Acorn A3010 Battery Maintenance

Due to the two major revisions of the A3010 motherboard, the battery location can significantly differ. Both types of A3010 can accept the same types of battery and the photo's below show two different ways of replacing the on board battery.

Non-rechargeable solution

I fitted the non-rechargeable battery backup solution to Andrew McConville's A3010. The original battery is located in the center of the A3010's PCB next to the Adelaide board.

A non-rechargeable solution can make life easier when it comes to replacing the CMOS battery in the future which Andrew wanted. This requires soldering some flying leads onto the motherboards original battery connections after cutting out the battery. The wires are soldered to the original battery legs and connect to a AA battery holder at the other end.

At the end of the positive lead, a diode and resistor are placed in series to stop the charging of a non-rechargeable 3.7V lithium battery which is held in the AA battery holder.

Rechargeable solution

In my A3010, I went for a more traditional option and replaced the original battery with a Varta Mempac 3V6 150H rechargeable battery. The battery is located in the back right corner of the PCB.