Silly Stargate

Zinfer

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Whenever I hit the switch to power up the arcade, the Stargate always comes up to all systems go, then tells me that I need to open the coin-door to reset bookkeeping. So I have to go get the keys and do just that and it comes up.
Is my lithium CR2032 battery dieing? How often do you have to have this thing running to keep a charge in the battery? I thought the lithium conversion would eliminate something like this.
Can you imagine having to change out all the lithium batteries every couple years for boards where this conversion is run?
I'm wondering if it's just because I don't keep the games powered on for long periods of time?
I mean occasionally I'll power them all up just to ensure that they all still work or if any one is having a problem. Might keep them up for a bit but I get his overriding feeling of my electricity meter spinning out of it's enclosure. Plus I'm always apprehensive on the initial powerup with the vector games. :) I need to get past this when I actually get an arcade built.
 
How often do you have to have this thing running to keep a charge in the battery?

You keep it running constantly. The conversion is not a rechargeable battery and when the game is off the battery is used to maintain the SRAM contents.

I thought the lithium conversion would eliminate something like this.

It eliminates the leak prone batteries.

Can you imagine having to change out all the lithium batteries every couple years for boards where this conversion is run?
I'm wondering if it's just because I don't keep the games powered on for long periods of time?

That's what you have to do. The only way around it is to install a lower power SRAM and a larger battery that has a higher current reserve... It's like comparing an N cell battery to a D cell.
 
You can get rechargable coin cell batteries, they are not common but they are available.

You'll need a charging circuit or charge control IC. Since those rechargeable coin cells are lithium batteries which can burst into flame if they get too hot, I'd go with the charge control IC.

RJ
 
I'd just stay away from rechargables and replace the lithium battery once a year or so.

The lithium batteries are just to avoid the fumes from the AA batteries that cause the board corrosion.

ken
 
I'd just stay away from rechargables and replace the lithium battery once a year or so.

The lithium batteries are just to avoid the fumes from the AA batteries that cause the board corrosion.

ken

Fumes? I thought it was a liquid that eventually leaks but I am only a layman when it comes to batteries. Happy to become better edumacated. :)
 
hrm, wasn't there also a possible solution with the use of - well I don't know the components name, but it looks like a large green cap.

One could be a slave to repairs in this hobby, I hate adding to that. Granted it's a great solution to eliminate battery acid damage, but I didn't think it took any juice at all (very little) to maintain any scores. I picked up a 2032 while I was at the VA in Dayton today, at Mendelsens.
Man I am a kid in a candy store in that place. I picked up about 20 pcb standoffs, about 5 molex 12 pin m/f ea. connectors, 20 Molex interconnects as used in Mongo's G80 upgrade, 10 10uf25v caps at a dime a piece. Before I knew it I had 10 bucks in a bag of goodies. Hellatious amounts of caps in all different sizes. I thought I even saw the type of caps used in Cinematronics power supplies but I didn't know the values right off hand.
 
Fumes? I thought it was a liquid that eventually leaks but I am only a layman when it comes to batteries. Happy to become better edumacated. :)

I used to think that it was the alkaline fluid from the batteries also, until I realized that when mounted normally, the components on the board are above the batteries. So unless the fluid squirts a couple of inches out of the batteries, which is unlikely (it is really thick), it has to be the fumes.

ken
 
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