Game Boy & GB Advance Appreciation Thread

[Lyrical Donut]

Check the corrosion on this GBA I received this week 🥺

[Alex W.]

From Aquaman?

[Barnard]

 

[Phantoon]

15 hours ago, Barnard said:

 

There's hot takes and then there's insta-blocked

[zipper]

i can only think this was an attempt at 'engagement farming' that has gone too well (i.e. wrong) and instead made him out as an ignorant plonker.

[yakumo]

On a roll, fixed 3 faulty GB now. So easy to fix.

[MikeBeaver]

1 minute ago, yakumo said:

On a roll, fixed 3 faulty GB now. So easy to fix.

Depends what's wrong with them 😛

[yakumo]

1 minute ago, MikeBeaver said:

Depends what's wrong with them 😛

 

Cmon, I'm on a high here😁

[DennyDifferent]

I'm trying to fix my GBC as it won't switch on. I can't remember the last time I used it but the battery compartment looks like it's suffered from a bit of battery leakage. I am right in thinking that I should be getting some continuity here, right?

 

[Ninja Doctor]

That bit should slide out. Drop it in some vinegar overnight. 

[DennyDifferent]

21 minutes ago, Ninja Doctor said:

That bit should slide out. Drop it in some vinegar overnight. 

 

Cheers, I'll give it a try.

[Ninja Doctor]

If it hasn’t worked: https://retrosix.co.uk/Game-Boy-Color-Shell-Battery-Spring-p218239191

[yakumo]

Quick question removing a screen, OK to use a hair dryer or do I need a heat gun?

[Ninja Doctor]

Never used either. Just give the shell a gentle twist to crack the glue then use a plastic pry tool.  
 

If you must use heat, gentle blast with a hair dryer. 

[DennyDifferent]

3 hours ago, Ninja Doctor said:

If it hasn’t worked: https://retrosix.co.uk/Game-Boy-Color-Shell-Battery-Spring-p218239191

 

That fixed the continuity, yeah, but I'm still not getting power. I've verified that there's continuity across both battery terminals so there must be something wrong on the board. I tried cleaning where the battery is attached to the board with white vinegar but still nothing. I've posted some photos of both sides of the board:

 

 

Is there anything obviously wrong here? I don't have a power adapter for it otherwise I'd give that a try.

[yakumo]

1 minute ago, DennyDifferent said:

 

That fixed the continuity, yeah, but I'm still not getting power. I've verified that there's continuity across both battery terminals so there must be something wrong on the board. I tried cleaning where the battery is attached to the board with white vinegar but still nothing. I've posted some photos of both sides of the board:

 

 

Is there anything obviously wrong here? I don't have a power adapter for it otherwise I'd give that a try.

 

 

had same issue but this solved it on one of them

[DennyDifferent]

11 minutes ago, yakumo said:

had same issue but this solved it on one of them

 

Thanks, I'll give that a try tomorrow.

[yakumo]

5 minutes ago, DennyDifferent said:

 

Thanks, I'll give that a try tomorrow.

 

Spent a hour looking at the circuit board of the GBC which didn't boot up, shockingly this worked. Cleaning that part with isopropyl and use some condensed air solved the issue.

[DennyDifferent]

1 hour ago, yakumo said:

 

Spent a hour looking at the circuit board of the GBC which didn't boot up, shockingly this worked. Cleaning that part with isopropyl and use some condensed air solved the issue.

 

Just braved the cold to get the isopropyl from the shed and gave this a try but it didn't work  Continuity in both the on and off positions was correct. Poo. Back to the drawing board.

[Ninja Doctor]

IIRC there are two tiny fuses on the gbc board. Can you check their continuity?

[DennyDifferent]

10 hours ago, Ninja Doctor said:

IIRC there are two tiny fuses on the gbc board. Can you check their continuity?

 

Just tested them and they're fine too.

[DennyDifferent]

Tried to check that there's definitely continuity from the battery terminals to the board and found continuity from the battery terminal to the power switch so I think that's ok. Honestly stumped at this point.

[DennyDifferent]

Got to head out now but I've just found this video which I'll go through when I get back.

 

https://youtu.be/Mbp_mAcxLUQ

 

God, I love the Internet, sometimes.

 

Edit: How do I go about embedding a YouTube video?

[Ninja Doctor]

There was still a fair bit of corrosion on the boards. Make sure you clean all that off. 

[DennyDifferent]

4 hours ago, Ninja Doctor said:

There was still a fair bit of corrosion on the boards. Make sure you clean all that off. 

 

Am I right in thinking the corrosion is the turquoisy green residue? Should I clean it off with white vinegar or isopropyl?

 

It's looking like the problem with my board is the DC jack. There should be continuity between points 2 and 3 but there isn't. I could replace the jack but for now I'm just going to bridge them manually with a bit of wire to test. But of course, now my soldering iron has decided to die 😂

[Ninja Doctor]

Yes is the bluey green (copper oxide) crusty bobbins. 
 

Any corrosion still on the board will grow and continue eating away at the boards. Clean off what you can physically then use ipa or vinegar to scrub it clean.
 

It could be that the power jack has a contact that disconnects the battery when a power plug is inserted. 
 

But seriously you’ll just be wasting your time if you don’t clean the corrosion off. 

[Phantoon]

4 hours ago, Ninja Doctor said:

Yes is the bluey green (copper oxide) crusty bobbins. 
 

Any corrosion still on the board will grow and continue eating away at the boards. Clean off what you can physically then use ipa or vinegar to scrub it clean.
 

It could be that the power jack has a contact that disconnects the battery when a power plug is inserted. 
 

But seriously you’ll just be wasting your time if you don’t clean the corrosion off. 

This. I'd use IPA when you're cleaning the board. Get absolutely all of it off, after it's gone if there's still no power then the troubleshooting starts.

[DennyDifferent]

It's alive!

 

 

Looks like it is the DC jack that's broken. Manually bypassing it works around it. However... there's no sound and down and left dpad directions don't work. Sound is working from the headphone jack so that's something, I guess. I wonder if the dpad pads are too corroded...

[MikeBeaver]

36 minutes ago, DennyDifferent said:

It's alive!

 

 

Looks like it is the DC jack that's broken. Manually bypassing it works around it. However... there's no sound and down and left dpad directions don't work. Sound is working from the headphone jack so that's something, I guess. I wonder if the dpad pads are too corroded...

I'd give the contacts on the rubber pads a clean also, as they WILL cause issues also.

[DennyDifferent]

I don't think I understood just how corroded these were. They're soaking in a bit of white vinegar for a bit.

 

 

I'm a bit worried about scraping this stuff off too hard, though. I don't want to remove the whole contact.