Replacing Save Batteries Help (Edit: found “best” solution)

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Alright, Im frustrated. I’m tired of dealing with battery clips that need to be cut/hacked into carts. Ive tried a few different clips and they all have issues being too big one way or another. Does anyone have a link to a battery clip that just fits height and Diameter wise for N64 and SNES carts?

Edit: So here is the least difficult solution. That I can find

Dahszhi Button Cell Battery Holder for CR2032-10pcs https://a.co/d/9Jk6fLG

They are low profile enough to fit in every cart. The tabs/legs have to be bent down in order to work as they are meant for surface mount applications, though we’re using them for through hole in these games. 

They are EXTREMELY fragile and the legs will easily break off. This can be alleviated by starting the bend and then adding some solder in the crease to reinforce it before bending it the rest of the way.

Suring bending it is extremely likely that the lower battery clip will pop out of place. It’s not critical, I ended up clipping the little side legs and just laying it in position. Once soldered to the board they aren’t necessary anyway.

Ive found that they fit in SNES carts without any further modification.

They require a corner of plastic be removed to fit in the N64 carts.  

https://imgur.com/a/iOFI5Fy

Edited March 20, 2023 by LeatherRebel5150

[a3quit4s | 4,097]

I buy these on Amazon. Work on NES and SNES, can’t vouch for N64. 
 

12Pack CR2032 Battery, CR2032 3V Lithium Battery with Solder Tabs for SNES, N64, Gameboy, Pokemon, Gameboy Color Game Battery Replacement https://a.co/d/0rtCbod

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

35 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

I buy these on Amazon. Work on NES and SNES, can’t vouch for N64. 
 

12Pack CR2032 Battery, CR2032 3V Lithium Battery with Solder Tabs for SNES, N64, Gameboy, Pokemon, Gameboy Color Game Battery Replacement https://a.co/d/0rtCbod

Thanks, but I’m looking for just the clip/mount not the pre-fabbed batteries 

[Nugfish | 652]

7 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Thanks, but I’m looking for just the clip/mount not the pre-fabbed batteries 

I have some that fit inside SNES carts. I'll try to dig them up to see which ones they are

[a3quit4s | 4,097]

17 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Thanks, but I’m looking for just the clip/mount not the pre-fabbed batteries 

Are you gonna weld the clips to the batteries or do you want the ones that you can just change batteries on the fly without tools? I’m not sure there is one that will fit all three. 
 

This place has the mounts in 2 different sizes https://retrogamerepairshop.com/products/cr2032-battery-holder-for-nintendo-fc-sfc-nes-snes-n64-game-card?variant=39497217704108

Edited March 6, 2023 by a3quit4s

[Nugfish | 652]

I installed these in a bunch of SNES carts. What I can't remember is if I soldered them directly to the board or if I used a couple inches of wire so I could fit them inside the case.

[Nugfish | 652]

I also sold all my SNES carts a few years ago so I can't find out unless somebody on VGS has one of those carts I sold on NA. Also, if those pics don't help any, I could send you some of mine. 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

9 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Are you gonna weld the clips to the batteries or do you want the ones that you can just change batteries on the fly without tools? I’m not sure there is one that will fit all three. 
 

This place has the mounts in 2 different sizes https://retrogamerepairshop.com/products/cr2032-battery-holder-for-nintendo-fc-sfc-nes-snes-n64-game-card?variant=39497217704108

Yes, the holders you just swap the batteries out of. Ive seen that style before and they also need to be modified to go into an N64 cart correctly 

8 hours ago, Nugfish said:

I also sold all my SNES carts a few years ago so I can't find out unless somebody on VGS has one of those carts I sold on NA. Also, if those pics don't help any, I could send you some of mine. 

Yea those are the most recent ones I tried. They’re definitely too tall to be mounted to the PCB correctly. 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

6 hours ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Yea those are the most recent ones I tried. They’re definitely too tall to be mounted to the PCB correctly. 

I don't have any specific suggestions, but I believe the only ones that you're going to be able to find to do the job and fit within the height restrictions of all cartridges is going to be one of the "sleeve" mounts for watch batteries.  Those are basically a thin metal "sleeve" that you slide the coin cell directly into, with two posts that mount onto or through a board, and basically the pressure of the holder itself or the holder against the board hold the battery in.  If you've ever taken an N64 memory card apart to change the battery, that is the kind of holder I'm talking about.  This link to Mouser is the closest I could come to finding what I was talking about, although here is a link to Mouser that goes directly to a full list of all CR2023 battery holders that they offer, plastic and metal.  You might be able to get by with one of the plastic ones if it's one of the ones that's a half circle and meant to be mounted vertically, but you'll have to do a little modification to those to get them to work.

One of the super flat metallic ones should eliminate all height issues, although you might be hard pressed to find one that mounts directly to or through the pads on NES/SNES/N64 without a little wiggling or modification.  Should you ever find something that works, it would be great if you shared on here what the part number was, where you sourced it, etc., as this sort of information will most likely just gain value the more time goes on.  Good luck!

[RH | 4,903]

All I know is I bought a few flats for both the larger batteries and small batteries from Mouser.  They were cheaper than Amazon, though I did order something like 50-70 of each type.  I didn't buy the clip containers like you want, but that have them.

Regarding Amazon/eBay, I assume all of those are cheap "close enough" junk items that are engineered in China.  At least when I bought my batteries (a few years ago) Mouser only provided quality components.  I'd assume that's still the case.  I can't guarantee what you find their will fit correctly, but maybe try to order some samples  directly from them and see how they work out.  Digikey might also be a good alternative.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

4 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

I don't have any specific suggestions, but I believe the only ones that you're going to be able to find to do the job and fit within the height restrictions of all cartridges is going to be one of the "sleeve" mounts for watch batteries.  Those are basically a thin metal "sleeve" that you slide the coin cell directly into, with two posts that mount onto or through a board, and basically the pressure of the holder itself or the holder against the board hold the battery in.  If you've ever taken an N64 memory card apart to change the battery, that is the kind of holder I'm talking about.  This link to Mouser is the closest I could come to finding what I was talking about, although here is a link to Mouser that goes directly to a full list of all CR2023 battery holders that they offer, plastic and metal.  You might be able to get by with one of the plastic ones if it's one of the ones that's a half circle and meant to be mounted vertically, but you'll have to do a little modification to those to get them to work.

One of the super flat metallic ones should eliminate all height issues, although you might be hard pressed to find one that mounts directly to or through the pads on NES/SNES/N64 without a little wiggling or modification.  Should you ever find something that works, it would be great if you shared on here what the part number was, where you sourced it, etc., as this sort of information will most likely just gain value the more time goes on.  Good luck!

 

3 hours ago, RH said:

All I know is I bought a few flats for both the larger batteries and small batteries from Mouser.  They were cheaper than Amazon, though I did order something like 50-70 of each type.  I didn't buy the clip containers like you want, but that have them.

Regarding Amazon/eBay, I assume all of those are cheap "close enough" junk items that are engineered in China.  At least when I bought my batteries (a few years ago) Mouser only provided quality components.  I'd assume that's still the case.  I can't guarantee what you find their will fit correctly, but maybe try to order some samples  directly from them and see how they work out.  Digikey might also be a good alternative.

Ive checked Digikey and Mouser in the past just could never find anything that doesn’t require moving the batteries to a different location or mangling the holder to make it work. The clips you linked to @darkchylde28 are surface mount so they are a bit of a pain since they get in the way of themselves when soldering. 

I guess there really isn’t an ideal solution  for these

[Link | 2,710]

What if you glue the holder to the inside of the cartridge shell, and attach it to the board with wires long enough to allow you to open it easily? 24 gauge or even thinner. 2-3" ought to be sufficient for working space, but not too much to pack inside when you put it back together, and you can pick the most open area to mount it. 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

51 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

 

Ive checked Digikey and Mouser in the past just could never find anything that doesn’t require moving the batteries to a different location or mangling the holder to make it work. The clips you linked to @darkchylde28 are surface mount so they are a bit of a pain since they get in the way of themselves when soldering. 

I guess there really isn’t an ideal solution  for these

There really isn't, at least not without some sort of compromise or modification, as those cartridges weren't designed with easy battery replacement in mind.  Nintendo fully anticipated selling someone another game if/when their old one expired, and it shows in the game design.  However, something on the pages full of connectors I provided should be fairly easily modified so as to fit where it needs to, be under clearance, and not be a nightmare to solder.  With a couple of them, it really looks like one would just need to bend the tabs or pins slightly in order to get things to line up, then tack them in place carefully with a thin iron tip.  Even if you've got to take some tin snips or wire cutters meant for thicker wire to trim the tabs in order to fit through the holes (versus surface mounting to the bit of pad encircling each hole), that's a small price to pay to have something to fits just right.  Unless you're planning on doing this as a business and trying to do dozens a day, it really shouldn't be a big deal once you've figured out the right part and process.  And even if you were going to do dozens, hundreds, etc., constantly, you just take a day or evening or whatever out and pre-modify your holders so you don't have to fool with it when it's time to sit down and just get things done.  Hope you find what you're looking for!

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Just bumping this up with the least “hackey” solution I found. Explanation and pics edited into first post

[BlackVega | 583]

Why? Just use standard CR2032 batteries with tabs. The save will last the next 20 years. Do you need more time? Are you that serious of a gamer?

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

4 hours ago, BlackVega said:

Why? Just use standard CR2032 batteries with tabs. The save will last the next 20 years. Do you need more time? Are you that serious of a gamer?

As far I looked, which admittedly was not much. All of those pre-tabbed batteries are cheap no name batteries. I highly doubt they would last anywhere near as long as some decent branded ones. 

But, regardless, I wasn’t/am not interested in the pre-tabbed batteries