SI Board Lithium batteries

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SWAUS6
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SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by SWAUS6 »

Dear All,

Having the SI Inspection and orange and red lights on my E24 staying on despite earthing pin 7, and finding excellent info on here on cluster removal and battery replacement, removed the cluster and took it apart expecting to find dodgy 1.2 volt NiCad batteries. However, I find it has a single board with two Sanyo 3 volt lithium batteries - as shown.

Both batteries show a 2.53 volt reading, so before I replace them I thought I'd ask your sage advice on whether I should change the batteries if their voltage is too low, or its not the batteries and its something else causing the SI warning and light issue? The car does spend most of its life in my shed with its battery disconnected, only being driven once a month or so, which may be a contributing issue? Ideas greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Nathan
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SI Batteries 4634.jpg
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SI batteries location 4635.jpg
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1986 635CSI, alpine white, Getrag CR, Australian delivery
2005 Land Rover Discovery 3, Zambezi silver, TDV6, manual
Pod
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by Pod »

Since you have the board out, it’s a false economy not to change the batteries as a matter of course. Just my 2c 😉.
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Da_Hose
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by Da_Hose »

I totally agree with Pod. Change the batteries as a matter of course when the dash is apart. Same with light bulbs. If replacement date is unknown, change em.

Jose
1987 M6 - My dream car
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SWAUS6
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by SWAUS6 »

Thanks Pod and Jose, good idea. Have the replacement batteries on order.

Cheers, Nathan
1986 635CSI, alpine white, Getrag CR, Australian delivery
2005 Land Rover Discovery 3, Zambezi silver, TDV6, manual
Pod
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by Pod »

Lets us know if it resolves the problem. I have an inkling it will :wink:
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SWAUS6
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by SWAUS6 »

Batteries arrived and just now getting around to replacing the dead pair. The PCB has a protective coating over the back of the pins - as the image shows. Seeking advice on how best to remove the old batteries and solder in new ones, should I scrape/heat the coating off the back of the board around the pins before de-soldering, or just heat up the pins on the old batteries until the solder melts and pull them out - and then reverse that procedure to install the new batteries?

Thanks in advance,
Nathan
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E24 PCB SI batteries and corrosion protection_4843.jpg
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1986 635CSI, alpine white, Getrag CR, Australian delivery
2005 Land Rover Discovery 3, Zambezi silver, TDV6, manual
Pod
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by Pod »

I'd do that, but there may well be better qualified individuals who suggest an alternative method. The main thing is to get the old ones replaced with as little heat as possible, IMO.
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nick88highline
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by nick88highline »

You may already have replaced the batteries and put the board back in the car, but I'd be very surprised if changing the batteries alone would cure the issues you are having. I would go for a re-conditioned board which has had the most fragile components replaced. I spoke to a company who specialised in board re-conditioning many years ago and he said it was never the batteries that cause the issues (except on the older boards, but then they would leak and physically destroy components) but individual components, like capacitors and diodes.
Good luck with it anyway, and let us know if the battery replacement alone cues it! I added a remote battery box to my board so that I could replace the batteries at some point in the future without removing the whole board (contradicts what I said earlier of course #-o ), but also I could "hard reset" the SI memory as well by turning the battery power off.
Nick
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SWAUS6
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by SWAUS6 »

Thanks Nick,

Just put it all back together on the weekend. Replaced the twin 3v lithium batteries in what seems is a late model (1989) board or whole cluster in my 1986 car. Now I have the complete row of green lights, but 'Inspection' is still lit, despite doing the pin 7 to ground reset. Not sure what this means, very frustrating, any ideas? BTW, the board appears pristine, not a mark or hint of corrosion. And, for the most part the car sits in the shed with its battery disconnected, not sure of this is a potential cause or problem.

Cheers, Nathan
1986 635CSI, alpine white, Getrag CR, Australian delivery
2005 Land Rover Discovery 3, Zambezi silver, TDV6, manual
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nick88highline
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by nick88highline »

SWAUS6 wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 4:54 am Thanks Nick,

Just put it all back together on the weekend. Replaced the twin 3v lithium batteries in what seems is a late model (1989) board or whole cluster in my 1986 car. Now I have the complete row of green lights, but 'Inspection' is still lit, despite doing the pin 7 to ground reset. Not sure what this means, very frustrating, any ideas? BTW, the board appears pristine, not a mark or hint of corrosion. And, for the most part the car sits in the shed with its battery disconnected, not sure of this is a potential cause or problem.

Cheers, Nathan
Does you service indicator have an Annual Inspection light? It's when INSPECTION comes on with a clock symbol next to it. This can come on at any time, as you probably know. I use a Draper reset tool to reset this as an Inspection. I did find it took a few resets to get the thing working again after a hard reset, ie all power removed from the board. However it sounds like my original comment may be correct in that a re-conditioned board is required. My board looked perfect, but some of the components were faulty, and/or possibly had bad solder joints. The earlier boards have NiCad batteries which can leak and physically destroy components, whereas the Li-ion batteries don't generally leak.
Nick
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BMW i3 (2016)
Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 (2000)
Morris Minor 1000 (1968)
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sansouci
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by sansouci »

From limited experience with capacitors ("caps") in stereo equipment, they have a finite life and failure can sometimes be spotted by bulging sides and ends. If you "re-cap" the board, go for the highest quality and highest temperature ratings. Nichicon comes to mind and there are a number of youtube videos on the process. Digikey has a great website/online store. I've never had to refurb my 6's dash so this is only a thought for you to consider.

Here's a related pdf:
http://www.condoraudio.com/wp-content/u ... istors.pdf

--Ken
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SWAUS6
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Re: SI Board Lithium batteries

Post by SWAUS6 »

The lit 'INSPECTION' doesn't have the annual inspection clock symbol next to it, thanks for the info there Nick. I'll try the hard reset again. If this doesn't work and I suspect it won't, it looks like its a board out again for a cap refurbishment - and thanks for the tips there and PDF Ken. I'd rather fix my board issues if possible as a first step.

Cheers,

Nathan
1986 635CSI, alpine white, Getrag CR, Australian delivery
2005 Land Rover Discovery 3, Zambezi silver, TDV6, manual
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