Dreamcast Battery

[RetroMan]

Hi,

I bought a used Dreamcast console from one of the biggest Japanese retro game sellers on the internet and when I started it up it asked me to enter the date and time. I thought nothing of this until it asked me again every time I started it.

It turned out the problem was that the internal battery was dead, even though the console was described as tested and working perfectly! I opened it up and there inside was a Sanyo ML2430 3V rechargeable coin cell battery, spot-welded in, and leaking!

This was clearly the original battery that came with the console so I searched the internet for a replacement and eventally found one, but it wasn't easy. While searching for it I also discovered that the battery does need to be a rechargeable, otherwise it may leak when the console tries to recharge it. It is a pity that the console does not use a replaceable CR2032 like the Sega Saturn and the Dreamcast memory cards, but I suppose Sega expected them to last forever, being rechargeable.

Is this a common problem with Dreamcast consoles, or was I just unlucky?

[Tim G]

Both the Dreamcast consoles I own have the same problem. I didn't actually know it had an internal battery, always assumed it was something to do with the VMU!

I doubt many sellers would test a console to the point of checking whether such a minor feature is still working or not.