CPS2 Suicide battery replacement

I recently bought the Dungeons & Dragons game, mainly because I wanted the Europe motherboard but its another CPS2 game to add to my collection. As I like to replace the battery on all my CPS2 games when I get them I thought it best to document it. Its a very easy process.
Open up the B board, this is the top board with the game sticker on it. It is held together with 4 x security torx screws, a screwdriver bit for these is available very cheaply.


The battery is located in the bottom right hand corner of the PCB.
Remove the solder holding the battery in from the underside and remove the battery. Dont worry about the board suiciding, apparently the capacitor next to it stores enough charge for round about an hour and ive never had one fail yet.


You will need a new battery to put in its place. These are half size AA axial lithium batteries and are 3.6v. They cost around £3 or £4 each. I get mine from Cell Pack Solutions or CPC.
Make sure all the solder has been removed from the through holes as it makes is so much easier to fit a new battery and limits the risk of damage to the PCB.


Bend the legs into shape on the new battery and feed through the holes. Note that the positive (+) side of the battery goes to the left away from the nearest edge of the PCB. Solder the legs on the underside and snip the excess length off so it is flush with the solder. Make completely sure that the battery is soldered in properly and securely.

Thats pretty much it, all that’s left to do is test the board.
Its best to leave the board a couple of hours as the capacitor holding a charge from the battery will keep the board alive for an hour or so. If you have incorrectly installed the battery then the board WILL suicide soon after.

If all went well, the battery should be good for at least another 5 years. These batteries do last a lot longer but for the sake of a few quid every 5 years its not worth it IMO.
Finally, I put a label on to keep track of when the battery was replaced or to let the next owner know when it was replaced.