alarm 124 low battery

[teacherjon]

Hi

If you can't or don't want to remove the main board for some reason
you can avoid the possible hazards of the Russian roulette method shown in the you tube video


John

Here is the same fix without the Russian Roulette of leaving the machine on. This walks through correcting Error Code 250 - Program Data Error, Error Code 124 - Low Battery, and Error Code 475 - Clock Not Set. The battery of the machine in the video went dead so it shows full system restore to factory settings as well as loading the user backup.

[JFettig]

This may be a dumb question...but have you cycled the machine off and then on again after performing the battery holder change service?

Yes, that is the only way it will throw the error code is on startup. It is the first thing that flashes on the screen when it starts up and also shows the alarm when it is all the way booted up but clears when I hit the reset button

[JFettig]

Well I decided to dig into it. It was a little intense considering I'm working on an expensive piece of equipment and if I screw up, the repair by Haas would also be expensive!

I picked up battery holders from Mouser, I wish I had 3 since I used one for the jumper pack. I ended up putting that on the board too.

My VF-4SS has 2 batteries on the board! They don't seem to be connected together like the tech support person said so I connected them on the back of the board while I did this operation.

I marked all the cables with a silver sharpie as they came out, even though they all have tags with the location of where they go. I also took pictures of everything as it came out just for backup.

Here I am at the 3rd board in, where you see 2 batteries. The one on the left is fine, the one on the right is only reading 1.3v!!!


Carefully remove the board with the backup battery attached(mine didn't really need to be attached at this point but I did it for added safety)


It was obvious which battery was connected to the backup due to the voltage readings being the same at the batteries, I started with that one by desoldering the battery, then soldered in a battery holder and installed a surefire battery I had on hand


I then took the extra pads and jumpered the positive side between the batteries because they didn't seem to already be there, the grounds were tied already.


Desoldered the other and dropped it in, I actually chopped the positive side out of this one so I didn't have to disturb the jumper wire on back.


I removed the jumper wire, cleaned up the excess solder and reinstalled. Everything works!

[Ken_Shea]

Good on you JFettig,
Now you can get to using that new 4th axis, I'd love one for sure, maybe some day but I'm not holding my breath.

[john-100]

Hi JFettig,

good to see another success

looking at the photo of your board . I see your board has a Dallas DS1286 real time clock / watchdog


I could not think why I thought the number rang a bell but
it reminded me of a DIY fix to replace the internal battery inside a DS1287 rtc



may be a possible fix when the DS1286 is no longer available

Fixing a Flat Dallas DS1287 Real Time Clock Chip

Reworking the DS1287 / DS1387 RTC chip



note- the DS1284 is a version that uses an external battery and Standard 32.768kHz Quartz Crystal ( watch crystal )

DS1284 and DS1286 data


John

[Ken_Shea]

Another battery question.
With no low battery warning error, still boots fine, however this unit is over 11 years old, battery can't last forever, just a matter of time.
Wanting to avoid the bullet not dodge it and not being ready to replace the battery right now is there any problems plugging in the 32-1010 3V battery backup in conjunction with the battery on-board for a few weeks till I get time to replace the on-board battery?

Thanks
Ken

[teacherjon]

Another battery question.
With no low battery warning error, still boots fine, however this unit is over 11 years old, battery can't last forever, just a matter of time.
Wanting to avoid the bullet not dodge it and not being ready to replace the battery right now is there any problems plugging in the 32-1010 3V battery backup in conjunction with the battery on-board for a few weeks till I get time to replace the on-board battery?

Thanks
Ken

I had the temp battery plugged in for a week while I waited on parts to be shipped to me. I didn't have any issues during that time.

[Ken_Shea]

Did you have a low battery at the time prior to the time while it was plugged in?

I don't think there would be an issue mostly just playing it safe.

[teacherjon]

I had a low battery code and didn't want to risk losing anything so I plugged in my temp battery and ordered new parts. When the new parts arrived about a week later I did the repair.

[Ken_Shea]

At the end of your video on replacement both the new and backup were hooked up then you unplugged the backup battery, that probably answers my question now that I think of it.

Thanks
Ken

[Ydna]

I do just that with our oldest machine, a 1993 vintage VF1. This works fine but you must be aware that if the jumper battery goes low then the only time you can unplug it is when the machine is active. Otherwise you risk losing the backup. It's not advisable to rely solely on the jumper for long periods of time, since you're placing all your trust in the wires and connector holding 100% of the time, but you do what you gotta do...

[Ken_Shea]

Good advice, "temporary" does seem to have a way of becoming temporarily permanent, I've a few examples of that in my own shop

[JFettig]

Thanks for the info john-100!

[Cshade30]

Does replacing the battery yourself void manufacturer warranty?

[Ken_Shea]

Don't really know but seems doubtful, on the other hand, can't see where you'd have any manufacturers warranty left by the time it needed replaced.

Ken

[JFettig]

Just came across this, I was planning on building something similar at one point.

Main Processor - Dual Battery Replacement Kit - Installation | Haas Automation

PCB, DUAL BATTERY REPLACEMENT KIT (BATTERIES INCLUDED) | Batteries | Electrical Cabinet | Find Replacement Parts | Haas Parts | Genuine OEM Haas Automation® Parts Factory-Direct

[Ken_Shea]

That looks like the ideal set up.
My OEM battery lasted over 12 years and was still going, I was just getting nervous about it failing so added a replacement to the extension plug.

[Ydna]

Yeah the battery replacement kit is listed as an "upgrade" for most machines. It won't last as long as the original lithium battery, but it doesn't really matter since it uses common off-the-shelf parts. Everybody wins!

[underthetire]

Looks like a lithium battery to me, ours all died within 3 years, that beats pulling the motherboard and soldering in the 123a holder. Improper LOTO on the video though! We would have had to throw him out of the plant.

Sent from my A3-A20FHD using Tapatalk

[Contract_Pilot]

Does replacing the battery yourself void manufacturer warranty?

As long as the repair you did not cause the upstream or down stream issue for warranty. They are not obligated to repair the work you did. See the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act...
or 15 U.S. Code Chapter 50 - CONSUMER PRODUCT WARRANTIES