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Tried to replace a CMOS battery on a Dell OptiPlex and the whole board bricked
Was working on a client's old OptiPlex 3020 last week. Simple CMOS battery swap right? Wrong. I touched the battery holder clip and it literally snapped off the board. Tried to solder it back but ended up ripping a trace. Computer won't post at all now. Client is asking if I can fix it for free. Learned to just order a new motherboard instead of messing with those cheap plastic clips. Anyone else had a simple job turn into a disaster like that?
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phoenix84512d ago
and honestly that plastic clip design is just begging to break. I've seen it happen on Dells and HPs both, where you barely breathe on it and the whole thing snaps. The worst part is how they position it right next to the PCIe slot or some other tall component, so you can't even get a good angle. I started keeping a few spare motherboards from scrapped units just for situations like this. Cheaper and faster to swap the whole board than to mess with trace repair. Your client probably won't like hearing it but sometimes you just gotta eat the cost of a used board and call it a lesson. Those little plastic tabs are pure torture.
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