Hardware Do all GBA cartridge batteries eventually leak?

[blueagent004]

"CR2032s are based on solid state chemistry, there's no liquid electrolyte to leak. If you get it wet though, that's a different story."

i thought gba cartridge batteries are just as susceptible to leaking as any old batteries inside an SNES cartridge would, or are modern CR2032 batteries made differently than what they're used to?

years ago i had to remove all of the internal batteries inside every gba carts i own, out of fears that the CR2032 battery inside would leak and damage the circuit board. if only i knew it wasn't necessary to remove the CR2032, then i wouldn't have bothered as i accidentally damaged one of my carts while desoldering the battery and i've regretted it ever since (i was nervous at the time)

so my question is: do all GBA cartridge batteries eventually leak?


thanks for letting me know!

 

[DinohScene]

They don't leak under normal circumstances, they just run out of power.

 

[The Catboy]

I actually accidentally damaged one when I was replacing the battery in my Pokemon Ruby and caused the battery to swell up and leak. Now that was an accident caused by soldering, under normal circumstances they simply drain and die.

 

[malheur]

like DinohScene said, it usually doesnt leak but ran out. normally button type batteries are designed for using many years, so it designed for least harmful for devices. btw ran out catridges are not hold save anymore, but still can play without save feature.

though, many of late manufactured catridge doesnt use battery at all. they uses flash memory for saving. so never lost save. yet, some catridges using flash memory AND battery for power up the realtime clock.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

i thought gba cartridge batteries are just as susceptible to leaking as any old batteries inside an SNES cartridge would, or are modern CR2032 batteries made differently than what they're used to?

years ago i had to remove all of the internal batteries inside every gba carts i own, out of fears that the CR2032 battery inside would leak and damage the circuit board. if only i knew it wasn't necessary to remove the CR2032, then i wouldn't have bothered as i accidentally damaged one of my carts while desoldering the battery and i've regretted it ever since (i was nervous at the time)

so my question is: do all GBA cartridge batteries eventually leak?


thanks for letting me know!

Batteries in general should not normally leak, but it can and will happen occasionally.
Poor quality batteries are more likely to leak, they are not made with the same standards as name brand batteries.
Of course, batteries from back when the SNES was current are not likely to be made with the same standards as batteries today. Just like most other technology, batteries improve with time.
The batteries that come in original GBA cartridges are likely to be quality batteries, but if the batteries have been replaced at some point by someone other than you, there's no telling if the batteries they used were high quality or not.

 

[blueagent004]

oh wow i didn't know there's so much to know when it comes to CR2032 batteries, thank you all so much for sharing this information with me!

 

[Ryccardo]

Of course, batteries from back when the SNES was current are not likely to be made with the same standards as batteries today.

Meanwhile a decent number of copies of the first SRAM game (Zelda 1) were still running 5 years ago, and they actually warned in the manual it would need service every couple years (most things with an LCD display of that age had a similiar disclaimer about the panel breaking down after some years!)

Most clock batteries that leak when empty are lead or nickel-based rechargeables (often green or orange plastic wrap, usually found in analog wall timers/pinballs/early 90s computers like the Amiga 500 Plus)

That's not to say lithium ones are perfect, but to the best of my knowledge it's only a significant problem with certain Maxells