Long-life battery box mod for Sega Saturn

I really regret selling my modded Saturn console. Should I ever get another Saturn, I will get a modchip for it, do this same battery box mod, and make sure I never even think of selling the console.

But these are old photos of a small Saturn case mod I did-




I got a AA battery box at Radio Shack and wired it to the internal battery terminals. The box was attached to the rear cover, with a small notch filed into the side to feed the wire through. Using a set of AA lithium batteries replaces the button cell with an alternative that will last many times over.

The disadvantage to this setup is that it may block the VCD module from fitting inside. Though admittedly, those pieces are not only rare, but I would imagine only collector enthusiasts are even worrying about it.

Should I get another Saturn, I will probably revise this design with a splice on the wire to add a connector, allowing the battery pack to disconnect. This setup allowed me to open the console but left the pack loosely attached and I almost bent the internal battery connector off once when I had the system opened. It will also have to be a sturdy, quality connector to make sure the connection isn't broken for any reason.

I suppose if you don't want the box grafted onto the back and want to maintain a cleaner look, a smaller AA holder could fit inside the VCD slot, but it would mean opening the console to swap batteries- although with lithium batteries it'd be many years before that would be needed.

 

As the CR2032 is 3V I wonder if it would be possible to put a LI-PO cell from RC plane or mobile phone in the VCD area.

 

There is a thread here with the pros/cons of doing something like this with many different options as well as another thread to increase battery life considerably at the expense of having to set the time on each boot.