Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 Problems...

[hypnoticbob]

I've got a Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 and i'm getting a CMOS Checksum error; yes, I know it's due to the battery being either dead or failing (presumably dead). I want to replace this sucker without having to send it in to Viewsonic and paying shipping to, parts, and labor. I would much rather do it myself, but I cannot seem to find any information on the replacement of the cmos battery. Anyone have any ideas, or possibly point me in the right direction? Thanks.

[Ioman]

hmmm this is a touchy subject. If you open the ViewPad you will most likely void the warranty if ViewSonic finds out. Personally, I would open it myself aas carefully as possible as to not show any stress to the system. The CMOS battery is usually just a watch battery which could be picked up at your local drug store. I would just open it up and find out what type of a battery is in there.

If you are not comfortable with this, perhaps someone will know exactly what type of a battery you need and hopefully it is nothing proprietary to ViewSonic.

[hypnoticbob]

Well, actually... it's out of warranty already, and secondly, it's not your typical 3.5v battery. I have a feeling it's soldered on there somewhere. I can't seem to locate it. I think it's on the underneath of the bottom of the board... but I am not sure, and have no diagram of the board. Wish I did. But like i said, they would charge me big time for it being out of warranty, plus parts, plus shipping... i'm trying to do this as much as possible without sending it their way...

[Ioman]

Ouch, I understand your situation. I don't think they would solder a battery to the motherboard personally since the battery will eventually die and/or what if you needed to replace the battery because it was leaking battery acid (like I found out in the remote to my Yamaha CD player this weekend :( ). Looks like you will either have to send it in to get replaced or you will have to do it yourself and completely dissasemble the unit. Sorry Bob, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[hypnoticbob]

Tell me about it. I'm pretty technically astute, but I cannot seem to find the battery anywhere. I'm continuing to look for one possibly soldered, or placed, but I have been unable to find any reference to a diagram ;( Ugh!

[hypnoticbob]

Anyone hear anything yet?

[Cloud]

My guess is that there are only 3 people in the whole world that actually purchased one of these and you are one of them. How much would Viewsonic charge you to send it back to them for repair?

[mikeb@cdsmo.com]

The viewpad uses a cr1220 3v battery and is located on the underneath of the motherboard near the camera. It is not soldered and easily pops out, only after you have almost completely dismantled the entire unit. In the process you will have to remove three separate cable connections from the motherboard as well as millions of screws. There is also a small 2 inch ribbon cable that connects from the mb to the display. This is where my problem comes in. When removing that particular cable it was damaged. The cable in question has a model# w101s1_lcd_fpc_c and a part# 29-u72032-00. Does anyone have any idea where you might find such a cable. Viewsonic hasn't gotten back with me yet. Any hep would be greatly appreciated.

[ECA]

If its a ribbon cable, why not buy one and strip it down... check radio shack or a GOOD electronis store

[bulletsponge]

First I wanted to thank Hipnoticbob for starting this thread and Mikeb for his helpfull post. Thanks guys.

I have a few clients with viewpads that are just past warrantee and they just asked me to replace a cmos battery on one them so I thought I would add some helpfull hints that might save you some money and headaches.

First take all the screws off the back of the case and don't forget the ones under the support arm and the battery. Once you remove the screws from the support arm Do Not try to move it. It is only held to the case by 2 very week screws and you can easily break them. Romove the camera and then the back of the case should snap off once you have all the screws out.

Second, unscrew all the screws on the edge of the board that have arrows pointing at them (two of these are under a thin piece of black plastic located near the camera connection. You can lift the thin black plastic to reveal the screws). Once you have all these screws off you can remove the front cover. The antenna can be a little tricky, but isn't frustrating till you try to put it back together.

Once you have both covers removed you can see the 4 black screws holding the screen on, and the 3 cables Mike pointed out. I suggest not trying to remove any of ribbon cables and just unclip the power wires on the side with the speakers. This will allow you to carefully lift the one side of the screen up and reach the battery without harming the ribbon cables.

Once you do all this, putting it all back together should be a snap. On the antenna be sure to snap the plastic piece into the case before trying to set the main board back into place.

Like Mikeb said, there are a ton of screws so have a few handy bins to put them all in so they don't get messed up.

I hope this helps anyone in the future who wants to avoid the $210.00s Viewsonic will charge you to replace an $8.00 cmos battery. :censored

[llbbl]

They charge you that much because it isn't easy to replace it. They need to design their product better so CMOS battery can be changed without taking it completely apart. Your imput is valued addition to this site. I hope you find the cable you are looking for. best of luck!

[kornkob]

Directions were excellent and dead on. Replacing the batttery is a pretty painless process, although it does require a certain attention to detail and a moderate amount of patience.

Incidentally-- battery ran $3.28 at Radio shack (Ace Hardware didn't carry that battery)

[dougrman]

Many thanks bulletsponge. Saved me from having to remove even MORE screws. Unfortunately, I had already broken the fragile "kickstand" screws before finding your advice.