I'm afraid that my GameCube may be losing time. It says 11:30 when it's really 11:35, and after a while it will say it's 15:00 (3:00 PM) when it's really 14:15 (2:15 PM). Is there some way I can remedy this?

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1 Answer

The GameCube has an internal battery that appears to keep the clock running even when the system is powered off. If this battery is weak or dead, the clock is likely to have issues. It's impossible for me to point the finger and be 100% sure that's your problem, but it's a likely candidate.

The battery is located just behind the controller ports, mounted to the board the ports are on. You'd have to disassemble the outer casing of the GameCube and then remove the daughterboard that contains the controller ports to get access to it. (Photo or Video)

The battery inside the GameCube is a CR2032 with soldier tabs welded on. Replacing one of these properly requires desoldering the leads, removing the old battery, and then resoldering the new battery in its place. Also it would help if you soldered it in using the same orientation as the old one :)

It's not terribly difficult to do this if you've got even beginner soldering skills. It's a through-hole part, with large leads and good clearance from other areas of the board. You just have to buy a CR2032 with the solder tabs attached, these go for pretty cheap on Amazon and/or eBay.

If soldering is just not in the cards, you could hack it a bit. Some folks have had luck breaking the welds against the battery itself, and then using electrical tape to hold a new (tabless) battery against the old solder tabs. This is not as elegant or permanent a solution, but it could work in a pinch.

Alternatively, try taking the GameCube to a used games shop and explain the issue and see what they'd charge to fix it for you.

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