Battery time

AmigaOne X1000 platform specific issues.
xenic
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Battery time

Post by xenic »

This morning my X1000 wouldn't start when I pressed the on/off button. After I unplugged the X1000 and pugged it back in several minutes later it started when I pressed the button. Then I noticed the time was no longer correct. I tried to turn the system off but it would not shut down. I searched these forums and found a 3 year old post about the same problem that was solved with a new battery. I replaced my clock battery and the problem was solved; didn't lose my CFE settings either. I checked the voltage of the old battery and it was 1.48 volts. It's a wonder my system worked for as long as it did.

My system is 3 years 3 months old, so it looks like the battery life for an X1000 is approximately 3 years. If you've had your X1000 for 3 years or more, it might be wise to replace your battery before mysterious problems occur.
AmigaOne X1000 with 2GB memory - OS4.1 FE
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kilaueabart
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Re: Battery time

Post by kilaueabart »

Thanks for that. I had started wondering about the battery. It seems I was first allowed to post in Welcome First Contact Customers in July 2013, so maybe I have a few months to go, but I'll test it, and either way, be sure to have a spare on hand.

Test it I did, the next day. Scary getting it out; finally used a tiny screwdriver and a dental pick in tandem. My 50-year-old Radio Shack multimeter pegs it at 2.7 volts, so I probably can't blame my Ubuntu MATE problems on it.
Last edited by kilaueabart on Tue May 03, 2016 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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LyleHaze
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Re: Battery time

Post by LyleHaze »

You make a good point.
There have been many jokes made about Amigas and Batteries, but it is in part becauswe we do things differently.
The average desktop PC has a very short lifespan compared to the average Amiga.

I'm not sure how predictable it is though. I think a lot of it depends on how often you are powered up.
My X is on 24/7. I cycle power only when installing accessories or moving.

I'm sure there are valid points for and against this strategy, but if your power is fairly clean then you gain
thermal stability. My components are at a fairly constant temperature all the time. Expansion and contraction
are not issues here.

I also expect I'll get a bit more bettery time. Probably.
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328gts
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Re: Battery time

Post by 328gts »

xenic wrote:This morning my X1000 wouldn't start when I pressed the on/off button. After I unplugged the X1000 and pugged it back in several minutes later it started when I pressed the button. Then I noticed the time was no longer correct. I tried to turn the system off but it would not shut down. I searched these forums and found a 3 year old post about the same problem that was solved with a new battery. I replaced my clock battery and the problem was solved; didn't lose my CFE settings either. I checked the voltage of the old battery and it was 1.48 volts. It's a wonder my system worked for as long as it did.

My system is 3 years 3 months old, so it looks like the battery life for an X1000 is approximately 3 years. If you've had your X1000 for 3 years or more, it might be wise to replace your battery before mysterious problems occur.
that's great advice but knowing that I'm a lazy arse and how tight things are in the mancave I'll be waiting until I absolutely need to change the battery ;)
A1-X1000 setup: Corsair GS800 800w PSU, Western Digital 250 GB SATA HDD (model:WD2500YS), 4GB Ram, Radeon HD7950-3GB GDDR5- Dual Slot, Lite-On RW DVD/CD, On-Board Nemo sound,8139B NIC, Catweasel MK4+
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xeno74
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Re: Battery time

Post by xeno74 »

Just for info. My X1000 had boot problems yesterday. Sometimes it didn't start when I pressed the on/off button and sometimes the shut down didn't work. I replaced the battery today and this has been solved the problem.

-- Christian
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
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328gts
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Re: Battery time

Post by 328gts »

@ xeno74

great news! I guess I should be changing my battery soon as my X1000 is going on 6 years now with original battery and time still perfect on here every day
A1-X1000 setup: Corsair GS800 800w PSU, Western Digital 250 GB SATA HDD (model:WD2500YS), 4GB Ram, Radeon HD7950-3GB GDDR5- Dual Slot, Lite-On RW DVD/CD, On-Board Nemo sound,8139B NIC, Catweasel MK4+
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328gts
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Re: Battery time

Post by 328gts »

328gts wrote:@ xeno74

great news! I guess I should be changing my battery soon as my X1000 is going on 6 years now with original battery and time still perfect on here every day
aha today is the day when my original battery seems to start showing it's age in that it's the 1st time my date and time were off so looks like I better take some time now and change the battery ;)
A1-X1000 setup: Corsair GS800 800w PSU, Western Digital 250 GB SATA HDD (model:WD2500YS), 4GB Ram, Radeon HD7950-3GB GDDR5- Dual Slot, Lite-On RW DVD/CD, On-Board Nemo sound,8139B NIC, Catweasel MK4+
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ChrisH
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Re: Battery time

Post by ChrisH »

Any tips on how to *remove* the battery, without risking the screwdriver snapping back & hitting the motherboard??? :-(
EDIT: Never mind, I managed to do it (with great difficulty - although my cramped custom case no-doubt didn't help).

My 3v battery had apparently dropped to 1.2v to 1.5v (weirdly varies, but I guess 1.2v is what it drops to when power is drawn).

My X1000 had been gradually acting-up stranger & stranger:
* First the power button would sometimes switch it straight off (rather than the delay it should have).
* Then I sometimes wouldn't power on, so I had to unplug & replug the power cable sometimes.
* Then it wouldn't start-up at all, or if I did get it to start it would hang after Kickstart had loaded,
* Then it booted once, but I noticed the time was a couple of months out (may have been wrong before before but I didn't notice?).
* And then it would power off almost as soon as I turned it on (seemed like a power issue!), or I only got a black screen with a yellow square in the top left, or I got stripy graphical nonsense (seemed like a graphics card issue!).

Touch wood replacing the battery has fixed all this (time will tell), at least it booted up now.
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Raziel
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Re: Battery time

Post by Raziel »

@ChrisH

https://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/vi ... 7&forum=33

I really wonder why a drained battery could cause that much (and completely unrelated) issues...
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We are in the beginning of a mass extinction.
And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth.
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ChrisH
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Re: Battery time

Post by ChrisH »

Raziel wrote:@ChrisH
https://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/vi ... 7&forum=33
I really wonder why a drained battery could cause that much (and completely unrelated) issues...
Sounds like you had similar symptoms to me, but it took you a lot longer to get it resolved :(

I guess your first replacement battery was duff (bad luck). I used a Panasonic CR2032. X1k booted first time today, no problem. Have had intermittent non-booting-without-hard-reset issue for a while, maybe due to low battery voltage?

Yeah, very strange Amiga has such wierd issues, unlike PC.
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