Battery voltage running low message on boot

fizzy

Our Dell Dimension PC is 3 years old.

For the last few days, we usually (but not always!) get a message saying something like "Battery voltage running low, press F1 to continue".

This happened just a couple of times about 2 years ago now. We rang Dell, and eventually found out that the battery inside the computer could be going (I didn't even know they had batteries up to that! ) and that if we kept getting the message we would need to get a new one from them....

Luckily the message went away, but now it seems to be there more often than not. I know I can have lots of fun getting onto Dell tech support in India, but I'd appreciate the wisdom of friendly boardsters first if that's OK because Dell might be a bit biased etc!

My mum is planning to get a new PC within a couple of months, so is the battery likely to give out before then, and if so:

1)can I get a new battery from anywhere or do I have to get it direct from Dell,
2) will it be hard to put the new battery in ?

Many thanks,
fizzy

Ruu_Old

Yep what you are looking for something like the one below, they are easy to install. You shouldn't pay anymore than a €1 for a single one but they normally come in a pack of 5 or so. Most computer shops should have them, be careful when removing as different motherboards have different clamping mechanisms. Figure out which it is and remove carefully. Simply insert the new one. You might have to set the date/time and other settings so record them in the BIOS menu before you replace the battery.

accensi0n

Is that battery for the CMOS?

PogMoThoin

accensi0n wrote:

Is that battery for the CMOS?

Yep

Anti

accensi0n wrote:

Is that battery for the CMOS?

And you have seen batteries where else on the motherboard ?

What ruu said basicially

fizzy

thanks for the replies but i'm a bit lost - are there different types of batteries in a computer? i'm also a bit scared by the fact that the battery looks to go on a fairly critical looking card/board - i could bust the whole thing i'm so clumsy

i guess i'll be ringing dell rather than face my mother's wrath when i make a mess of it all! but i'd say they won't sell you anything for 50 cent

thanks,
fizzy.

Ruu_Old

They are fairly easy to find, there are other batteries in the computer I believe but they are probably soldered to the motherboard and are generally not replaced. Just when you are going to replace it, touch the metal part of the case a few times to ground yourself. Its really not hard.

Karoma

Visit www.dell.ie - it'll provide instructions re: removing the case, and safety precautions.

It's really the only battery inside your machine. It allows your computer to store a small but important amount of information. Just read the instructions on dell.ie, get the exact battery ('Pound shop', or Argos, or Maplins), take your time, pop the old one out, pop the new one in, put everything back together, switch on, set time. Done. (It's easier than it reads.)

zilog_jones

They are standard CR2032 lithium batteries - every remotely modern PC I've seen uses them (older ones used Ni-Cd batteries guaranteed to leak all over the place, but let's not go there). You can get them in PC World/Currys/Dixons or any place like that (or anywhere that sells coin batteries), and they usually cost about a fiver.

*However*, saying all this, those batteries should last a lot longer than 3 years! Generally, from my experience they last about 7-10 years. Also, my friend's Dell Dimension desktop (about 4 years old now) came up with the same error message regularly about a year after getting the PC - we changed the battery on it but it made no difference! I've seen some Dell Optiplexes come up with this error too even though the battery's still working.

accensi0n

anti wrote:

And you have seen batteries where else on the motherboard ?

eh......the CMOS.....

wanted to make sure.


Also, as said above, I've read that those batteries should last about 10 years.