Check those batteries-NLP close escape

[Poibug]

So at NLP,was in the backbox of Robo-war on Sunday morning with @myPinballs and we noticed the duracell batteries had started leaking!!
Luckily I had mounted a remote battery holder,and alkali had landed on wooden part of the cab,and also on the back pane,not the boards.
Managed to clean off all the damage on the back pane in a few minutes,but a very lucky escape.
Batteries were only fitted less than two months ago and are dated 2019
These happend to be Duracell Plus Power,tho I normally fit pro cell.I normally only buy good batteries and from reputable dealers,as I know there are fakes out there.
Luckily @pinballmania had some energiser batteries so all the scores were kept

I know we all know we should do this,but know of plenty pinheads who never get round to it.
So I guess moral is change them every year or so,and use good batteries bought from reputable sources

MAybe cr2032 holders is the way to go,as they seem waaay less likely to leak

 

[Nedreud]

Well spotted! Wouldn't want a pin as cool as ROBO-WAR perishing from some iffy batteries!

Personally, I think it's time we all ditched batteries in our pins. There are so many better solutions. As suggested, even switching to CR2032s would be a quantum leap forward that is much likely to cause any issues, but there are also Super Capacitors. These act like rechargeable batteries but are constructed like a capacitor so there is no electrolyte to leak out. Depending on the game they can hold the memory settings for around a month, sometimes even up to six months. Just switch your pin on for an hour a month to keep them charged.

Or for the ultimate "final solution" ditch the memory that requires batteries altogether. On old Bally MPUs this is the 5101 Static RAM which can be replaced with modern NVRAM. The NVRAM needs an adapter board as most are surface mount devices, but other than that it's a direct device replacement that needs no external power to maintain the data written to it. If I recall correctly, NVRAM has an expected storage lifetime of over 30 years.

 

[Moonraker]

@myPinballs sells the battery less RAM.

RS list 30 different types of memory capacitors.

 

[Arv]

Poi did you wire an N4001 diode or whatever it is on that battery pack?

 

[myPinballs]

@myPinballs sells the battery less RAM.

Yes i have a replacement board for the 6264 ram available (MagicRam - http://www.mypinballs.com/electronics/store.jsp) also have used all in one 6264 compatible sealed lithium battery powered rams

The simtek rams on the MagicRam boards have a retention lifespan of 100 years. The data sheet mentions unlimited read and write operations, but there is a finite store ability (saving changes at power off) of 1,000,000 operations.

The lithium battery backed rams have a retention of minimum 10 years.

Poi did you wire an N4001 diode or whatever it is on that battery pack?

All boards using external battery packs will have 2 diodes usually. One to stop the 5v line charging the batteries whilst on, and another to stop the batteries powering the board when the game is off. You can add another diode on the battery pack for extra protection of charging risks, but it will result in a slight drop of the voltage to power the ram whilst off.

I use 1N5817 & 1N4148 diodes on my gottlieb boards to protect the above conditions if not using a more modern alternative.