High Score for Defender

I did some more work on the Defender game today. My first priority was to get the high score kit installed. This is another item I purchased from Bob Roberts (www.therealbobroberts.net) that replaces the three AA battery holder that comes stock on a Defender board.

Invariably having AA batteries on a board causes all kinds of problems when the batteries leak. For some boards the damage is extensive and renders the board unusable, but for mine the damange was rather minor. But the battery back didn't work as the terminals of the battery holder were corroded.

The solution is to remove the AA battery holder an replace with a CR2032 lithium holder & battery. This is relatively minor surgery. Now my Defender keeps it's s/w configuration settings and high scores. I've read some postings on the net that claim the lithium battery will be drained pretty quickly. I don't know why this would be the case. the CMOS 5101 RAM has a standby current of about 5 uA, this is probably not a whole lot more than the self-discharge rate of the lithium battery. Looking at the schematic I can't see where else there might be a current loss. I figure the battery will keep high scores for about the same amount of time as the shelf life of the CR2032, which is probably 10-15 years.

The speaker for the Defender is ripped and I have to figure out what to do, re-cone this speaker, send it out for re-coning, or just get a replacement. I can get a new speaker for about $21, but re-coning will cost at least $40. But then again a re-coned speaker is more "original".

I started filling the in the dents and holes in the cabinet. I'm staying away from any work that will commit me to totally refinishing the cabinet as I haven't decided if I want to go that far, the side art isn't in bad shape, but there are spots where it's been painted over in a poor attempt to hide scratches.