Is there a battery in the cpu that needs to be replaced on a schedule?
Dave
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Yes. Many problems are caused by this. From usb issues to higher taxes. Why isn’t this battery made to recharge when the machine is powered on? There must be a solution to this to prevent having to crack the machine open every couple years.
Because it’s not a rechargable battery type. Coin cells have been used for decades as the backup power source for the RTC in desktop motherboards. How often it needs to be replaced is largely dependent on how long the machine stays powered down. More time off = more battery drain and a great replacement frequency. This is why most PC users don’t even know it’s a thing. They’re using their computers daily and in many cases, never shutting them down so that little battery lasts long enough that the whole machine gets replaced before it goes dead.
If you really want something to wonder about, industrial CNC’s almost universally have a similar battery backup (larger cells) that maintain things like their absolute position when the machine is powered down. If that battery dies, it can be a real nightmare to get the machine up and running again, depending on the age of the machine and type of controller. To make things more interesting, they MUST be replaced while the machine is powered up, otherwise, unplugging them is akin to the cell going dead and results in the previously mentioned nightmare. And even more annoying is that many machines have multiple batteries, usually one per axis attached directly to the servo drives.
To my knowledge, rechargable coin cells aren’t a thing, but it still surprises me that the larger cells in CNC machines are not rechargable given the cost of the cells and the machines, the critical nature of that backup power supply, and the amount of available space in the control cabinet which could easily fit whatever type of battery chemistry was deemed appropriate.
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That is why I asked because I’ve heard about machines losing all the parameters when the battery went dead.
Mine spends a lot of time off. Too bad they didn’t have an access on the panel instead of opening it up.
At work, none really get shut down, just hit the E stop to keep the oilers from running.
I just bought mine used and it is likely the original battery.
Dave.
Good quality lithium coin cells as used in the Tormach controller that I have (early 1100MX) for CMOS backup have a lifespan of around ten years. When it does die, you fish it out and reset the PC’s time. Not that big a deal versus a big CNC losing all it’s parameters. Maybe I’ll have to do it a couple more times.
The reason rechargeables aren’t used as much is most rechargeables don’t survive ten years in use plus cost more up front. Some board makers are using supercapacitors and cleverer NVRAM now, but again those cost more for not a great deal more value.
Worse is if the hard drive dies, because that’s where the tool table and settings are, so back that up periodically.
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The shop temperature appears to effect the life span of these little gems and also rechargeable hand tools tools that have NiCad batteries. I now keep my shop above 60 deg during winter and found far less problems with computers and anything tool that has batteries including calipers. Also the jeep is always warm and ready to use with less cold motor stress and no frosted windows.
And if this is one of the little brix type computers I advise looking online for instructions. Some are hard to take apart without help.
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With these machines, you have little to worry about other than obvious issues once the battery has died. Unlike industrial machines, the only parameter the coin cell really maintains is the system time. Once that goes dramatically out of sync with reality (because the battery is dead), you can have problems with booting, network connectivity, and a bunch of other strange behaviors. But, once you’ve replaced the battery, all you need to do is reset the system clock in bios which takes minutes at most, and everything is back to normal.
You certainly can replace it pre-emptively, but I probably wouldn’t bother. FWIW, my machine was initially set up in November of 2019. It’s spent the larger percentage of the past 5.5(ish) years off and it’s still working just fine. I have no intention of replacing the battery until it quits on me.
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CMOS battery, responsible initially for maintaining the RTC (Real Time Clock) when the machine was powered down. In the 80’s, they used to be soldered directly to the board and yes some were rechargeable but they would fail and/or corrode. I replaced a few of those once they aged “way back in the day”.
Be glad they are coin cells compared to doing that job and finding a replacement cell.
The issue is as we went beyond it only comes in one configuration genuine IBM PC/XT with monochrome green monitor, they had to maintain the varying hardware configuration of the more configurable/expandable PC compatibles made by Compaq/HP/Packard Bell/Gateway2k/Dell, etc..
It used to be a “real problem” with spinning disc hard drives where you had to know the head/cylinder/sector configuration and if it wasn’t exactly as originally setup/formatted, you had a PC that didn’t boot. It got better when that was an “autodetect” where losing that settings that would pick back up automatically from newer drive interfaces/tech.
It’s less of an issue now. If you want to bulletproof/disaster-proof this aspect of the controller:
- Backup/take screenshots/photos of all configuration screens in current working state
- Replace the coil cell with a quality brand name fresh cell
- You could preventatively replace on a schedule but it’s how much time are you spending doing that and cost of cell versus a couple of minutes to put in a new cell when dead and verifying options are set as delivered to you by the PC integrator
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On my controller, similar to a desktop PC, the coin cell comes with a set of wires and a keyed connector. If yours has the same battery type, make sure that the connector is keyed and wire for the proper polarity. I ended up getting one that was reversed and it took me a while to figure out why the miswiring was causing a problem.
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A bigger problem is when the cell’s decide to leak all over the motherboard. Coin cells are the best solution to this day,