Clock battery in SI2K.

[Bob Hart]

The following is an extract from a post I made on another forum and is relevant to the P+S recorder unit but most likely to laptop or custom recorder units as well..

"My only scare turned out to be a clock battery gone flat which causes the clip filenames to shuffle in the list. Because they are generated related to the system clock which once the battery has gone flat, resets itself to its "birthdate" with each shutdown and re-boot.

This causes filenames which on successive occasions, have been generated at a "clock" time between other previously filmed clips with previous and later clip start times according to the clock, to be interposed in the clip list.

This was occurring in DVR1. It has not happened in DVR2 because the battery has not gone flat since but DVR2 also has alternative filenaming options."


IN the P+S recorder unit, the standard computer coin battery is located on the backpane circuit board accessable through the hatch-cover in the base of the camera body. Be aware that breaking the seal voids your warranty. The backpane PCB is located in a vertical position at the front of the camera body.

You need special Allen Key ( Bristol Wrench ) tools to crack the screws as they are not a common size.

All screws need to be undone including the four smaller screws in the panel as these are attached to and support the D: drive caddy dock.

Gotchas :-


The coin battery is a bit hard get at.

You need to use a sharpie to mark the coin battery "before" you try to shift it and mark the replacement battery identically to make sure you do not put the replacement in back-to-front after it flips out a few times when you try.

The D: drive caddy dock will be floating around and disturbing the short SATA cable which has elbowed ends. The end which attaches to the drive caddy dock is likely to split and cause intermittent contact with the D: drive and failure to mount in the operating system when it boots up.

A half-good precaution against movement is to insert a digital mag partially into the dock with about 1 inch sticking out and smother it in place to the rear panel with gaffer tape so that it supports the dock.

The fan wires pass perilously close to two ledges in the casework where two screws are located. Whilst you are playing in there, cut two pieces of firm plastic foam and make small plugs to jam the fan wires away from any chance of being pinned and a short to the casework occurring through crushed insulation.

My camera had been a demo unit and pulled apart a few times by the look of it. The red wire had been crushed and might be the source of a power regulator chip problem which happens periodically.

Whilst you are at play, the fan grilles on each side double as air-filters. The one on the intake side will be more grubby. When the covers are taken off, the white mesh inside can be taken out and cleaned by washing. Airflow is good. Poor airflow is not.