Merlin Magix CKe5 processor battery how to replace. Translation card questions

[Bichela]

I bought a second hand Merlin Magix CKE5 Processor with R7 V14.2. Works great... but..... it is old and I want to avoid any downtime. it is mounted in a Merlin Legend clamshell case as my phone system is an upgraded Merlin II backplane. Still says on two stickers "Void warranty if removed"

Does this use a CMOS/clock battery? What kind so I can order the right one.

Long ago, over 5 years ago, the original Merlin II processor battery I replaced with a NIMH cordless phone battery that was still good after all those years. I migrated that into the Merlin 206 Feature Pack 2 cartridge, granted one hell of a tight fit. But that is not the processor in question.

I have another NEW cordless phone NIMH battery pack that I am willing to solder into the MaGix processor board if that is the type it needs. If it needs non-recharagables. I got a few CR2032 batteries and holders that can be installed as well.

In the case of translation cards. What exactly does this do? Most all system processors I see on Ebay have one in the slot. Is that because their batteries are dead and they want to be able to use this a volatile flash storage like I do on my Raspberry Pi? How do erase the card and start fresh? I have no idea if there was anything on it from a prior system. My setup went well but I do wonder what is on the thing.

I don't have a computer with a PCMCIA/Cardbus slot but even if I did..... what is the format on the card? FAT12 or some proprietary format?

 

[Bichela]

Looking at the same board on Ebay without the clamshell,. it looks like there is TWO Nickle Metal Hydride 3.5v cells soldered to the PCB. Only the picture does not clearly show the mah of the cells. Since my board in in the Merlin Legend Clamshell, looks like two 3.6v 500mah cordless phone NIMH battery packs (pack of 3 cells per pack). Would fit in nicely. or replacing the batteries with two CR2032 with a schokity diode to prevent charging the lithium manganese cell.

HONESTLY..... why does the Merlin Partner use user replaceable AA cells whereas the Merlin Legend, Merlin II and Merlin Magix and the classic Merlin system use non user replaceable batteries? Clearly, if you have these boards sitting in inventory and the cells run flat..... wouldn't it be practical to have a memory battery switch that the user activates at time of installation to begin charging the cells? It would also allow them to clear the static RAM by removing the battery voltage when powered down to give a user a fresh restart I may mod it to add just such a switch. same with my Merlin II board, if I can ever get the old girl running again. My Merlin 206 could also benefit with such a switch since it is used as a backup phone system. Cordless phone batteries are much cheaper than the PCB mounted ones. That is..... if you have the space for them. cramming a cell pack into my Merlin 206 Feature Pack V2 was a real challenge. Varta has a smaller pack that would have been a better choice. The original in that was a Cadica Nickle Cadmium 3.6v pack that was hard to find and even more expensive than the Varta NIMH batteries.

IN short, if you even experience a power fail and your system forgets its settings. it means your batteries are kaput. there is two NiMH in the Merlin Magix CKE5 processor board. There is ONE in the Merlin II board. and One in the Classic Merlin feature Pack 2 V1.1. and more than likely one in the classic Merlin feature pack 1

 

[TouchToneTommy]

I think if you trace out the battery connections, you will find a jumper that you can remove to disconnect the battery. And I'm sure mass producing circuit cards it is easier to add an on board battery instead of needing to include a separate battery pack when they were originally sold. Doesn't excuse the fact that they could have soldered a battery holder onto the board and installed the cells in that.

 

[Dexman]

A quick side note....R7/V14.2 indicates to me that the processor is for a Merlin Legend. The Magix processor went as high as R4 before Avaya retired the Merlin platform.

I installed a Magix at my Church. The processor has the two button cells. The very few times that I needed to default the processor, I slipped a few pieces of paper underneath the retaining clips for a minute or so.

Older Magix processors had capacitors to store power. For those, you would need to pull jumpers.


I "FEATURE 00"

http://dexman.webs.com/

 

[Bichela]

What type of button cells? Do you have any idea of the type of battery and voltage? One board on Ebay showed button cell like clips and the others show two green NIMH button batteries. I do not know if those NIMH cells are soldered to the board. The green "batteries" did not appear to be in a battery holder of any kind. Unless they plug into the holder.

Mine still has a 30 day warranty. I rather not muff with it until the warranty is up as it is working at the moment, I don't want to void the warranty.