Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

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Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby matsondawson on Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:07 am

Hi guys,

I picked up a free A3000 recently, and it almost works.
On boot it says "not enough memory to start basic"
Apon opening the unit, it looks as the CMOS battery has pooped its contents on the board.
So I need to find a VARTA V280H battery, or equivalent.
The equivalents are apparently:
GP280BNK, GP280BVK, ZA280, CP300H, 250DK,280DK,CP280,V280R, VB22
But I'm having trouble finding a shop that has them available (they all say call us)
Has anyone a spare of any of these?
matsondawson
 
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Re: Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby ZL2AOX on Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:56 pm

No, but this might be of interest.
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Re: Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby Carcenomy on Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:10 pm

Nice find ZL2AOX! Wouldn't even need the diode tbh... just use a 1.2V NiCd rechargeable. Heck a NiMH would probably do quite fine too. Unless of course the charge characteristics are different between the Acorn's battery charge circuit and a regular battery charger... but I strongly doubt that's the case.
Just the local Commodore hobo and middle-aged PC hoarder.
eisa on Trademe. A lasting reminder of a Compaq fetish when I was younger.
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Re: Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby lizardb0y on Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:26 pm

If you can't find a NiCd in the shops, pull one from a solar night light. They all have a cheap AA 1.2V NiCd in them, and you get left with a handy PV panel.
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Re: Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby matsondawson on Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:43 pm

I just chucked an AA Nicad in it, it's about 4 times the capacity so it should be fine.
Reading online, it says the NiMh discharge at a faster rate, and aren't good for battery backed up.
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Re: Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby Carcenomy on Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:00 pm

Nice, she starting up properly now?
Just the local Commodore hobo and middle-aged PC hoarder.
eisa on Trademe. A lasting reminder of a Compaq fetish when I was younger.
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Re: Need replacement CMOS battery for acorn A3000

Postby matsondawson on Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:44 pm

Yes, took me a while to work out the settings to get the HDD add-on to work, and auto-boot. I am amazed though, a 20yr old HDD is still working great. Unfortunately there are very few keyboard shortcuts in WIMP, so I can't really test anything. And I think it's going to be a pain trying to get data on to the thing. Not to mention I was all excited to plug it in to a VGA monitor when I discovered it has a DB9 VGA plug, not a 15. I'm going to order a 9->15 converter off e-bay tomorrow. Hopefully it will be compatible.
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