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Dell MD 3200: Instruction how to replace the battery

There is the warning flashing indicator light on the MD3200, and it is a failed battery for the cache on
one of the raid controllers. I just received the replacement battery from Dell (and not sure how to replace it). Somebody would give me the instruction to do it safely please.

Thanks,
tjie

CompProbSolv

I did a Google search for "MD3200 RAID controller battery replacement" and came up with many hits. This was one of the first ones: https://www.emcsps.com/how-to-replace-raid-controller-battery-on-dell-powervault-md3200/

It doesn't have a lot of detail, but may not need much.

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tjie

ASKER

Hi,

Yes, i have googled,; there are a bunch of them

FYI:
There are 6 VM machines there; 2 host machine, MD3200, 2 controller.
My plan: Shutdown the above 6 VMs, shutdown, 2 controller, then shutdown 2 host servers.
Then Replace the battery.
What do you think? Is it OK? if the answer is NO, why?

For Andy:
1) Please clarify "They've also missed out that the screw heads are really soft, and it is hard to find a screw driver that fits them well

Can you give the screen-shot of picture related to this?

Thanks,
tjie

Member_2_231077

It's always safer to shut down but it is not necessary assuming it is cabled correctly. You still have to shut the controller (or both) down smoothly via MDSM rather than just powering it off to preserve data integrity.

Can't find a side-on photo of the controller but there are two countersunk screws on each side towards one end once you have pulled it out.

tjie

ASKER

i have never worked with it
is there any way i can get the diagram of this controller where i can see the Raid controller battery.

Thanks

Member_2_231077

It's obvious once you get those four screws out and slide the controller lid backwards.

Undo finger tight plastic knurled knobs, release handle lock and extend handle, pull controller from chassis, remove 4 screws with heads made of soft cheese, slide lid back nipping palm of hand painfully, undo finger tight knurled knob on battery inside controller and lift to unplug, fit replacement and put it back together again.

If you grab a support bundle from MDSM afterwards you can see controller detected battery change in the log and a new SN for it. Manufacturer name of battery is also there but only for info, IBM ones work in Dells and vice.versa.

I'd make a video for you if I had the kit to do it.