Fitting remote battery holder

[cooldan]

I have a bag of these things that I want to put in all my games but am unsure how to do it. I'm guessing that I need to take the board out and solder these two wires to the back of it?

But which one to where?
And aren't they a bit too short?

All tips gratefully received. I'm already grateful for the fact I got these ones with space for 3 AA batteries instead of 4 and I'd also have to solder in a diode or something.

Cheers pinheads

 

[jagman]

hi dan ,i`m too scared to do that so i bought the versions with croc clips on,which is,on wpc95 games, red wire to the top right, black wire to the bottom left,velcro pads on the back and stuck to the side of the backbox, however this changes for data east games where the batteries are horizontal and i believe it changes again for pre wpc95 games

 

[cooldan]

Thanks jagman - are those clipped to the front, to the metal bits the batteries touch? If so then that's my answer, thanks!

 

[jagman]

yes, but remember to keep your machine on when you take the batteries out,or you loose all settings and scores

 

[cooldan]

ok so first i lengthened the wires to the remote holder.
then i identified + top R and - bottom L, turned the board over and marked where i wanted to solder to.



i tried but failed to do this with my hand held butane soldering iron - the solder was melting but was not adhering to the board, and the solder already on the board was not melting either, so i could remove it or try to mix with it. this was no great surprise, as when i bought the iron i'd been told that it would be fine for switches and wires but no good for boards - but i tried anyway as i like to see things for myself. i suspect my iron is either too cold, too hot, too clumsy or too something else. you can see in the picture where i tried but only succeeded in making a little scorch mark.




i doubt there'd be any point expecting things to be any different if i soldered to the front of the board, to the little legs on the incorporated battery holder? or even just admitting defeat and using croc clips to attach to these legs?

any input gratefully welcomed.
happy new year, pinheads

 

[johnwhitfield]

Personally I'd leave the original holder on the board and attach the wires to the spring and bottom bit of the holder. Far less chance of damaging the board this way, but maybe I'm just lazy. If you can mend a switch with your iron then I don't see why you can't attach a wire to the spring etc.

Happy new year

John

 

[pinballmania]

Are you using leaded solder? Or lead free?

 

[cooldan]

Leaded and with flux core

 

[pinballmania]

Good start.

Theres no reason you cant do this with that iron

For this job you'll need the iron quite hot, because the amount of metal you're heating will cool the iron as you solder. Melt a little solder on the tip, and lay the tip slightly across the joint for maximum contact area, don't expect the very tip to do the job. Apply more solder to the junction of the tip and joint, this should close the gap between tip and joint and start the joint melting. Bring in the prepared wire and melt it into the mix, and remove the iron.

 

[cooldan]

thanks Andy, i'll let you know how i get on.
if all else fails - well, i've added longer wires to all of these things now, and to most i have now added croc clips

 

[cooldan]

Ok well I took one step forward and then two steps back, but it's all learning.

I soldered the wires on and all looked good. At this stage I thought about checking continuity but was unsure what to what so I didn't. Probably a mistake.

I put the board back in, reconnected everything, turned it on and then moved the batteries to the remote holder. Then I played a game, feeling satisfied with myself. Unfortunately the very next game (and subsequently) on boot up it acts like no batteries, ie factory reset and all gone - free play, time and date, and hi scores. Damn. So I musta done a bad job

So do I now take board out and recheck continuity? Where to where?

Thanks pinheads