NES Zelda II Cartridge Battery Holder Install. Cheap, Easy, & Neat.
by Nesmaniac in Living > Video Games
3603 Views, 27 Favorites, 0 Comments
NES Zelda II Cartridge Battery Holder Install. Cheap, Easy, & Neat.
![DSC04923.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FSH/OSHK/IR418CTN/FSHOSHKIR418CTN.jpg&filename=DSC04923.JPG)
Recently I've been getting back into playing old NES games. Zelda II is a game I've never played much & after reading about what an awesome game it actually is and watching gameplay videos on youtube I decided it was time to start the quest. I got one of my old Zelda II carts out & popped it in my nes & it still had games saves, and still saved as well, but..........was I really going to spend hours progressing through the game depending upon a battery dated 02-89 that should have went bad around 94 according to Nintendo, I think not.
Now it was time to decide what method I was going to use to remedy this problem & as with many problems there were a few options. Ultimately the option I chose was to take a CR2032 battery holder out of my first PC from the late 90's since it's just a parts machine now anyways. This way I could easily use any CR2032 battery I needed & easily switch it out in the future if I ever decide to beat the game again.
Robbing the CR2032 Battery Holder From Old Computer.
![DSC04917.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FIM/A61F/IR418B0A/FIMA61FIR418B0A.jpg&filename=DSC04917.JPG)
![DSC04920.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FP8/TR3V/IR418BCN/FP8TR3VIR418BCN.jpg&filename=DSC04920.JPG)
![DSC04921.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FD4/WOY3/IR418BD1/FD4WOY3IR418BD1.jpg&filename=DSC04921.JPG)
First step was to desolder the battery holder from the computer motherboard. I let my soldering iron get nice and hot & used a desolder pump to suck away as much solder as possible as I heated it. Finally I had enough removed so as I could use my needle nose pliers to wiggle the holders tabs off bringing the holder with them.
Disassemble the Cartridge.
![DSC04924.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FJ8/I5GW/IR418DR2/FJ8I5GWIR418DR2.jpg&filename=DSC04924.JPG)
![DSC04925.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FTZ/9O77/IR418DWK/FTZ9O77IR418DWK.jpg&filename=DSC04925.JPG)
![DSC04926.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FCN/JIJJ/IR418E1M/FCNJIJJIR418E1M.jpg&filename=DSC04926.JPG)
![DSC04927.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F1Y/DFAP/IR418E4Y/F1YDFAPIR418E4Y.jpg&filename=DSC04927.JPG)
![DSC04928.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FFR/YLE8/IR418E3P/FFRYLE8IR418E3P.jpg&filename=DSC04928.JPG)
Second step I used my NES cartridge game bit to remove the 3 screws from the back of the cart exposing the inwards of this electronic master piece.
Desoldering & Removing Old Battery & Tabs.
![DSC04930.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FTM/B5D7/IR418EE2/FTMB5D7IR418EE2.jpg&filename=DSC04930.JPG)
![DSC04929.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F37/CDA2/IR418E8G/F37CDA2IR418E8G.jpg&filename=DSC04929.JPG)
![DSC04931.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F61/XXGA/IR418F0G/F61XXGAIR418F0G.jpg&filename=DSC04931.JPG)
![DSC04932.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FFA/ZFA9/IR418FDL/FFAZFA9IR418FDL.jpg&filename=DSC04932.JPG)
![DSC04933.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FI6/1DM0/IR418FTS/FI61DM0IR418FTS.jpg&filename=DSC04933.JPG)
![DSC04934.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FJY/TFZB/IR418G89/FJYTFZBIR418G89.jpg&filename=DSC04934.JPG)
![DSC04935.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FYI/H9DI/IR418GJN/FYIH9DIIR418GJN.jpg&filename=DSC04935.JPG)
Third step is to get the old battery removed. Note the date on the battery of 02-89. Hard to believe it was still working. Desoldering pump came it quite handy here because there was a pretty good amount of solder holding the tabs in place. Originally I thought of using the tabs and simply trying to pry the battery off the tabs but they seem to be welded in place. I even attempted to slide a knife blade under them acting as a wedge to pop the welds but they would not give & actually buldged the old battery housing out under all the pressure so I saw that this method was not what I wanted anyways. I proceeded to remove as much solder as possible with desoldering pump as I heated it up with my iron. Once I had most of the solder sucked away I used my needle nosed pliers to wiggle the tabs until they broke free of the older & pulled it off the cartridge board.
Soldering in the CR2032 Battery Holder.
![DSC04936.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F76/DR83/IR418HCV/F76DR83IR418HCV.jpg&filename=DSC04936.JPG)
![DSC04937.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F6Q/AJRV/IR418HW7/F6QAJRVIR418HW7.jpg&filename=DSC04937.JPG)
![DSC04938.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FI5/9QBP/IR418HZ9/FI59QBPIR418HZ9.jpg&filename=DSC04938.JPG)
![DSC04939.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F9F/0X4G/IR418I2Q/F9F0X4GIR418I2Q.jpg&filename=DSC04939.JPG)
Fourth step I soldered the - and + wires to the cartridge board & then soldered them to the battery holder tabs. Be sure not to mix up the wires. The cartridge board has the + side clearly marked which the wire soldering to it will run to the tab on the holder that makes contact with the shiny + marked side of the battery that is visible when placed in holder. The bottom of the battery is the negative. I recommend doing this before installing the battery because the solder will heat the battery which could destroy or severely impact it's life. Once I had the holder soldering in place I bent the tabs to the side on the holder & placed it in the cartridge housing making sure all fit good.
Install the Battery & Secure It in Place.
![DSC04940.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FBY/EKQR/IR418I4O/FBYEKQRIR418I4O.jpg&filename=DSC04940.JPG)
![DSC04922.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F8C/G0DD/IR418BW5/F8CG0DDIR418BW5.jpg&filename=DSC04922.JPG)
![DSC04941.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FYS/UTWZ/IR418I5H/FYSUTWZIR418I5H.jpg&filename=DSC04941.JPG)
![DSC04942.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FQ3/2LEE/IR418I85/FQ32LEEIR418I85.jpg&filename=DSC04942.JPG)
![DSC04943.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FXM/1FOZ/IR418ITM/FXM1FOZIR418ITM.jpg&filename=DSC04943.JPG)
![DSC04944.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F3G/C0NQ/IR418J4T/F3GC0NQIR418J4T.jpg&filename=DSC04944.JPG)
Fifth step I figured out exactly where I wanted the holder to be doing a test fit & I then installed my battery. I used the Sunbeam CR2032's which I purchased at dollar tree 2 for a dollar. I thought of gluing the holder in place but since I might need to take the cartridge board out again to clean I decided just using black electrical tape to hold the wires in place would be good enough since the battery holder is large enough that it can't move anyways & it was far less messy than trying to use hot glue or having to wait for another type of glue to dry. I then put my cartridge back together & now it was time to test it out.
Success!
![DSC04947.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F6C/0Y95/IR418JKE/F6C0Y95IR418JKE.jpg&filename=DSC04947.JPG)
![DSC04945.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FBR/4G5C/IR418J6Q/FBR4G5CIR418J6Q.jpg&filename=DSC04945.JPG)
![DSC04946.JPG](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F2A/7MI1/IR418J8S/F2A7MI1IR418J8S.jpg&filename=DSC04946.JPG)
I slid the cartridge in & powered on the NES & created my save file. I played the game until I died & then saved. I powered off the console (as I held the reset button as the manual states) & powered it back on & my save was present. Now I'm confident my journey will be well protected for many years to come.