Sony Vaio laptops and CMOS batteries

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I just recently was given a Sony VGN-CR510E, Model PCG-5L2L  laptop that runs well and is in almost like new condition. The only problem I can see is that it needs a new CMOS battery.  I was able to find and download a User’s Manual, but there’s no mention at all of the battery.  I’ve searched Google and Youtube for info. on where the battery is located and how to get at it, but I can’t find this exact model.  I have watched lots of  Youtube videos for other models with the battery located in various places.

Before I start an uneducated disassembly of this laptop, does anyone know where I can get some instructions as to where to look for the CMOS battery?  I hate to fault Sony, but it does seem that they have gone out of their way to hide the darn thing, and yet they make the HDD and RAM easy to get to!  Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Have you tried the iFixit website?

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Thanks, that’s a nice site, I had not been there but just went there and entered my info.  They didn’t have any match to it.  Tried a couple of different ways of searching but to no avail.  Maybe this 2007 – 2008 model is too old?

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Well, that may explain why I was given this laptop – programmed obsolescence.  If you can find the CMOS battery, it looks like it’s a special Sony part that is no longer available and is 2.4 volts which is unusual too.  My only hope of saving this nice laptop is to find a comparable battery that will fit or jury rig something.

It goes against my grain but sometimes I can understand why people throw perfectly good working things in the junk pile.  Sigh.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Microfix

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Charlie wrote:

It goes against my grain but sometimes I can understand why people throw perfectly good working things in the junk pile.

Ditto @Charlie, sickening, although may be a parts donor for something you haven’t got yet, ya never know..
That’s why I’ve got a chest load of working parts/ IDE+SATA spinners/GPU’s/ CPU’s/ RAM etc.. I just can’t bear to part with and someone always needs something legacy at sometime or other.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Charlie

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Genuine SONY VAIO PCG-5L2L CMOS BATTERY

Your Sony VGN-CR510E is one of the models listed.

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Charlie

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Thanks n0ads, this looks good but when I have to take a laptop apart I would really like to replace that CMOS battery with a Lithium one.  There is no mention of Lithium and only a one year warranty on the one shown.  Then again I have to find out where the battery is inside the laptop.  I can then be certain of what’s in there.  I may have to go with this battery.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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The battery is not CMOS, it will be Lithium because that’s what button cells are made of.

1 year warranty will be fine. Lithium cells generally last 2 – 5 years without issue and you will know how to replace it if it fails before you finally consign the laptop to silicon heaven.

cheers, Paul

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It’s called a CMOS battery (or a BIOS battery) because it powers the Nonvolatile BIOS memory that stores all the BIOS settings and the RTC (Real Time Clock) whenever the PC is completely powered off.

If you take a look at the image of the battery from that link, you’ll notice the middle line on the tag starts with CR2032.

And, as pointed out by Paul T, that’s a “lithium” button cell battery part number and is pretty much the standard size used for all CMOS/BIOS batteries.

Unfortunately for you, the fact it comes with wires and a small plug attached to the battery itself means you won’t be able to simply replace the existing battery in your laptop with a cheap CR2032 battery (~$2 at most stores) unless you happen to have some expertise at soldiering wires to batteries and could move the lead from the old battery to a new one.

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I took some time today and removed all the screws from the back cover of the laptop, removed the hard drive, and DVD drive but the cover would not come off.  The back cover was still attached somehow to the motherboard!  So then I figured out how to take the keyboard out – still no battery showing, only metal.  I saw some more screws that I could only guess at what they were for.  So I put it all back together for now.

Maybe some other day I might have more time to spend trying to disassemble the whole thing just so I find out where the bleepin’ CMOS battery is and be positive of what it is before I buy a new one.  Sony has really outdone themselves making what should be a simple task so outrageously difficult!

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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The CMOS battery should be accessible from the bottom.

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Charlie

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That’s good to know, but I have to figure out how to get the back cover off before I can do much of anything.  I don’t love a challenge, especially a ridiculous one, but I do take them on.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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@charlie, found this website that shows where those shield screws are located.
But, it actually looks like the CMOS battery is visible through the top right circular aperture of the shield (3rd pic down), so maybe you don’t need to remove the shielding
(using the displayed motherboard as a reference)

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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I just took apart my old Sony Vaio PCG-7v2m, thinking that replacing the CMOS battery would be fairly simple. And boy was I wrong. I didn’t realize what I was getting into. Just like you said, it’s as if they went out of their way to hide it! It’s not enough to remove the back panel, you have to completely disassemble the entire laptop because the CMOS battery is on the other side of the motherboard. And from what I’m seeing on the internet, it’s not one of those disc shaped lithium-ion batteries you can buy from the store. I don’t even know if you can find this part after so many years. I don’t see it anywhere. Anyway, just like you, I figure I’ll tackle it some other time. If ever.

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Charlie

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Andrew, did you get to source a replacement CMOS Battery.
I am deep into my 25 year old PCG XE-17, have located [beneath the PalmRest Touch Panel] and removed the CMOS Lithium Rechargeable Battery, but now find it difficult to locate a replacement.
Hoping you may have had some luck.  Would appreciate some help, please…

Sony Part # 1-756-000-1 a V/L Rechargeable Battery, with Molex 2 Pin plug and 30mm pigtail.

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Andrew, I was able to test the voltage [my eyes a weak, I cannot see…] on the tiny plug, it 3.408 V

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I can’t figure what is to be gained by making it so hard to change a CMOS battery.  This is as crazy as glued-in hard drives or SSD’s.  They apparently are thinking you buy a new computer every five or six years.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Hello,

Anyone knows where to locate a CMOS battery for a VAIO VGN-AW53FB??

Would much appreciate any info.

 

Thanks.

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Consensus suggests the battery is on the top of the motherboard and you have to remove the MB to get to it. This iFixit article has details that should apply to your machine.

Note: do NOT remove the fan / heatsink unless you have some new heatsink compound to put it back again – even then I would try not to remove it.

cheers, Paul

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Thanks for the reply…

I mean where can I buy a new one??

The connector on the MB has a ‘wall’ / divider in the middle which prevents the generic one I bought from slotting in as it has no gap for the wall to slide into.

 

Thanks again.

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Bob wrote:

The connector on the MB has a ‘wall’ / divider in the middle which prevents the generic one I bought from slotting in as it has no gap for the wall to slide into.

Couldn’t you just use the connector from the original battery? Just connect the wires from the new battery to the old connector.

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Finding and getting to the battery is 90% of the problem.  You almost have to disassemble the whole laptop to find the CMOS battery.

 

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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If I can’t find a new CMOS battery I’m going to have to sell the VAIO as parts / donor machine. It’s still very beautiful as I haven’t used it so much … and there is even a spare keyboard!!

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Charlie

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Same here Bob, my VAIO looks like new and still runs Windows Vista very well.  It would most likely run Win 7 as well, and I’m sure it would run Linux Mint very well.  But I need to find that bleepin CMOS battery.

 

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Well, I was able to access the CMOS battery after only removing the bottom case.

Then I re-examined the problem plug socket with a magnifying glass and detected that in fact the ‘wall’ which I reported before was in fact the remainder of the broken plug.

I then managed to ease that out using sharp tweezers pressed and pulling the side walls in forward movements.

It had become hard and brittle due to the long term heat I suppose.

I should have noticed earlier that it was a ‘foreign body’ wedged in there as the colour was just a little different to the socket.

So thanks for the support. It helped me a lot.

I put in a non-SO69 battery but am unable to start the beast. No display nor HD processing lights — the ON push button is lighting up green but is flashing quickly rather than pulsating as at when in standby mode…

Any comments welcome.

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The CMOS battery will have a positive ( + ) and negative ( – ) connection. If the connection is made by two posts/holes ( -= to : ), be sure you have oriented correctly.

 

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