I bought an old 586 motherboard from a surplus store really cheap to build a system for my niece. Didn't really inspect it much. Anyway got it home & installed it in a case, added hard drive/video card etc & turned it on. All functioned ok, booted me to cmos to correctly configure everything, loaded Win 95 & all functioned well, no problem until I turned it off & back on. Received low cmos battery so had to go in a configure it again. So I took the computer apart to see what type battery I need & there is no battery on the board. It has been soldered off but I believe it is one of those barrel type batteries. So how do I go about replacing this since it has been soldered off the board. I know nothing about soldering. Other than that the machine functions perfectly. I guess my niece can just leave it on all the time if there are no options. Really want to fix it myself. I like learning new things. Thanks.

Hi Devin: Have a look at the MOBO around the area where the battery used to be for a small two pin connector. If there is one there you can use a connector from an old compter (or buy one)and a four AA battery holder (Radio Shack usually has these)and connect it to the pin connector. This will then act as your COMOS battery. You can even have the wires long enough to run outside the case so future batt replacement is easy. I think you will need about 3 AA batts for 4.5V, so you will have to jumper the last battery space with a piece of copper wire. (you may be able to find a 3 batt holder). The above sounds a little complicated but really is very simple. I did this with an old 386 that had a soldered battery and it is still going strong. Let us know how you make out.

Are you sure it has a barrel type battery? That seems odd for a 586 board. My guess would be it has a Dallas Realtime Clock battery. They're usually black & are roughly the size of a 9v battery...it would say Dallas on it, possibly Odin. They're very expensive to replace but you may be able to pull one off an old board. Be very carefull if you do, there are numerous small pins underneath where it plugs into its socket.

No it doesn't have a Dallas battery. I know what they look like. I have one on my 386 ps/2. I'm not sure about it having a barrel battery just guessing. Just no there is a place on the board where it has been soldered off. Thanks Jon, I will try your suggestion tomorrow.