SNES/NES Battery Holder Installation Guide

This video shows how to remove an original battery from a Super Nintendo game, and then solder in a new battery holder. This is not an original idea by me (goo.gl/RPrVO9), but I didn't see any good videos.
The battery holder part is S8421-45R. It can be found here:
goo.gl/7YOaxj
goo.gl/vqnkt1

[@NordicDan]

It's pretty easy to visually verify the positive and negative of these coin cells. The larger "outer" (or top) portion of the battery is the positive lead, while the smaller "inner" part is the negative. More often than not (unless the battery is extremely old) the positive is marked also, like the unmodified PCB shown in your video, so no need to verify with a multimeter. Though definitely wise to mark the PCB if it isn't already so you don't lose track of orientation if you're working several at once. Also as to your soldering technique, it helps immensely to tin the soldering iron first, then immediately before you touch it to your work surface apply a minuscule amount to the iron. This bit of liquid solder on the iron will greatly increase heat conduction into the pin and pad, resulting in less time needed with the hot iron against your surface. Hot and quick helps to prevent heat from spreading throughout the component or along the PCB traces. Though not necessarily CRITICAL with 99% of these cartridges, when soldering and desoldering components on ROHS boards with large ground planes and lead-free solder (my job working with emergency notification systems), it does become critical, and once you adapt to it, becomes an extremely easy and convenient soldering technique.

[@michaelknight8459]

Everything I found on your video is very useful and have used it. I don't recommend using the super glue to prevent the metal pins from popping out. I found that putting a battery in the holder first before bending the tabs works better. I used glue and some of the glue ran when I heated it up when I solder it on the board.

[@nathan118]

Glad it was helpful! Hope it helps others future proof their nes/snes games collection.

[@cybermax12]

Is there a way to do this for gameboy/color/advanced carts as well?

[@solofalcon]

Best SNES battery replacement guide ive ever seen! now i just need a soldering iron and a multi-meter and yeah....

[@fortysixteruk5672]

Nice guide. I've been modding my Snes carts for years using similar a similar process, it doesn't matter which was round you put the NEGATIVE or the POSITIVE, my carts have been running and saving for years, and the ones I got this " wrong on" were right at the start of my massive refit project. Metroid, F-Zero and Chrono trigger. Those are still holding saves and making new saves just fine, even today, and they were refitted November 2015 . I write the date on a small sticker and put it on the inside of the cart. On one ) Megadrive) cart I experimented with wiring the batter holder to the outside of the cart at the back. The benefit is easy changing, the down side is of course, the battery is exposed and the cart if a very tight fit in the universal game case. I think the CR2032 batteries have a fair, not great, shelf life of 6-10 years temperature dependent. To be safe, I'd consider changing them every 5 years. Maybe make it a project, book a couple of days off work, have a few movies on in the background as you change the holders out for the first time, mark the date you changed them all, and after that, with the proper holders, changing batteries becomes a very fast, five yearly job. Of course as I type this, it occurs to me I did all the battery changes nearly 5 years ago, November 2020 will be a battery changing spree for me !

[@nathan118]

Very cool! Since this, I've come to realize that a good raspberry pi build can actually out out a BETTER picture than an snes console...which is both cool and sad at the same time, haha. So yah, all the modded carts are in a closet doing nothing. Should bust them out soon. 😁

[@BOBSMITH-YouTubeStoleMyHandle]

These are super cheap to do now. As of this post there is a guy on Ebay from China that sells them in a pack of 10 for $1.23 shipped. If you get 10 or more it drops down to $1.19 each shipped. I just bought 150 of them ($17.10) and now I will go through my collection and just replace all the batteries with these holders for the future. Might as well do them all at once. Battery holders don't effect the value of the title, and some think it a plus. Great video!!!!

[@nathan118]

Thanks Bob! If I can do it, and I barely know what I'm doing, then anyone can do it. :)

[@shaunburtle6090]

I ran up to my radio shack right down the street and surprisingly, they actually had it! Super Mario land saves now. Repair complete. Thanks a lot for the video!!!

[@nathan118]

haha, no way! I clearly underestimated the radio shack! congrats man, glad I could help.

[@ba11ard]

Great, thank you for this video. I'm currently rebuilding my SNES library and want to make sure all my games will save for the years to come.

[@nathan118]

Really pretty easy. I didn't have any real soldering experience before I started doing this, and I did about 15 different games, not a single problem.

[@BasementArtScott]

@@nathan118 I've been trying to follow this for months. Every battery holder I buy snaps off when I fold down the smaller tab with my pliers, what is the best way to do this? Also, if I snip the smaller tab it does't go through even part of the way through the hole.

[@nathan118]

@@BasementArtScott Which holders are you using? I don't know of my link still works...this was quite a while ago. If I remember correctly, the little metal tabs were pretty tough. I don't think I ever had one snap off. Can you confirm...do they look the exact same as the ones I used?

[@BasementArtScott]

@@nathan118 These ones are the ones I ordered www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Harwin/S8421-45R?qs=Qom7kyPojXY6z0Gmx3V3RQ%3D%3D

[@BasementArtScott]

@@nathan118 Can you maybe explain how you got the tabs to face downward so they would slide through. Right now I'm taking a tiny eyeglass screwdriver to push the tiny one into a down position, and using a pair of pliers to bend the larger one.

[@stephbm6]

Awesome video!! I've done two SNES carts so far and the funny thing was the saves were still on the new battery!

[@nathan118]

Nice. I've heard that if you do it fast enough it won't lose the save. Good job!

[@cybernitemusic]

@@nathan118 Yes, this strangely enough happened to me too.

[@emerickscott]

Keep in mind in the future if you don't want to lose your saves when changing batteries, just take the board out of the cart and plug it into a snes and turn it on. That will give the cart juice to keep the saves, and change the battery quick while it's running, then shut it off and put the cart back together.

[@Bender1729]

The first time I used a soldering iron and it worked perfectly. Thanks for showing! Now my F-Zero saves lap records again. :)

[@nathan118]

+Bender1729 Congrats! Glad it worked for you. :)

[@RideRedRacer]

awesome, I watched a few videos then this video actually gave me confidence to do this myself.

[@nathan118]

That's awesome! How'd it go?

[@RideRedRacer]

oh well I just purchased the battery holders, batteries, and a new soldering iron on ebay right now lol. So once I get everything im going to do everything exactly like you just did and replace my 72 pin also. Thanks a million!

[@RideRedRacer]

well I got 1 game done with the same battery holder like yours in the video. now about 20 to go lol. my soldering iron sucks I need a real one first

[@nathan118]

RideRedRacer Congrats dude! I bought a $30 one from Lowes...but the tip is falling off and doesn't heat that great now. I have the urge to get out Mario RPG....

[@B0T0XUT]

Thanks for making what looks like the best battery holder placement guide I've seen. Found you on NintendoAge :)

[@gwicks]

wait... super mario kart has a battery? I dont remember the game having any save function

[@nathan118]

I think it did the "ghosts" in time trials, and then the saved times. But that was a long time ago, so I could be wrong! 😁

[@Eyedunno]

Thanks for this. Just did 4 games today. I did lose two battery holders though, one because I bent the big one a bit too far and it snapped off, and another because my nippers suck, and they made the small one break off when I was trimming it. Used scissors after that. :/ The four games I did are all holding their saves though, and I bought ten of the holders just in case. I pretty much just want to do my SA-1 games along with one copy of Super Metroid (done) and maybe a copy of Sutte Hakkun.

[@nathan118]

Eyedunno Glad you had some success! Very cool.

[@Eyedunno]

I ended up putting battery holders in all 7 games I wanted to do it to. One that was a problem was Shigesato Itoi's #1 Bass Fishing, which is in one of the larger Satellaview carts that loads a memory pack on top. The battery placement was weird and off-center, which didn't work with the holder, so I ended up soldering the holder to some wires and velcroing it to the upper part of the case where there was lots of room. It worked though!

[@nathan118]

Eyedunno Right on. I had to do something similar in my Dreamcast. Mount the holder and use wires. Glad it's all working.

[@quickscope45]

Does putting battery holders lower the value of the game?

[@nathan118]

I could see it both ways. Yah, technically it's not "mint" or original anymore. I could also see it adding value to someone that doesn't know how to do it. Quality of the work would matter.

[@quickscope45]

@@nathan118thanks man, I also appreciate you replying to me on a 9 year old video lol thx

[@nathan118]

@@quickscope45 for sure! I'm not a collector, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I still have all these old games, but I've also got a little mini PC running batocera. Just so much easier to use. 😁 Good luck!

[@Pelladhros]

I wonder if, in 10 years when you replace it, you could swap the batteries fast enough not to lose the save data on the cartridge. If not you'd need a Retrode 2 to back up the data first, and I think a Kazzo for NES.

[@nathan118]

Galidago I've heard people say that even after replacing the original battery with a holder and new battery....the save is STILL there. So if 5-10 mins of doing this procedure gives you some decent success...then 5-10 seconds of swapping batteries would probably be pretty reliable I'd think. Then again...depends how much you value those saves. :)

[@SatuBangsa_2023]

Thanks i got it

[@StefaniaBerlin]

How many degrees is the soldering iron heated to?

[@nathan118]

It was a real cheap one...like a $30 one from home Depot. Don't think it had a degree setting. Also, I barely had any idea what I was doing. 😁

[@CptPsyborg]

Exactly what I've been looking for - Great video! Time to buy me a soldering iron...

[@jnZaneHD]

does this also work for PAL cartridges? are the dimensions the same? I was just about to buy everything but I don't want the battery holder to not fit. thanks for the great video btw.

[@nathan118]

I have never tried...but this guy did. www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?StartRow=76&catid=6&threadid=31878

[@jnZaneHD]

Nathan Charlton thanks. i guess i will give it a try

[@MathijsGroothuis]

And did it work out?

[@jnZaneHD]

Yeah no problems at all.

[@eddiemccomas519]

i have a game that has a battery in it and wont work i have cleaned it and it still wont work if the battery is dead will the game still work.

[@nathan118]

+Eddie Mccomas Yeah, game should still work fine...just won't save. I assume your snes works with other games? Have you cleaned the contacts with a cue tip and rubbing alcohol?

[@eddiemccomas519]

the rest of my games work fine yes i have cleaned it im going to try super fine steel wool if that dont work i will trash it...i hate to its super mario allstars.i got the game gave to me and i put it in to play it and it wouldnt work but one time something came up.it was some kind of copy right stuff its never worked since.

[@fernnando641]

clean battery holder mod ima try this method out

[@Reapus]

Do you mind telling me which soldering iron you used exactly? I bought a 15 watt soldering iron and that didn't work at all. Then I bought a 40 watt soldering iron and that still didn't work. Nothing is burning off the stuff that holds the battery for either of my carts. It's frustrating because I keep spending money on these things and they turn out to be useless. They're $10-$20 ones from eBay. Thanks in advance.

[@nathan118]

I tried a $5 one eBay, and all it did was smoke...never got hot. Are they even getting hot? I ended up buying one from Lowes...$30 or so. I forget the wattage. Werner was the brand I believe. Could be your eBay ones are just junk?

[@nathan118]

Oh, and if this is your first time using a soldering iron, I'd find something practice on. Some old piece of electronics, something like that. Give you a feel for it. Try adding solder to it, removing, etc.

[@tithund]

For that money you can also buy brand stuff second hand. I got a 25w weller soldering iron and a 100w weller soldering gun, together for 3 bucks at a yard sale. Things like these batteries, where there's nothing in the way of the components, I find it quicker to use the big 100w one.

[@Coucho]

it might have taken a while to heat up those pads because that tip has a huge oxide layer on it

[@nathan118]

+Coucho Absolutely...is there an easy way to clean that?

[@Coucho]

I'd probably just buy a new tip and or new iron and recycle the old one. To keep the tips new you need to keep your irons tinned during use and when you store them.

[@Huanchee]

Is it possible to reuse the original tabs? Like glue a new battery in? While I might definitely invest in some of these for my more precious games, others i still want to keep but buying a bunch of these for my snes collection could get costly quick

[@nathan118]

Keeta I'm pretty sure they sell batteries WITH tabs. Check eBay?

[@Huanchee]

I’ve been hesitant to buy anything from either ebay or amazon after i got screwed by a seller awhile back on a laptop battery, even after checking his ratings, as a result I really would rather either find some place selling them in person, or find some way to reuse the old ones if possible.

[@nathan118]

Keeta Reusing old ones is probably a no go. Do Amazon, find one fulfilled by Amazon. Any problems, returning is super easy.

[@Huanchee]

It’s me again, and yeah....I attempted to buy pretabbed batteries and got screwed again. Returned em and only got a fraction of my original price back. Thankfully those are cheap so I didn’t lose too much, but it did solidify my original stance to never buy anything from amazon again when it’s dealing with electronics. This was Amazon’s recommended seller as well, yet i still got screwed on my refund. On the bright side least I found a place that sells battery holders...it’s over an hours drive away, but after my fiasco with amazon I’d still rather do this. Only problem is the battery holders don’t fit quite exactly. Wondering if maybe just gluing the holder in a free spot on the inside of the cartridge and then running wires to it might be the best solution, as these are the only style holders this place sells....

[@nathan118]

I've got a $25-30 one from Lowe's...nothing fancy. Before that I tried some of the super cheap ebay ones...and all they did was smoke and not work. Good luck!

[@julietaperla5390]

I found your you tube mr Charlton 😂😂

[@LordXaero]

Can these battery holders fit in all SNES games? Also, can they also fit in N64 games? If not, are there holders that can? I really want to invest in doing this, but would also like to do all my games aswell.

[@nathan118]

Only 12 n64 games use battery...but I doubt they would fit. N64 games are super tight inside. I have however used one in a controller pak, which does use a battery. I had to dremel the controller pak a little to get it to fit.

[@LordXaero]

Man. That's a bummer. Would be nice to have these installed on all games.

[@nathan118]

LordXaero I think one of the Zelda n64 games has a battery...but not sure if there's anything else good. Surprisingly as I went to rebuild my old games collection...there were way more snes games I wanted than n64.

[@nathan118]

This girl put in a battery holder with a different holder that is much taller...and it seems to fit ok. So they might actually fit just fine. Do a little youtube looking. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4qufoaFZ9qWocU

[@LordXaero]

Yea. I saw her video, but I'm not sure how I feel about the stress she had to put on the cart to get it to close.

[@johneygd]

But is it reliable? Does the battery not lose contact with the motherboard overtimes?? I was thinking, how about replacing the entire ram with rom instead sothat it will last 100 years. Those save files may require a conversion from and to rom format by an interpretter,but you never should wurry about battery lifespan anymore,

[@JOGAMUITOOUJOGANADA]

These lithium batteries can explode or leak if you apply too much heat. So it is better to put solder on the iron first and then put it to the connector. That is safer. Just a tip.

[@shaunburtle6090]

Awesome video! Do they sell these batteries and battery holders at radio shack do you know? Where can I find the specs? I bought super Mario land and I can't save so I'm gonna fix it 1019 LYNNHURST AVE, 40215

[@nathan118]

no...little too specific for RadioShack. I linked a couple online places in the description. the batteries themselves....should be able to find lots of places.

[@gregcookey6545]

What kind of soder do you use?

[@nathan118]

The exact title from my ebay auction: 0.8mm Tin Lead Rosin Core Solder Wire 63/37 - 12.5g tube.

[@frankymanky322]

+Nathan Charlton So you just buy cheap China solder like me? Dave from EEVBlog recommends buying this www.amazon.com/MULTICORE-SOLDER-3096525-M-WIRE-180%C2%B0C/dp/B00DKF13JY, but I don't can't see the difference in quality over my cheap Chinese solder and that Multicore stuff.

[@nathan118]

FrankyManky Other than these battery holders...I don't solder anything. Hopefully 20 years from now I don't have to redo any of them. :) Thanks for sharing.

[@genmockify]

Thank you

[@biancazambrano5540]

Mr.charlton please do more vids

[@nissan300bhp]

@ 4.25! you should never place any pressure on ternimals like he is doing, you could end up braking off the pad on the chipboard! buy a solder sucker and do it right.

[@nathan118]

Worked fine on over 30 carts that I modified. You're putting the smallest amount of pressure on it...it's not going to break metal tabs.

[@nissan300bhp]

Nathan Charlton just saying its bad practice for anyone who really knows about electronics, use the proper equipment, just incase, i mean you wouldint want to risk say a copy of earthbound or chronotrgger just because you carnt be bothered to buy a proper spring loaded $10 solder sucker

[@lincruste]

Nice, nice and easy, nice, you'll notice a nice nice, nice it's nice and easy nice nice

[@mrgameslord3094]

Its a ok video