I’m currently waiting for all the components for my PC upgrade to arrive. Got the motherboard today and immediately upon opening, I noticed that the CMOS battery was not in its slot but just kind of next to it loose on top of the board. The slot seems fine, it seems to fit securely in there. No scratches on the board either. But now I’m a bit worried - could the battery have shorted something on the motherboard? It holds a charge after all. What do you think - should I return it for a new one untested or are the chances of the battery harming anything so miniscule that I should just go for it and use it in my build?
I would personally return it just because I wouldn’t want to deal with the loose connection possibly losing my bios settings. That dinky like 3.7v battery will only harm itself, and maybe melt a small corner of the connector. It won’t do any damage to the board itself. But if you keep it you need to make sure you bend the holding tabs into place to make sure it’s getting a secure connection, but not bridging the two sides of the battery together.