Dreamcast Internal Battery Replacement - The EASY Way!

[shredhead]

Are you tired of your Dreamcast prompting you for the date and time whenever you boot it up? This is most likely due to the death of your Dreamcast's internal battery. The small battery inside the console is rechargeable, but it doesn't last forever. It's been known to die out in many Dreamcasts after a certain period of time. Today, I'm going to show you how to replace that battery and get your Dreamcast to remember the date and time again.

I got pretty tired of my system forgetting the date and time every time I turn it off. I tried leaving the console on for hours at a time, but the battery didn't recharge. It was dead, dead, dead. I searched the internet endlessly looking for a replacement, but only came up with useless results and people who don't know what they're talking about. So, here's the procedure my Dreamcast went through to regain the ability to remember the date and time. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but they probably wouldn't help much.

Also, I'll just say this now, so I don't have to repeat it throughout the guide: BE CAREFUL! Following this guide, you'll be digging through the guts of your Dreamcast. Handle all the pieces with care and make sure you know what you're doing. You should have at some good knowledge of handling and modifying hardware components. I'm not responsible for any damage caused to your Dreamcast.

Note: This was done on an NTSC-U Dreamcast, manufactured January 2000. I don't believe there is a difference between different versions of the system, but I thought I'd point that out.

Recommended materials:

A Sega Dreamcast, of course
Two rechargeable AAA batteries
Soldering iron w/ solder wire
Any wire that solders well
Masking tape
Double-sided tape
A voltmeter (highly optional, but useful)

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1. Open up your Dreamcast. Remove the screws, including the one under the modem, and remove the lid. Then, unscrew the board behind the controller port and remove it. You'll see your dead battery on the board. It's a 3v MnO2-Li (Magnesium Dioxide Lithium) battery. It's pretty much impossible to find these things anymore, so don't bother looking for one. It looks like this:

2. Use a soldering iron to remove the battery from the board. You'll see the solders holding the battery in on the other side of the board. Melt them and pull out the battery.

3. Now, we'll be replacing the battery with our replacement. Believe it or not, I didn't use a coin cell battery like the one in the Dreamcast. Instead, I used 2 rechargeable Energizer AAA batteries, 1.2v each. Now here's a few rules you must follow to pick the correct battery:

- It MUST be rechargeable! If you use a non-rechargeable battery, your Dreamcast will attempt to recharge it and cause a possible acidic burst or leak, causing potentially irreversible damage to the console.

- Make sure the voltage totals somewhere around 3v. I used two 1.2v batteries, so my battery reaches 2.4v. The exact voltage usually doesn't matter, nor does the material it's made of.

- It needs to fit in the console! I'd recommend you use the same batteries I did, but if you know what you're doing, go ahead and pick out whatever you like. I'm not sure if AAs will properly fit in the Dreamcast.

Alright, now let's prepare the new battery. You'll need a soldering iron, solderable wire, tape, and any decent wire that will conduct and solder well.

4. Tape the batteries together (I used black masking tape), side to side, with the ends opposite each other. So on each end, there should be a positive and a negative end of either battery.

5. Cut a piece of wire to solder one side of the battery "pack" you just made. Attach one end of the wire to the positive side, and the other end to the negative side. Solder them well.

6. Now, cut two new wires and solder them to each end of the battery pack. Feed them through the holes in the board that you revealed when you removed the old battery. Make sure to feed them through the corresponding ends (+/-)!! The positive end is marked on the board. One positive port will remain unused. Securely solder them on the other side. It's a good idea to put a dab of solder on the tips of the wires to ensure a good bond.

Here is a very rough guide of how the wiring works:

7. Your battery is successfully attached! Now, use double-sided tape to secure it into an empty space inside the Dreamcast. Make sure it isn't touching any other components. You can see my end result picture at the end of this tutorial to see where I put it.

8. Before closing the Dreamcast back up, take it to a power outlet and make sure it's working. Power on the Dreamcast. Use a voltmeter to measure the +/- sides of the battery. If the voltage on the voltmeter display is slowly rising, it's working! The console is successfully recharging the battery.

9. Now make sure the battery is in a position so that it won't move around. Screw the board back in its place. Attach the upper case back onto the Dreamcast and screw it back together. Hook up the Dreamcast and enter the date and time. Reboot the system and notice how it no longer asks for the date and time!

10. Enjoy!

Here is my end result. Hopefully yours looks something like it.

-Shredhead

[darksakul]

Nice guide, I done the same thing once to a PC motherboard CMOS battery.

It was pretty much the same thing as the battery in the DC, it keep the clock going and it held the settings for the BIOS. In some mother boards the PC will not start with out a working battery. The biggest difference I done was getting a battery holder from radio shack instead of soldering directly on the AAA batteries.

[Chaosritter]

Neat guide, rep given.

[monkey80]

thank you, Mod at own risk but ask someone with the know how, so you won't risk frying your DC.

[DCMAN101]

I did it and it works great for me

[jcpangs]

what if I was able to find a 3v MnO2-Li? Can I just remove it by using my hand? or do i have to melt it?

[Vicky07]

I followed this guide but it doesn't seem to charge the batteries for me. I didn't solder the wires directly onto the board but on the pins that held the previous lithium battery cell. Shouldn't it work?

[cOcO!]

nope, you HAVE to pass the cables through the board, and then solder

[Master of Love]

There is plenty of batteries for the dreamcast out, although they might not be the same size the only thing that you have to really worry about its 3v lithium rechargeable. Here is a link to replace the batteries easier than posted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFF5WWJZ65c. By the way good job in describing how you did it yourself. You can buy the batteries anywhere radio shack, walmart and many others and the only thing you need is the batteries and tape that's it, but you could make it permanent if you want.

[TuxTheWise]

I'd give it a try, but I'm afraid of breaking my Dreamcast as I did last time. Too bad the used one I bought now always prompt for time/date, but I think I'll live with it until I have money for a replacement console LOL