CMOS battery location

TMcCaine,  I'll take that you are refering to the plate shown on the following picture, http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ph2o/remove.htm#999641

 

The problem is that there is no plate, my Inspiron 4000 does not have a battery at the location shown per the above link.  Adjacent to the memory module there is a tiny card with a white label/lable, I removed the card but there is no cmos battery assembly.

 

-r

On some models it's soldered to the underside of the mainboard.

 

It is immediately adjacent to the memory modules resting on a silver elongated platter with a plug directly on the motherboard where the modules rest. The battery is stuck onto this platter via some foam tape and must be removed. It should be obvious if the battery is not there, but if the plug has a cable running from it try tracing it to see where it comes from, it may be that it was moved improperly or isn't there at all.

Is there a numbering system via which I am able to tell if my model has a soldered battery without tearing the case apart?

 

Also, I found a battery similar to the one shown on Dell's support documentation (green pod array, see http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-Latitude-D400-C600-C500-Inspiron-4000-CMOS-battery_W0QQitemZ350105655752QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20081005?IMSfp=TL081005106006r2328)

 

If the cmos battery is soldered to the mobo, then none of the cmos batteries sold on the market will work, correct?

 

-r

Soldered Cmos batteries are hard to say, it is possible it could be replaced, but there is no definitive way to tell until you find it. You most likely will have to take the casing apart and find the cmos battery the hard way. After you find it you can see if it can be replaced by how its soldered. It may simply be a coin cell battery akin to the ones you find in your desktop.

 

I have never run across a Dell with a soldered battery, but I have seen Compaq's and IBM's that do. It is a problem when it comes time to replace them and I am glad its rare.