How To Replace the Battery in a QX-10, Page 3
A Closer look at the battery.
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Note the connector to the left of the battery. This is a 3-prong connector, although only two are important. There are two red wires and one black wire. The black wire is the "-", or negative. The two red wires are the "+", or positive. The two red wired are twisted together. You will need to cut a nylon tie to remove the old battery. Then, cut the 3 wires as close to the battery as you can. Strip 1/2 inch of insulation off of the wires that come from the plug. Then, connect these to your new battery. The battery used here was a 3-cell NiCad battery, with soldering tabs on the plus and minus. I soldered some regular hook-up wire to the tabs. (I used red and black wire I bought at Radio Shack - You should also be able to find an appropriate battery there as well.) You then strip 1/2 inch of insulation from the other ends of the wires you soldered to the battery. If you're lucky, you might be able to find a replacement battery that alread has red and black wires, with some sort of plug at the end. You would cut off the plug and then strip those wires. Twist the two red wires from the QX-10 plug to the red battery wire. Put a piece of electrical tape aroung the splice to prevent shorts. Do the same with the black wires. The easiest way to mount the new battery is to get some double-sided sticky tape (Radio Shack has that too) and use it to make a little "bed" for the battery and then press the battery in place.
Replace the cover carefully. Note that there is a seperator that comes down from the top half that shields the power supply area from the CPU electronics. Be sure the battery does not get in the way of this. After you have re-assembled the QX-10, you may have to re-initialize all of your C-MOS data. This is because the battery is used to retain the C-MOS memory that contains all of the system settings. You will also have to re-initialize your time & date. (Remember, the QX-10 was designed 25 years ago, and can get confused with dates beyond 1999.) Note, this is similar to the "BIOS" settings and battery in today's PC. The QX-10 certainly was way ahead of it's time. Viva Valdocs! by Roger W. Amidon June, 2007 |