP-CPi-CPt-CPx-Rese…
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-40mAh-DELL-LATITUDE-CP-CPi-CP…
edit: sounds like this thing came over on the Ark. It's nearly 15 years old?
Yeah, I bought it second hand at a computer market when it was about four years old. I barely got to use it before everything started dying. Everything but the CMOS battery has now been replaced. It's probably time for the batteries to fail again, since I haven't used them. It has a wireless card and TV out plug. So I was going to use it as an entertainment centre. (Gave up buying DVDs and going to the movies years ago.)
I tried a search and got some hits on eBay. Have you tried that?