OY! Again with the CMOS Battery!

[Peter_Peril]

Sorry to post once again on the topic of CMOS Batteries; but I had a question. When I recently had one made locally, I didn't notice anything special about it; just two coin cells joined together.

However if I pull my main battery I still have to reset the time in the Bios. Additionally the language bar on WinXP quick launch is annoyingly persistent after doing so. I'm certain I have it seated properly...though I do wonder if the leads may have been reversed.

My question:Does the CMOS contain special features that are not noted in the HMM?

Remember the old caveat--"The only dumb question is the one not asked"!

[RealBlackStuff]

If you look at the battery plug and holder from the top, with the plug pointing away from you, where you see the whole battery plus both wires, the +(red) should be on the left, and the -(black) on the right.
The +(red) should be connected to the flat side of the battery, and the -(black) to the side with the rounded edge.

[jglen490]

Yep, it's not a very difficult thing to do. Just replaced mine about 30 minutes ago. I sliced through the yellow, original cover for the battery which exposed the soldered on wires. I took a pocket knife and (VERY, VERY CAREFULLY) sliced off the pads from the surfaces of the old battery - no need to cut any wires. Then again carefully, using black electrician's tape, I taped down the pads to the battery (red to the PLUS side, black to the other. I pulled the tape tightly around the CR2032 cell and popped it back into the bracket.

Plugged in the main battery and the power turned it on, went to the BIOS setup to change the date/time and it works like new!!

Just pay attention to what you are doing and don't hurry. Make sure you remember, or write down which side the red and black wires are in the bracket, so that the plug lines up right when you push it back in.

[Rick Aguinaldo]

When I recently had one made locally, I didn't notice anything special about it; just two coin cells joined together...

Two coin cells? If connected in series that would be 6v nominal, an over-voltage, probably causing your cmos troubles. If connected parallel to increase capacity, why not use a single readily available cr2032 instead? If the description is right, I sense something amiss in the locally made battery. All Thinkpad cmos batteries I have seen so far are single coin cells.

[nikki605]

When I needed to replace the CMOS battery in my T21, I went to BatteriesPlus and it was only one (1) CR2032 coin battery, not two.

[Peter_Peril]

My Apologies; I reviewed my earlier posts and realized my error. There is only a single coin cell employed. During my "senior moment" I observed the older battery being compared with the new one. I must have blinked while the tech was tacking the leads on the battery sides before shrink wrapping.