Reluctant to Collect Older Carts with Save Feature?

[philosophyst]

I have been a little reluctant in collecting and/or buying older games with the save batteries lateley. The original NES, Gameboy and SNES cartridges are a part of my collection but when I see a save feature cart "in the wild" or a good deal on ebay, I think twice. Even if it does end up working when I get it, how long will that little battery hold up? How easy is it to replace the batteries in NES, SNES and original Gameboy or even GBC carts?

Anyone else?


Another quick thought: have you ever noticed how few sellers on ebay say anything about save features and if they still work when selling these games? Most do say if they are tested or not but are we to assume this means the save works as well or just that the game boots up?
x_x

[dieourumov]

I usually ask if the battery save works, but it seems the sellers always state it on Zelda, but i never see it on other games.

[s1lence]

Even if the battery is bad, they are super easy to replace. I never worry about battery backups.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Even if the battery is bad, they are super easy to replace. I never worry about battery backups.


For real. Even if you don't know how to soldering iron you could always stick a replacement battery in with some electrical tape.

[philosophyst]

Even if the battery is bad, they are super easy to replace. I never worry about battery backups.


For real. Even if you don't know how to soldering iron you could always stick a replacement battery in with some electrical tape.

For real? LOL Haven't heard that in a while!

Anyway, where do you get these batteries? I have seen them for the NES carts before but do the same work in SNES? What about Gameboy, what kind of battery do these take?

Any info besides "how easy it is to do" would be great. :)

[racketboy]

Yeah, I'd love to see a guide as well for this!

[Leroy]

I don't think I've ever come across a bad battery yet. I don't think it's as big of an issue as some people want to make it out to be.

A guide to change the battery? It's simple.. open the cart, desolder the battery, solder a new batter in its place. Replace desolder with "rip out" and solder with "tape" if you don't have a soldering iron, though obviously that's the lesser of the two methods.

I think the battery used in all these games is a CR2032.

[Jagasian]

I have some recent experience with this, as I have about 50 NES and SNES carts that need their batteries replaced. Basically the save feature works by using a battery-backed SRAM memory chip. This chip requires power at all times to keep the save, hence when you turn off your NES or SNES, the chip gets power from a CR2032 battery that is soldered to the cart's circuit board.

In fact, the carts use a special version of the CR2032 that has solder legs permenantly attached to the battery (not just soldered). Hence replacement is a little more complicated than just desoldering the battery. You have to also desolder the battery terminals or solder legs too.

When it comes to SNES carts, I suggest replacing your carts' CR2032 batteries with a CR2032 battery holder. This has a slightly higher up-front cost of about 50 cents maximum, but it will save you time, money, effort, and even carts in the long run as once you desolder the original battery and solder in the battery holder, battery replacement is easy, just eject the old battery and insert a new battery: NO MORE SOLDERING REQUIRED! Also, the CR2032 batteries with the solder legs attached are more expensive than regular CR2032s, so in the long run, if you go without a holder, you will pay more, as each replacement in the future costs extra. The battery holder approach means that you can use a standard legless CR2032 battery, which you can find in your local grocery store's battery section. Another factoid is that the CR2032's with the legs attached have a lower capacity than other CR2032's. I am not sure why this is the case, but it is a reality.

Of course, it is best to buy these batteries and battery holders in bulk online as opposed to in a store, as you save money, even if you are only buying 10 batteries and 10 battery holders - you will save a few bucks by shopping online. Here is the battery holder that I fits in my Super Mario World cart:
http://www.mouser.com/index.cfm?handler=displayproduct&lstdispproductid=442363&e_categoryid=72&e_pcodeid=01207

Note that I haven't tested out other SNES carts yet, but there is a good chance that it will work in other carts too. Make sure to check out the data sheet and stuff, so you see what it looks like. You can also look at your PC's motherboard, which most likely uses a CR2032 battery and holder to keep your BIOS settings. Yup, PC mobos were designed to make battery replacement easy, hence they don't just solder a battery to the mobo.

Since we are talking about using high-quality parts, I also suggest this slightly more expensive brand of CR2032:
http://www.mouser.com/index.cfm?handler=displayproduct&lstdispproductid=312916&e_categoryid=162&e_pcodeid=61401

That Renata brand CR2032 has an excellent life span, quality , and capacity (235mAh)! Each battery also comes in a separate retail package! Out of all of the CR2032s I have bought online and in stores, that Renata model is the best. Hence you can replace your old battery with a Renata and then not worry about replacement until another 10 years from now. Other brands/models won't last nearly as long!

Oh and another thing, don't even try to use electrical tape to replace the battery! The battery will be prone to accidental ejection, causing you to lose your saves, and you will still need to desolder the old battery, as after many years, they can start to leak corrosive chemicals that will destroy your cart from the inside out! Battery holders are the best solution in the long run. They hold the battery so well that you would have to hit your cart with such a high amount of force that the cart would be destroyed before the battery was accidentally ejected.

Now for those that shy away from soldering: I don't do electronics, but I learned enough about desoldering and soldering by 30 minutes of google searching and reading... oh and I experimented / taught myself by using a spare duplicate cart, so it was OK if I broke it. I found that the best method for desoldering is to use copper desolder braid, which you can buy at radioshack. So search on google for a tutorial (with pics/diagrams) for soldering and desoldering. I used this soldering iron station:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F009%5F007%5F003&product%5Fid=64%2D2184

...and this desoldering braid:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F009%5F007%5F004&product%5Fid=64%2D2090

You can also get solder from Radioshack too. All of the parts together don't cost much and it is a necessity for taking care of your old carts, so just put up the money for it! From directions found via google and those that come with the soldering iron and desoldering braid, I was able to get everything done correctly.

As far as installing the battery holder, there are a few things to note about installing it in a SNES cart:

The holder is placed in the same place that the old battery was, which of course should already be desoldered along with its legs. The battery holder's solder pin spacing is about 2-3 milimeters too far apart for the SNES solder holes which the old battery's legs poked thru, but a pair of flat nosed pilers and some careful bending allow for a good fit in the holes. I found that it is best to bend each pin of the battery holder in a tigh upside-down "L" shape so as to make the spacing about 2 milimeters closer together. I also decided to put 3 drops of hot glue on the bottom of the connector before soldering it into place, so as to help keep it secured onto and flush with the surface of the PCB, even though the two solder legs which are soldered into the two holes also help keep it secured to the PCB. It is a nice fit all together, but the plastic case is a mildly tight squeeze. If you compare the specification of the holder against all others, you will notice that it is very low profile. This same battery holder would work for NES carts, if not for a small plastic tab inside NES cart cases.

This kind of thing is best demonstrated with pictures. I plan on getting a digital camera sometime soon. Once I do, I will take pictures of the entire process of replacing a SNES cart's old battery with a battery holder. I will even take a picture of inserting a battery into the holder, just for completeness. Once I get pics of the entire process, I will write up a bettery illustrated tutorial, with sub-tutorials on desoldering and soldering. I should also point out that I successfully installed a CR2032 battery holder in my NES carts, by using a different holder and a different installation method. Again, I will save the details for when I get a digital camera.

I assume digitpress.com could give me a meg of web space in order to host the tutorial, once I get around to writing it up?

[Jibbajaba]

Shame on all of you (except Jagasian). Knowledge Base is your friend.

http://www.digitpress.com/livefaq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=25&id=18&artlang=en

Actually shame on Jagasian, too. You should have written up a KB article on all of that.


I assume digitpress.com could give me a meg of web space in order to host the tutorial, once I get around to writing it up?

I weep...

Chris

[Jagasian]

I assume digitpress.com could give me a meg of web space in order to host the tutorial, once I get around to writing it up?

I weep...

Chris

Sorry, I didn't know where to check. Anyway, knowing to use a battery holder is one thing, but knowing which battery holder actually fits is a topic in and of itself. It took me quite some time to find a holder that fits in the SNES cart. The nice thing is that once you have a holder installed, in a way, your cart is better than it was even when you bought it new.

[dreams]

The search feature on the forums is also your friend. ;)

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39562

[Jibbajaba]

I assume digitpress.com could give me a meg of web space in order to host the tutorial, once I get around to writing it up?

I weep...

Chris

Anyway, knowing to use a battery holder is one thing, but knowing which battery holder actually fits is a topic in and of itself. It took me quite some time to find a holder that fits in the SNES cart. The nice thing is that once you have a holder installed, in a way, your cart is better than it was even when you bought it new.

Sounds like something that would be good at writing up into a KB article. :)

Chris

[philosophyst]

The search feature on the forums is also your friend. ;)

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39562

Actually, my question is not only about how to change the batteries. I was asking if others are reluctant to buy/collect these games due to the save battery. Why are you people always pointing to other related threads and saying about the search feature being your friend. Can we only discuss a general topic just one time? The above link was a discussion from last year.

[§ Gideon §]

It's all about the game. Save schmave. If it's a good game and I don't want to replace the battery, I guess that means I'll be playing it straight through.

[Dr. Morbis]

It's all about the game. Save schmave. If it's a good game and I don't want to replace the battery, I guess that means I'll be playing it straight through.
That's the spirit that beat the Germans!

Actually I don't think I've ever come across a dead battery either. I think the problem with NES games is that people are confusing accidental erasure with a dead battery. So many people can't even seem to get a standard NES working, so I'm not surprised that many people would also fail to turn off their NES save carts correctly.

Also, I only play save games on a modded non-flashing NES. That way the flashing screen of death never gets a chance to appear and destroy hours of hard in-game work.

[phreak97]

i read somewhere in my cib zelda 2 that you should hold reset while you turn it off to prevent gamesave problems.. is that the 'correct' way you speak of?

[phreak97]

i read somewhere in my cib zelda 2 that you should hold reset while you turn it off to prevent gamesave problems.. is that the 'correct' way you speak of?

[dreams]

The search feature on the forums is also your friend. ;)

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39562

Actually, my question is not only about how to change the batteries. I was asking if others are reluctant to buy/collect these games due to the save battery. Why are you people always pointing to other related threads and saying about the search feature being your friend. Can we only discuss a general topic just one time? The above link was a discussion from last year.

I was responding to those, who in this very topic, asked for a guide or writeup on how to change batteries. Us "people" like helping people out like that. And the "search feature is your friend" line was playing off of Jibbajaba's post about the Knowledge Base.

I'm very well aware of the fact that you weren't specifically asking for just a guide for changing batteries - that's why I didn't lock the topic when I posted that.

Relax. It's all good. 8-)

[Zing]

i read somewhere in my cib zelda 2 that you should hold reset while you turn it off to prevent gamesave problems.. is that the 'correct' way you speak of?

Posts like this make me feel ancient. I can't imagine how many people of my generation religiously held in the reset button on their NES.

[Sylentwulf]

Just for the record, I do have a game battery set for sale, and always have:
http://www.electricquarter.com/bitbattery.htm

I've never used battery holders though, I've either soldered them back on the correct way, or just used electrical tape. Usually, I just use electrical tape since it's being sealed back up inside the game cart case and noone will see it anyways.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm pretty surprised to have found that certain of my SNES carts still have good batteries - i.e. my Super Mario RPG has a good one, though Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has a dead one.

Link's Awakening? Dead, dead dead dead. :(

Every battery in every Macintosh I've bought? DEAD

Party like it's 1956, guys!

[Frica89]

I was over my friends house the other day and i went to throw out a can of soda. In the trash can i saw a copy of exitebike! @_@ I asked him about it and he said he was throwin out the games 'cause his NES broke. He ended up giving me (for free!!!) the exitebike, zelda 1, contra, blades of steel, and a couple blue cases and sleeves. All of them work great, with the exception that the battery is dead in zelda. This completely pisses me off. :angry:

[ubersaurus]

Doesn't Nintendo still replace cart batteries for you if you mail em in?

[Zing]

double post

PS: Why isn't my signature working? :embarrassed:

[Zing]

I wonder why some batteries seem to last longer than others? I just sold my NES collection last year and all of my original NES game batteries still worked. Dragon Warrior, Zelda 1 & 2, Final Fantasy, etc. They saved fine and still had my save games on them even though I hadn't loaded them up for 10 years. If my copy of Zelda bought in 88 works fine, why do other copies, or even newer versions not last as long?

[Daria]

Another quick thought: have you ever noticed how few sellers on ebay say anything about save features and if they still work when selling these games? Most do say if they are tested or not but are we to assume this means the save works as well or just that the game boots up?
x_x

One of the things I always do when I sell a game is test the save file, and then mention it in the auction. But then I always take a picture of the game playing on a tv set which few sellers bother to do either.

As for worrying about batteries? Never. The only cart I own with a dead bettery is Super Mario World, and it's not a big deal. Keep in mind I collect RPGs so my collection is made up almost exclusivly of battery operated video games.

And if I ever had a mass failing of batteries I think it would be time to invest in a soldering iron. After that figuring out how to do it just becomes a matter of looking online and a little good ol' fashion trial and error.

[sabre2922]

I dont collect carts only CD or DVD based systems for me all the cart systems are much to easy to emulate BUT if I did i would probably still pick up the battery carts Ive heard that many dont work but I still have my original gold NES Zelda cartridge and the last time I checked (2 years ago) it still had all of my saves on it.