Easy future proof fix for the Sega Dreamcast CMOS battery
This is a known issue. You have your retro consoles. One of them being the Sega Dreamcast. A misunderstood console that was ahead of its time. But since technology ages with time problems start to pop up. Those who own such a console most likely have experienced the dreaded screen where your time and date reset and every time you power on your console it keeps happening. Annoying right?
So, of course, there are plenty of guides online and since for most of my fixes I usually first go to iFixit to find a simple easy-to-use manual to fix my issues for different devices.
Searching for the issue you will probably get the first result leading you to this guide:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Dreamcast+CMOS+Battery+Replacement/5020
The guide is great and easy to understand. But the problem for me is that they use a two-wire connected CMOS battery to re-solder it instead of the old one.
While it does fix the issue. It doesn’t future-proof it. As you will at some point in time you need to replace it again. That’s just not a practical solution to go on soldering again.
My solution was to get a 3-pin Vertical CMOS battery holder.
It is in my opinion the perfect solution that not only solves the problem but alleviates the headache that I might have in the future. Since the old one is soldered in the same way with 3 pins vertically why not make the battery replaceable at ease?
Just follow the same guide above and without doing the wiring just solder in this and you are good to go. My example of how I did it.
It fits perfectly and doesn’t interfere with any other components and the battery is firmly held in place. Now the original battery that is used is a Maxell ML2032 rechargeable battery which I would recommend replacing with the same one. Of course, you can use a standard CR2032 as well but since they are not rechargeable they will deplete over time. So it’s up to you. But this seems like a better fix if you intend to get out the soldering iron and start disassembling a console.
Some links to help you find the stuff mentioned. But I bet you can find them cheaper somewhere locally.
3Pin CMOS Holder
I hope this will help you out and add a refresh to your console.
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