How do you replace a Single Black CPS2 Unit's suicide battery?

Supreme Emperor

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How do you replace a Single Black CPS2 Unit's suicide battery?

I have Marvel VS Capcom in the black metal case with single board.

I've been arcade collecting for about 2 years now and I've learned one very important thing about this hobby: knowledge is everything and the more you know the better you can preserve your growing expensive collection. Some arcade games have the stupid suicide battery that kills the functionality of your game's board and when the on board battery dies this is a big bummer for me. As I have no clue on how to revive or Phoenix games. From my experience the easiest board to swap the battery is the CPS2 (CP System 2) A & B board by Capcom. From what I can tell The Single Black CPS2 Unit games seem to be an uncommon variation of CPS2 and that you can't change their battery like you can the b-boards. The single board dies the moment you remove the battery. So how can I do this without killing my game?
 
Keep it powered up while you do the battery swap. (?)

I was told that if I do that I could cause a short in the cabinet or even in the game or the encryption data will get corrupted. Once it's corrupted, it's as good as dead which is because the all in 1 black boards don't use the same socket EPROMS that the typical B boards use to store the encrypted data. They have it on a single SIMM and I was told that they can't be phoenixed like traditional CPS2 B boards can.

Now are you guessing that's how to change the battery or have you actually done this with this type of CPS2? Not saying you are wrong and to be rude or anything like that. I just want to make sure that having it plugged in the cabinet and turned on will not kill the board or my very rare cabinet. I just want to have the right information before I do this.
Thanks.
 
I had mine phoenixed by a guy at the Neo forums. He has to replace the chips on the simm and reprogram them with recompiled phoenix code. Very precise soldering skills needed.

The battery change should be the same as with CPS3. Helper battery or power-on.
 
I had mine phoenixed by a guy at the Neo forums. He has to replace the chips on the simm and reprogram them with recompiled phoenix code. Very precise soldering skills needed.

The battery change should be the same as with CPS3. Helper battery or power-on.

Really you got it phoenixed?! That's cool! I didn't think they could do it yet.
So does this guy still phoenix's these still and how much did he charge?
I don't have a CPS3 could you tell me about it or if you know of a place with pics or a video on how to change it? That would be great.
Thanks.
 
http://www.jammaboards.com/guides/CPS2_Suicide_Battery_Replacement_Guide.pdf

there was another site, I can't remember the name of it though.

you don't have to do anything fancy like leaving the game on while doing the battery swap. an alternative battery replacement called the "keystone battery replacement" exists where you can install a battery holder for making changes easier down the road. I personally don't trust that approach.... opens up different points of failure, you're only really talking about soldering 2 leads, that's nothing.

crucial part: leave the game board powered up for about 25 minutes prior to doing the surgery. this, believe it or not, charges up the board circuitry enough to where you will have about 20 minutes (low end) to make the swap safely. some geniuses out there have performed this safely beyond that 20 minutes, but it shouldn't take long to do at all.

even more crucial part: make sure you match up the positive and negative ends, DO NOT REVERSE THEM. (guaranteed loss of encryption code :))

that's about it. good luck.
 
Do NOT use a keystone holder for the battery.

If ANY corrosion develops on the contacts the battery voltage could drop and the game will then suicide.
 
Do NOT use a keystone holder for the battery.

If ANY corrosion develops on the contacts the battery voltage could drop and the game will then suicide.

exactly what I was thinking. as I said, more failure points... it's just 2 solder joints, I got an AVP with the original battery that still works and I barely power it on. (bad idea, yeah)
 
I use a keystone for a few of my b-boards. It isn't an option for the single board. I tried, it died. That's when I looked into getting it phoenixed. He only charged me for parts and shipping because I donated a few dead pcbs to his research. It will be more expensive than phoenixing a b-board. Pretty much for collectors only.

I can give you his info if you want to ask him yourself. He's mainman at the neo forums. He's pretty much a CPS2 encyclopedia. He has a full set (probably multiple).
 
Now are you guessing that's how to change the battery or have you actually done this with this type of CPS2?

I have never done it myself..... just assumed you could do it like the CPS3 boards like Mitsurugi-w mentioned.

CPS2 - http://cps2shock.retrogames.com/suicide.html
CPS3 - http://cps2shock.retrogames.com/cps3/

The CPS3 page goes through and shows you the helper battery technique versus the keeping it powered idea.

I personally would go ahead and research getting it Phoenixed if possible.
(I'm all for eliminating the potential death down the road)
 
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