okay, ketsui done (non-live).
i don't know if it was a battery leak or not, but there was some crystal-ish gunk near one of the solder points for the battery.
regarding the doj black label.. if i snip the battery (after powering it up via the jamma connector), do i stil have to worry about my soldering iron being connected to earth? i'm pretty sure you can't buy them in the UK not earthed (for obvious reasons). if i do have to worry about it, i gather i can open the plug for the soldering iron, and simply disconnect the green/yellow wire?
overall, i feel quite comfortable with the procedure. but it's not a board you wanna fuck up (i am not as brave as you rtw

). maybe i should just wimp out and pay for your battery service
(espgaluda and ketsui are being power-cycled at the moment, as i gather the batteries have little charge in them when delivered?)