Serious question, why do so many techs skip checking the CMOS battery voltage on repeat no-boot calls?

Elizabeth Fisher · 2026-09-24T05:25:03.754977+00:00

I picked up a no-boot desktop from a small clinic here in Dayton last month, third time it had come into our bench in two months, and the previous techs had swapped the power supply, reseated the RAM twice, and even replaced the board. Before I touched anything I pulled the coin cell and put my meter on it, and it read 2.1 volts instead of the 3.0 it should be. That low cell was causing the BIOS to lose its time and settings every time the machine sat unplugged over the weekend, which made it look like a dead board. I dropped in a fresh CR2032, reset the clock, and it has been running fine for five weeks now. A 79 cent battery cost that clinic three service calls and maybe four hours of somebody's labor. I keep a strip of them in my bag and check voltage first on anything older than five years, takes ten seconds with the case open. Am I the only one who thinks this step should be printed at the top of every no-POST checklist, or do you all have a different first move you swear by?

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Serious question, why do so many techs skip checking the CMOS battery voltage on repeat no-boot calls? | Computer Technicians - Guest Forum