Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Hi,

I would like to ask users of the Mephisto Senator module (and also Magellan) if you have problems with the internal button cell. In four Senator modules that I have had the opportunity to inspect, the button battery was totally discharged, dead. When I check the standby consumption, I find that it is very high, between 20 and 40 mA, depending on the module. In the circuit powered by this battery, there is an electrolytic capacitor, but in no case was this capacitor faulty, there was no leakage (of electricity, I mean) except for a few microamperes in one of the cases studied. A preliminary analysis of the circuit shows a poor design. I would like to know if what I have seen are isolated cases, or if you have also seen this behaviour, where the button cell runs out of power very quickly. Thank you!

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Deutsche Übersetzung gelöscht.
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Best,
Gerardo

AW: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Zu den Batterien kann ich nichts sagen, aber die Übersetzung ins Deutsche durch DeepL ist erschreckend gut gelungen. Das musste ich loswerden.

Re: AW: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Sorry for that. I have deleted the German translation of my original post. I hope that at least the line of text I have left is understood.

AW: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Hi Gerardo,

no, this was a praise. A very good translation with the correct sentence order even for complicated sentences.

To your problem. My Magellan module shows the same problem.

Best regards
Micha

Re: AW: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

OMG! :D
I misunderstood, because of the word "erschreckend", sorry. Well, now it is too late because I have deleted the text.

Thank you! With my 4 units tested, the one from a person who contacted me via e-mail with the same problem, and this one from you, that makes 6 Senator/Magellan units with the same problem. Everything points to a design error, right?

Best,
Gerardo

AW: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Hi Gerardo,

yes, I would agree. Well, at that time a "berger" was missing... ;)

Best
Micha

Re: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Hello Berger,

Murat (https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...ead.php?t=6933) seems to have the problem you detected with the Senator's excessive consumption in stop mode.
What design error did you find?
Do you have a modification to suggest?
Thank you in advance.

Cordially.

Re: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Hello,

I have not re-analysed any of these modules, so I have not been able to continue my research.

At the time I found that the excessive power consumption was not due to passive components (such as a leaky capacitor, if I remember correctly there is an electrolytic in parallel with the battery) but by design... maybe it is the microcontroller itself that drains the battery because the standby function isn't properly implemented.

I can't provide any new information, sorry. I still think that the module is poorly designed.

Best,
Gerardo

Re: Mephisto Senator - Button cell (battery)
 

Thank you Gerardo,

I will keep using the module without a battery.

I don't mind changing some settings at every reboot.

All the best

Murat