Dell Axim X30 internal backup battery

I like PDAs a lot, and my own is no exeption. What I don't like however, is when they stop working due to being neglected over longer periods of time. My trusty ol' X30 have unfortunately seen declining use ever since I stopped working and went back to school, and sometime last fall/winter I managed (don't ask me how) to unplug the power cable from the cradle. So there it stood, with no power, til about last week when I tried to power it up again.

After I ran through the initial setup in Windows Mobile 6, I was greeted with a red dialog telling me that the backup battery was critically low and needed to be charged. So, I left it charging overnight hoping that would fix it up. No dice. The battery showed up as "Abnormal" in the power settings dialog, and running the diagnostic program from Dell's support pages showed that it had battery had 0% charge.

Consulting Google, I quickly gathered that this was a somewhat known problem on the Axim x3* series, and the only way to solve it was to replace the battery. I tried to find any detailed guides on the process, but exept for some scattered message board posts there was't much usefull info. I therefore decided to document what I did, in case somebody else runs across this exact same problem.

Dissection time:
Disclamer for morons: Follow this at your own risk. **** can happen, so don't screw around if you don't know what you are doing. If you are that kind of person that leaves electronic devices in more pieces than they originally came, just send it back to Dell and they'll fix it for you (it's probably cheaper than getting a new).


What you need:

• Replacement battery: Varta V20HR
  
• Small Philips screwdriver (I used size #00)
  
• Strong tape or conducting glue to attach the wires to the battery (I used duct tape)
  
• Small knife to open the plastic cover on the old battery
  

Step one is to open the device. First remove the main battery, any SD-card you might have in the slot and the stylus. Turn the device so the screen faces DOWN, and with something pointy (I used my nails) remove the rubber feet located in each corner. You should now see 4 screws as pictured to the right (bigger picture), so get a small screwdriver and unscrew those.

Next you got to separate the back plate from the rest of the unit. Just start in a corner and bend it outwards til it clicks out and continue this around the unit. It might be very stiff if it's the first time you remove it, so it can be smart to use a flat screwdriver to help with the bending. When it's all loose, just take it off.

You should now see something like the picture on the left (bigger version). Remove the three screws highlighted. Keep in mind that the topmost screw also holds the antenna in place (if you have the WiFi/Bluetooth version), so remove the screw, then push the antenna outwards to remove it (you need to do this on order to flip the mainboard later).

The three arrows at the bottom of the picture show the cables that needs to be unplugged to get access to the battery (Note: The arrows point the way you need to drag the cable to get it loose, not at the cable itself). The leftmost one (arrow pointing left) is to the speaker and is easy removable by pulling it towards yourself. The bottom (arrow pointing down) can be more tricky, there are two brownish hinges on each side of the white connector that needs to be pushed outwards. Once they are loose pulling the cable out should be easy. Third one (arrow pointing right) is the battery connector itself, just drag it the same way as the arrow and it should come loose.

Now from the left side of the motherboard simply pull bit to the left (to get the audio jack/selection wheel out of their grooves on the frame) and the fold the whole board over to the other side, giving you access to the underside. Here you should see the battery itself (in a green plastic cover, taped to the frame), and you canDell Axim X30 internal backup battery - axim_3.jpgmove it.

Now take the knife and cut open the green battery cover. If you want to reuse it (and I suggest you do) be very carefull how you cut it open (I split it in the middle, and bent the old battery out). As you should be able to see now the actual battery is point welded to the contacts, so just removing the contact plates is out of the question. I suggest that you just separate the wires from the contacts (just pull them off) and then reattach them on your new battery. You are free to tackle this as you see fit (I used duct tape), but keep in mind that you SHOULD NOT use a soldering iron directly on any kind of battery, especially not as small as these (the heat will destroy them). Also be sure to get the polarity right, red wire goes to (+), black goes to (-).

When the wires are properly fitted put the new battery back in the green cover (or something else that insulates it from the mainboard) and reseat it where it used to sit on the frame. It can be smart to use some extra tape or glue to attach it if the glue on the frame itself is getting weak. Now simply reattach the cables and screw everything together, and your PDA should be as good as new. I slapped mine in the cradle right away, and after about 30 minutes the "low backup battery" warniDell Axim X30 internal backup battery - bigsmile.gifed, and the status changed to "normal" in the power settings. Matt Brown"Southall Technologies & Advertisement" 912 376-0472 web: "southalljrcta.com" [email protected]

The internal back up battery is a small circular battery (approximately 1/2 inch diameter) which resides under the mother board of the PDA. It has a 1/8 connector on the top of the motherboard. Unfortunately you need to take the entire casing apart to get to this battery as well as removing a small ribbon cable to pull up the motherboard for access. The battery can be purchased at PDASmart [http://ww6.aitsafe.com/cf/add.cfm?userid=8046938&product=AX92-Backup%20Battery%20for%20Axim%20X3%20Series&price=20.00&return=www.pdasmart.com/aximpartscenterx3.htm] for $20.00 US.

Underneath the little rubber stoppers on the back of your unit are the screws to remove the backing. You then need to remove the board and on the front side of the board (the side with the screen on it you will find your battery. The battery cable goes to the back of the board. All of these pieces are push in so no soldering is required. Then replace.

Stimulas7's instructions above are right on the money! I found the battery at http://store.batteryspecialists.com/v20hr.html for only $3.99 FREE shipping, it arrived in just a few days, I followed the instructions above and my X30 is back in business!

Batteries are cheap on EBay--around $10. You can get the regular or extended life battery (which might not fit a case like the rhino-skin). I definitely would not get one from Dell--too expensive.

Try this web site:http://www.pdasmart.com/aximpartscenterx3.htm?tp=CONTINUE+SHOPPING

I tisn't the main battery that needs fixed for this model, but the "backup" batterry, otherwise known as the CMOS battery.
called a Varta V20HR.

You'll need to take the Dell Axim X30(or X3) apart, go here for a photo how-to: http://www.mobilitysite.com/boards/x3-x3i-hardware-troubles/93470-x3i-backup-battery-low-2.html

the battery(V20HR) you can get here for $5.00 us:

http://www.batterystation.com/varta.htm

Without a power source you will lose the data on your machine. You need to backup first.

Hi,
even though the back up battery has been replaced what will happen the the memory if i do not have a memory card or other means of saving the memory.
does the memory get lost or save if i do a minor reboot?

I could not find the internal back up battery after removing back cover. Where is it?