Having a small debate about whether this ni-cad battery pack needs to be removed or not from the MPU?

It does retain all the settings.

I say it needs to go. The date code is from 1986 07 and it seems like a ticking time bomb. About to destroy the MPU at any time.

On the other hand, 2 other people stated that it's lasted this long, so it should be good to just leave it alone. Also stated the "made in Japan" means it's high quality.

What's your opinion, leave it alone or get rid of it?

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Next time I am at the machine, will check the voltage on this old battery.

Thanks everyone for the great tips on what to use.

I had been using memory caps as my go to replacement. It should work great in this SYS 80 board. However, I just recently learned (on pinside) that memory caps aren't a great option for the WPC games due to the clock draining the cap voltage down too quick. NVRAM is also not a good option for WPC due to loosing the midnight madness on certain games. So what's everyone been doing on WPC these days?

The best option I can think of is a remote battery pack on long wires lowered down in the cab, placed in a ziplock bag for good measure. Perhaps down by the coin door. I don't like keeping the battery pack in the head, due to the proximity to boards. Even if you get it away from the MPU, if it's still in the head it's going to be nearby another board.