I DON'T RECOMMEND DOING THIS WITHOUT SOME MICRO SOLDER TOOLS
...anyhow we know how that goes...
I had it with the 7300 losing it's clock time and using the dumb program to reset it provided from ICOM who created the stupid clock battery design in the first place. I found several modifications available. I opted for the one that required soldering onto the old battery solder pads. Those resistors are too small for me to see, let alone get to. The battery is small. VERY FREAKING SMALL. (See pictures). It's welded to it's holder and soldered to the board. New watch battery looks giant next to it.
To unsolder, I crimped a piece of old brake line on the end of my old soldering tool. I cut a big slot with a swiss file in the end to fit over the battery and tinned the tips. It was tough, very tough, but it finally came off. I did all this without removing the board from the radio. Both sides of the battery need heated at the same time to keep the circuit board metal from peeling off. What a stupid battery design.
I used a CR2032 battery. It's not rechargable like the old one bit is GIANT in comparison. I soldered a small signal diode in series so the radio wouldn't be sending it any recharge voltage. Neg stripe side of the diode goes towards the radio, and positive side towards the positive side of the battery. There are other mods using a LIR2032 battery which is rechargable and requires a 1000 ohm resistor in series. There are more exotic and also dumb looking ways to do it that are claimed to be effective but who knows?
Soldering the new battery leads to the board was no big deal. I found a nice spot behind some wires to stash it but did put a piece of painters tape on just in case. So in 6 years or so, I can just replace the battery if needed.
73
...anyhow we know how that goes...
I had it with the 7300 losing it's clock time and using the dumb program to reset it provided from ICOM who created the stupid clock battery design in the first place. I found several modifications available. I opted for the one that required soldering onto the old battery solder pads. Those resistors are too small for me to see, let alone get to. The battery is small. VERY FREAKING SMALL. (See pictures). It's welded to it's holder and soldered to the board. New watch battery looks giant next to it.
To unsolder, I crimped a piece of old brake line on the end of my old soldering tool. I cut a big slot with a swiss file in the end to fit over the battery and tinned the tips. It was tough, very tough, but it finally came off. I did all this without removing the board from the radio. Both sides of the battery need heated at the same time to keep the circuit board metal from peeling off. What a stupid battery design.
I used a CR2032 battery. It's not rechargable like the old one bit is GIANT in comparison. I soldered a small signal diode in series so the radio wouldn't be sending it any recharge voltage. Neg stripe side of the diode goes towards the radio, and positive side towards the positive side of the battery. There are other mods using a LIR2032 battery which is rechargable and requires a 1000 ohm resistor in series. There are more exotic and also dumb looking ways to do it that are claimed to be effective but who knows?
Soldering the new battery leads to the board was no big deal. I found a nice spot behind some wires to stash it but did put a piece of painters tape on just in case. So in 6 years or so, I can just replace the battery if needed.
73
