So the "right way" is haggardly soldering some extra cable to the pcb and sticking in a random battery harness in your cartridge where it's free to wobble around and eventually break a connection so that one of the battery terminals could potentially short to any number of pins on those IC's. Good job.
A few suggestions: Use thinner gauge wire (it's easier to work with) and use a chisel-tip soldering iron, usually found on a station. Spend more time removing solder using your braid before trying to pull the old battery. It'll be easier. And use tools so you don't burn your fingers! There's no reason to be holding onto the same piece of metal you're soldering with your fingers an inch away. A proper solder requires that the target metal is hot or you get a cold joint. Solder should flow across it to bond, so you don't want your finger right there.
Just two quick comments on this: 1. I suggest putting a piece of electrical tape holding the battery-holder before closing the cartridge so the holder doesn't move around inside. 2. This method does not work on some cartridges, for instance Super Metroid. Its PCB is so huge it occupies the whole cartridge and there is no space at all to put the battery holder. It works for many games, however like Zelda ALTTP, Super Mario kart, Super Mario World and many others.
Do you know (approximately) in how many cases the saves will still work after changing the battery? And does that depend on the game or on how long the battery-changing takes?
No problem...I checked a little, and apparently there is also a converter (it's some sort of cartridge where you insert the PAL cartridge in it), but it's really difficult to find, and it's also pricey...the modding is the only solution ^_^
Does it matter if you soldered the wires in backwards, but they are still in the same spot on the board just flipped around? I just soldered it with the same battery clip as you, but I did it backward I just thought from your video you did it that way, but I already did it by the time I watched the video again. I did just like you said, but the wires went in on the opposite side rather than the side without the chips but the wires still go through the hole.
Just for the record this is no longer just a security bit its now used in automotive as an e-torx you can get the bits at any auto parts store but they are more expensive.
Thanks for making a good video. I think they make slim CR2032 holders that will fit without modifiying the shell. However there is not a good battery holder that ill work in NES games without sanding it by hand or with a dremel.
great tutorial! but there is a more convenient way. if you get a battery holder that is 4.7 mm in height you can solder it right on to the cart with out an issue. i did this with a sega game and a snes game with out an issue! also i prefer duracell cr2032/2025 with either medical or power lock. (preferably to make it last as long as possible) Unfortunately with a GB game cart there isnt enough space to fit a battery holder in it.
My n64 Memory Card only lasted about 6 years, luckily I recently replaced the battery and am able to finally beat my old games. Is it possible to just simply change the battery? My Banjo Kazooie game does not save and I guess it is the battery, could I (in theory) just open it up and swap it out?
Question, what kind of wire are you using to connect the battery? I was at radioshack and they had stereo wire that looked like this, then they had 22 gauge hookup wire that was red. I am really unfamiliar with all this, plz help and thank you :)
RideRedRacer you could easily use a 22 awg stranded wire, cheap and easily found in almost any electronics shop, use isolated wire or boy some heat shrinking tube
As stated above PAL games will not work. However Japanese games will work if you clip the tabs off the cartridge that prevent you from inserting the cartridge.
Video games have something called region coding in their software if you have a US N64 it has a NTSC region code. Your UK game has a PAL region code. In lesser words, your game is incompatible with your console. However, you can buy PAL N64's on Ebay for about 30$
This seems like a good way to make a permanent soldering job. Afterwards, say 10 years later, it would suffice to switch the button cell battery without any more soldering. After almost two years of making this video, are we sure there's no battery holder that could fit onto the board without modifying the shell?
That is *THE WRONG WAY* you made me cringe so much during this video. There are low-profile CR2032 holders that fit perfectly. Totally perfectly. 18mm pin separation, 20mm cell, 5mm height. Even the pin diameters are exactly perfect for the existing slots. It took awhile to find the right holders... but this is it: *HARWIN S8421-45R* Unfortunately, youtube has been blackholing my posts.... so nobody might ever read this.
hi sorry, not the exact same way , but close, i break off the old cr2032 so ive got the original tabs, i just dont like to desolder anything off the original board, what i do is i take a battery holder and attach wires and hot glue the holder into the corner of the cartridge, i then solder the + - to the tabs on the cartridge and cover them with heat shrink tubing to shield them from one another, thus retaining the tabs, so the only thing thats chopped is the orignal cr2032
could you help me? I recently bought an UK cartridge of N64 for my USA console and... It dosn't work. No matter how much I've cleaned it, it doesn't work. Does it have the same problem with battery? I honestly didn't think that those cartridges had that battery problem, but now I might believe it... And, if it does have a battery problem, what could I do? Your video is brilliant, but I don't have any abilities to do what you do on it xD so, what should I do? thank you!
+SuperMetalhead92 It depends. If the battery is still good the capacitor may keep enough current and keep your games while you're changing the battery, but if you remove the battery expect the game to be erased.
Yea older consoles are region locked. Can be a real pain to get the right games for the right price. Im using a Snes Pal version and I need my games on english. But in europe there are a lot are with different language :( Btw. Europe - PAL USA - NTSC Japan - JAP (I think)
Or you can simply modify your N64...there are a lot of tutorials on the internet how to do it, and if you feel insecure to do it, you can ask at some of your friends ^_^ I have a modified SNES (not modified by me) and I can play both PAL and NTSC games (USA and Japan ones). It's the simpler way, instead of spending more money in already bought games :3
he did replied me, I don't know why it's not in here, but.. I discovered that UK cartridge don't work on Japanese nor American consoles :/ unfortunately, I'll have to buy the same cartridge again. but thank you ^^
Yes, you can find batteries with tabs already attached. Sometimes the tabs aren't exactly the same as the ones that are used on the original cartridge battery, which might take a bit of trimming of excess metal if you need to thread the tabs through the board. If the cartridge has enough room to run wires and a battery holder to, then its generally the best, as it makes replacing the battery a 2nd time MUCH easier.
Something really annoying happened to me today thanks to Donkey Kong Country 2 battery, last night I played the game to 21% and I wanted to play it today but it did not play, so I took it out and blew in it, the game started alright but all my data was gone :(
Don't modify any NTSC consoles.... There's videos mon youtube that explains why not to do it.... if I remember well the main reason is because the frequency is not the same in Pal and US consoles. The trick for americans is to stick to NTSC America and Japan.
Or just buy the CORRECT battery! Replace the battery with one that has tabs soldered on. Buy em on eBay for for a few dollars. They'll last for another decade or two.
