Game Boy Color Cartridge Battery - Fixing Ebay Junk - Gameboy Battery Replacement
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- I've got a copy of Pokemon Crystal, but it won't hold a save. After about 10 minutes the save game is gone. I show you how to easily replace the battery.
Parts and Tools You'll Need (Ebay Partner Links)
GameBit Security Bits:
rover.ebay.com/...
CR2025 Battery with Tabs:
rover.ebay.com/...
#RetroRepairs #FixingEbayJunk #RetroGaming
Want to buy me a beer? Or a broken console? Hit up the donate link (But only if you want, don't feel obligated). www.paypal.com...
Thanks for watching
I've been watching your videos for a while now, and they've inspired me to repair my video games and consoles. I just got accepted into a computer tech course as well, can't wait to start repairing my old electronics 😊
Awesome, congrats!
How is your computer tech course doing 11 months later on man?
We are battery twins! I use the same yellow battery replacements. You inspired my new hobby of buying broken ebay SNES, and selling them on marketplace.
i like how you kept the fail in 😂
Yep, i felt it was worth keeping.
@@RetroRepairs made me laugh a bit, well worth!
@@RetroRepairs Hilarious and respect for the honesty
@@RetroRepairs I think it helps to let 'fails' like this in the video because then we can see that it's normal. It makes your videos even more clear!
It was worth it to keep because it’s easy to mistake a live battery with a dead one with some surplus voltage from the game boys battery
Just picked up a Crystal cart yesterday, perfect timing!
Well that explains why my pokemon gold edition doesn't save anymore 🤔 thank you for the video ☺
Nice, quick and informative. Although your voice seemed a bit tired. I do hope that everything is fine. Take care !
All is good, just had to be a bit quieter recording is all
@@RetroRepairs Good to hear this. Thanks for recording new stuff for us. Hope to see you soon !
Got a copy of Pokémon Silver with a faulty save battery, just got my security bits in the mail today so I’ll be able to crack that bad boy open soon ;)
An inverted spline bit works to for unscrewing.
I fixed my gold version's battery a few years ago, but I didn't have any way of soldering it, so I just attached it with electrical tape
Never realised till now how lucky I was that it worked
until the tape lets go.... if the contacts loose connection for even a second or two.. .save file is gone.
So I have this Pokémon Sapphire game that used to work properly until I decided to change its battery a couple months ago. After I did the procedure, I inserted the game on my Nintendo DS and the DS simply wouldn’t turn on. After I took the game out, the console still had the same problem (no lights would turn on and if I connected it to the charger, the orange “charging light” would turn on for a few seconds, then turn off again), so the dumb me decided to test it on another DS and, guess what, it broke too. Later on (after a lot of searching), I came to the conclusion that the soldering I did somehow blew the F1 fuse inside both DS consoles and I confirmed that by actually buying new fuses and (with some help from someone that actually knows how to solder haha) changing the blown ones, getting both DS to turn on normally again. Now I still have the Sapphire game and I removed all the soldering I did (and put the old battery back) and I noticed that some of the fuses on its main board are blown. I tested it on one of those DS again (yeah, pretty dumb) and when it’s inserted on it, the console won’t turn on at all, but when I take the game out, it turns on normally (no blown fuses this time hahaha). Do you think that it’s possible to fix the game somehow?
Probably possible. It sounds like you've shorted power to something which keeps killing your ds. You need to clean up the soldering job, make sure there's no bridges or bad connections.
RetroRepairs Ok, I’m gonna try that. Thank you!
love the spray bottle for IPA, might need to try that!
So much easier than dunking a toothbrush or pouring a shotglass full of it
Have the same problem, the battery works on other games but the save just disappears for crystal.
Just a question if you find it interesting! A few years ago my dads SNES started to have an odd problem. It had a thin horizontal green line across the middle of the television on any game he would play and also there was a very faint hum in the audio too. He got a replacement later and all of those same games worked perfectly fine without any issues. To this day I wonder what the hell was up with that other SNES
Be careful when using the tweezer like that, you are shorting out the battery! I know in this case it doesn't matter but just saying.
Thank you for continuing to make these videos. 🤘
I have one of these at home and needed to replace the battery, thanks a ton
Do you think this will help fix Paper Mario 64? Game won’t get past the profile load screen without all this code running down the screen.
I love all your videos but I think we have covered the battery replacement process on your channel. You just did this with Pokémon Ruby game no? Let’s spice the content up a bit!
Yep, I've done a battery before, I'll probably do it again as well.
@@RetroRepairs Yep, and ill watch :)
@@RetroRepairs I'm with Brendan on this one. I love your channel, I've seen nearly all your vids, all excellent.... It would be nice to see some of the stuff I'm playing around with trying to repair though... PS1,2,3... Wii... Xbox & 360.... They are another step up in difficulty from snes etc, and I sure could use help learning how to fix them properly... and how to properly service the ones that are running, so they stay running....
You keep calling them Chinese batteries, but the writing on them is Japanese... Are these Chinese batteries made for the Japanese market?
Interesting. I assumed they were mass-manufactured no name batteries from China. You learn something new every day.
I did this with my games a wile ago but I didn't have a sodering iron I just removed the tabs from the batterie pealed the rubber of wraped it around the new batterie and glued the tabs to the new batterie. the games still save perfectly fine
Seems like the GBC still has an audio issue ;)
Can you use a cr1616 in the gameboy color games? Or just the 2025 and 2032?
4:56 With so much solder left I would try to get most of it off with a desoldering pump and then use the desoldering braid to clean the rest.
My reason for not, is that most people doing this mod won't have a desoldering pump. I could have just left all the sllder there and reused it, but i like to use fresh where i can. If this were a more advanced repair, then yes id use the pump
@@RetroRepairs The hand powered pumps are usually not very expensive and should be readily available. I think anyone who is interested in soldering should get one in addition to the desoldering braid. For those who do a lot of PCB-repairs a desoldering gun, though quite expensive, might be something to consider. I see your point, I'm just listing the options here.
A store i bought a used Pokémon gold they have put an cr1616 witch of my research is gba battery,but it holds the save it work fine.
The bad news u think its that it will last not long in comparison with cr2025 amd 2032?
I have no experience soldering, I just modded my GBA with the v2 ips screen and wanted to solder the wires to have brightness control. Somehow I dropped solder onto the processor's connections and bridged like 4 of them. Literally felt my heart drop into my stomach. Then I remembered watching one of your videos where you whipped out the solder wick. I next day ordered some from Amazon and cleaned that shit right up! Needless to say my Gba doesn't have brightness control currently 😔.
Awesome video as always 👍🏻❤️
I'm thinking about modding the 2 Zelda Oracle games, Metroid Zero Mission, and Metroid Fusion, with aftermarket battery holders. I found some really low profile ones that should fit, and all 4 games use CR1616's.
As long as it physically fits, been awesome. I personally don't see any value in doing it but that's just me.
@@RetroRepairs The idea behind it is I don't want to solder more than once on each cartridge. Amazingly, all 4 of those games are still on the original batteries and still work. I think I'm going to leave them as-is until the batteries die. In the meantime I got one of these devices and dumped the save files so I won't lose them. submodule.co/
@@StormsparkPegasus i get the idea behind it, but with how infrequently you actually need to change batteries, i just really don't see a point. A replacement battery will last another 10-20+ years. I've got 25+ year old carts with original batteries still. They work fine.
There are some applications where a replaceable battery makes sense, but i don't view cartridges as one of them. Im not sure it's any cheaper either. Only benefit is maybe you can source a holder and battery locally, whereas you likely need to order tabbed batteries online.
Good call on dumping the saves. My OG pokemon red had all 150 pokemon on it. That battery is long dead, so bye bye game save.
i got a copy of crystal not long ago as it was the last original gameboy/color pokemon game i needed for a full set and it wouldnt run at all, so i fixed it by reflowing the solder on the chip
Ive had to do that a few times. These boards are real thin, so flex easily and prone to cracked solder joints
Looking like that's what I will have to do. I Just picked up a non-working copy that, aside from a janky battery replacement by someone else, looks fine visually for the most part; I am hoping it will solve the problem.
@@ethanpersinger please reply if it does fix it i would like to know!
Just got my cr1616 batteries in, still waiting for my soldering iron. Thankyou for doing it right, have seen some cringe worthy videos with people just ripping the tabs off and using tape. I am in bc so hit me up if you need a cr1616 eh. Do need some help with a rechargeable battery pack. Would like to tug at your ears for some help with it.
Good job but If you use a desoldering pump you dont have to use a lot of solder wick.
Yes, but the wick does a better job on surface mount pads, plus i feel that most people doing this job on their own wont have a pump. Really though, removing the old solder isn't exactly necessary. You can just heat up the old solder and bury the tabs in it.
@@RetroRepairs I have a pump too.. but I would much rather use braid. the pump I have is a pain in the ass. lol
What kind of soldering iron do you use?
Now batteries, how long do they last and what brand do you prefer? I just got a Gameboy Color with old Pokemon Yellow, but doesn't save, and don't want to replace it due to it being a cheap brand. And could I just take a normal CR 2025 and reuse the old pins from the original battery?
You cannot reuse the old pins. They're welded on, you can't solder them together.
Most of these tabbed batteries are no name now. They'll probably be fine, maybe a few years less lifespan, but were talking 16 years instead of 20? Hard to say.
@@RetroRepairs Thanks for the info, is it Adam? Well I'll order the battery tomorrow and just hope I have steady hands. Thank you for posting these repair videos and already fixed my SNES from its card reading issue. Keep making videos!! Edit: how would you like to buy an old GBA SP?? It needs a battery, shell, and the front light fixed in it. I got another one along with that with a few problems of itself. Message me back if you are interested.
What do you search to find these non working games to buy?
If you don’t mind me asking what’s your career/occupation and how did you learn how to do all this? I’m very interested
I work in marketing, completely unrelated to this.
I am self taught, started by trying to fix some stuff and just learning more as I go. Mostly through TH-cam and web forums
Hey, are you able to repair a NES cartridge if the board itself is cracked? I have a copy of Contra that is like that.
Yeah, there are a couple ways to go about something like that. On repairs like that, I just find all the broken traces from the break visually and using the continuity tester on a multimeter. Then I solder on some bare, usually single strand, wire to bridge the gaps between the broken traces. You usually have to scrape away the green (sometimes a different color) solder mask on the traces so the wires will connect directly with the traces. I personally just use the edge of an exacto knife for that Be sure to use some flux on the bare traces as well to help the solder flow onto the traces and the connecting wiree. Also be sure to check the solder joints on the chips too. Whatever caused the board to crack, may have loosened some solder joints on the chips as well and might need a good reflow.
Where i'm from I don't really have access to cr2025 with tabs. Could I just solder a cr2025 on to the tabs of the old battery?
Do not solder to the battery cell, it could explode. Worst case, you risk damaging it severly.
Buy a battery with tabs, try something like super glue, or better yet.. just buy one with a fresh battery and sell your cart that needs a battery.
I'm not sure how conductive super glue would be, but yes, you can't solder the tabs. They need to be welded.
@@brandonkick Thank you for this! Luckily I found a seller online that ships tabbed batteries to my place for free.
@@RetroRepairs probably not at all, but it might keep the tab and the pad connected.
@@RetroRepairs I'd personally never glue one in, but I think I'd rather see someone attempt that before they just taped it in or worse yet... tried to solder directly on a battery without legs. I'm one for doing it right, the first time :) and if I can't... I'll pay someone who can
I have a question. what about using brasso to clean the pins? i have used it on many games and it works more reliably and fixed games that just didnt work. the pins also look clean and shiny brand new. is there a downside to using brasso?
The downside is that too much can strip the pins clean off the board. You need to be careful. I never use it
What temperature should my iron be when attempting a repair like this? Or when soldering a jumper wire on the board to complete a circuit?
Lead/tin solder melts around 420f, so 450 is usually a good starting point. You might need a bit higher with big pads like these as it will act like a big heat sink
Wouldn't a socket for the battery be a better choice or is this a not enough room thing?
It might fit, but for how infrequently it would need to be changed, i dont see the point
Where do you get the batteries
Ebay
Hey RetroRepairs, where do you find all of these broken cartridges and consoles? I have found a few on ebay, but most of the time they are overpriced or competitive auctions. What kind of prices should I expect and how do I find these deals?
You just have to be lucky. The good listings don't last long. Sometimes i find a bunch, sometimes none. I haven't bought a broken cart in a long time, they are tough to find
@@RetroRepairs Okie, thank you!~
Hi, first post here even though I suscribed the channel quite a long time now ^^
Do you have any reliable provider(s) to recommend for purchasing these kinds of replacement batteries ? I already found some US resellers in the past but they usually do not ship outside the US :-/
Thank you for helping
I found one on ebay based in Calgary, i can't recall the store name, but if you're in Canada they're pretty good and quick, plus domestic shipping.
@@@RetroRepairs : Thank you for aswering ;-) I am living in EU. Nonetheless I will have a look on these Canadian sellers because they maybe ship here ^ ^
@@samsnacbar shipping out of canada is crazy expensive. US isnt bad, but other than finding a european dealer, you might need to order from china
Hi, i usally buy them from Amazon(Germany) they cost about 7,99€ including next day shipping for 5 pieces
That looks like the battery had been replaced before? Why the flux on there you think?
It's possible, but also sometimes that's from the factory
Any ideas on how to repair a trace on the PCB?
I've got a few videos on this channel where i do exactly that
Hey retro, I'm wondering if there's any way I can contact you because I'm having a weird problem with my pokemon silver game. It wasn't saving like yours in the video so I just thought I could replace the battery and that was it, but when I opened up the cartridge the motherboard looked completely different. It only took up half the space of the cartridge and the battery was different as well. I tried looking this up but I couldn't find anything online. I haven't tried replacing the battery yet but I was wondering if you knew anything about this, thanks.
You can email me at retrorepairsca@gmail.com.
It sounds like you've got a fake copy. The half sized board is usually a giveaway. If there are any black blobs of epoxy, that's another giveaway
yeah that’s what i was thinking. There is a black plob of epoxy as well. thanks for the help
@@oblishis9110 sorry to say, but guaranteed to be fake.
Hello, do you think it would be possible to use a CR2040/CR2050 instead? I have never see one in person and I'm puzzled whether it would fit inside the cart without damaging it or not. Furthermore, some people have successfully installed a FRaM over the SRaM!
Ive seen those. Im looking into which chips are compatible and want to try it myself
As for the cr2040, it's 4.0mm, 2032 is 3.2mm, logically the 2050 would be 5.0mm?
2040 probably would fit, not sure about the 2050 though, i doubt it
@@RetroRepairs Alrite I'm looking forward for your upcoming FRaM mod!
GBC cart shells are thicker than GB ones, I'd like to think that CR2040 or CR2045. I have never seen one in person and only but a few onlines stores carry them!
Very cool
Is it possible you can help fixing with game systems for people like me that do not know how to repair them?
Unfortunately i dont do repairs for individuals. I just dont have the time to commit to timely turnaround, and I'm based in Canada so shipping is expensive
@@RetroRepairs Now I just saw this comment, what if you paid for the shipping, and what if this is a very old console. It is called an Emerson Arcadia 2001, and has a broken RF cable and quite a few cosmetic flaws. Could you help me with that in any way? I don't even know if it still plays games with the torn up RF cable. Thanks.
Whatever happened to that Famicom Disk drive??
It's in a drawer. One of these days i plan on pulling it out and trying to troubleshoot more. Trying to knock off some smaller items ive still got backlogged
Hey bro i have put a new battery in my Pokemon red the save will work but then i will come back the next day and it will be gone
Do you have the batterys polarity correct?
@@RetroRepairs il have to take a look i believe so i did 3 or 4 at a time with the same batteries and they all worked but this one only wants to hold the save for a few hours i might just have to get another battery for it
Thanks for the reply btw 😊👍
@@TheRelentlessmonster it could just be a bad battery. If you have a multimeter, check that its getting 3v
@@RetroRepairs thanks i will give it a try and get back to you
is that 3mm solder braid?
I believe so, I'd have to Doublecheck but im not home right now
i tried replacing battery of pokémon gba games never soldered before so i added too much solder and ended up with a big blob at the positive end of the battery and now game won’t read i assume getting rid of any solder on the board that is interfering with the connectors should be good to go then cleaning with the alcohol
🐨
i thought the thumbnail says Fucking Ebay Junk 😂😂
Amazing😮😮😮😮
When he sprayed the alcohol directly on the board, I died a little on the inside.
WHERE IS KONA?
Currently laying on my stomach as i read comments. Sometimes she thinks she's a lap dog.
haha i literally just did the exact same referbish last week!
How do you find these?
Alleosus Squirt Ebay
@@relicvault1515 No shit on the title for that one just no one seems to list game carts as broken or the likes usually.
1:17 Face Reveal :)
He did a full reveal at one episode, when there was a contest to win a Super Nintendo.
Hey, we all have our looks after all ! But since this series is more focused at the eBay junk, so I guess thats why we are not seeing him too often.
@@KISSbestfan I think there's just something about the human psyche that wants to see the face behind the voice. Which is why face reveals are a big deal, I guess.
@@frazzleface753 sure thing. Well if you are interested its a video of Mario Party 3 repair.
This is a nice idea if you put it that way. I may record something for the channel for all the followers through the years as a form of saying thank you for being there !
uses paper towel to dry off Iso.. **ESD safety in me cringes** haha
What's the concern there? Would love to know.
Why?
@@gameclassics I should elaborate, I work at an electronics MFR, ESD safety is paramount. There's possible static build up with using a paper towel and could potentially discharge on a component, therefore causing damage. Chances are slim, but the environment I'm in at work, it sure stands out to me!
@@jacobh5150 Always glad to learn something new.
Fuck how can u make soldiering a small battery in to a 15 min video
you have to play the game for 1-3 minutes to save it scam :D
Um no... no you don't?
Ignoring the 1-3 minute part, id genuinely love to hear how you feel this is a scam?
Save file: Exists
Low battery: I’m gonna delete this man’s universe.
Thank you. I need to do this on my second generation of Pokemon games.
Love your videos. Replaced the battery on a Japanese Pokemon blue cartridge following your instructions. Enjoyed the process, and worked like a charm. Thanks a lot!
Haven't commented in a while just wanted to let you know I still love your videos.
i did everything and my save still does not even show with a new battery i put in it that is pokémon crystal
good channel and good videos inculding this one
Why not use a coin cell holder? Next person down the line can just swap out the battery.
Next person down the line won't have to do that for another 20 years.
My pokemon red came without a battery somehow and the electronics are not similar with this... Any suggestions please?
it's a reproduction / fake cart
@@brandonkick what should i do about it?
@@chrispattas8813 well... I mean if it game has the ability to save and the save files don't get lost every time you turn the game off... then do nothing? If that is the case, it's just a matter of if you care that the game is a fake or not. The only option would be to buy a real cart.
If it's a fake that doesn't save, odds are very good there isn't a way for you to make it save. Consider it a lost cause and huck it in the trash bin. It's sad, but even among the fakes quality / functionality can vary widely. Some offer an original experience, if only on reproduction hardware.... some are just straight up junko cash grabs.
@@brandonkick okay I see.. Thanks bud
Good video man. I enjoy watching your videos. I have a copy of crystal and replaced the battery about a year ago, it still saves today. Also do you know if there is going to be a part 3 for the Sharp Twin Famicom repair? I own one and the disk drive still works. How long does it take for the belt to break?
The old belts used to dry up when sitting. If it was consistently used, it might even last longer.
I haven't touched the sharp in a while, but i want to pull it out one of these days and start again. I need to find some schematics to find the fault.
Perfect for me, I have a soldering iron but was worried about attempting to replace my Pokémon batteries... namely 2 Crystals and 1 each of Gold and Silver. Looking forward to giving it a try. Where can I purchase the 2032 (rather use the bigger one) batteries?
Ebay. Unless you've got a local retro game store that stocks them.
@@RetroRepairs Unfortunately, I have 3 retro game stores around here, and I'm 99.9% sure none of them stock batteries to replace. Damn. Was hoping to not deal with eBay
Awesome man! Any advice on basic equipment (sodering iron?) to start repairing some old gameboys laying around the house?
I use a hakko fx-888d, it's about $100, but you can get away with some cheaper units too.
Bruh moment
I wish my game boy color screen was that bright
I'll be doing a bame boy color screen mod in the next couple weeks. This is an aftermarket screen in this.
A bit unrelated question. How does saving to a battery work?
It actually doesn't save to the battery, games from that time usually used SRAM to store save data, SRAM is volatile memory, which means it requires power to maintain data, once the power is removed the data will begin to vanish, so the battery is necessary to maintain power the SRAM chip to keep save data
Ok, thanks! :)
Love your videos!!! Any advice for a beginner interested in repairing retro games/consoles?
Look for some local deals for old NES or Genesis. Alot of the time they just need cleaning.
Simple component replacements like batteries and fuses are great to learn how to use a soldering iron. Watch TH-cam tutorials about soldering, and practice.
Thank you I will do that!!!
@@RetroRepairs hi! I'm considering to get into it too :)
Home I got an old snes, a gbc and a gba, would they be a good start too?
If not I got old Sony consoles too. Thanks in advance :)
P.S. I'm getting into it because I find it very cathartic, but if I don't gain a profit from it I can't really do it as my finances lean on the lower side: do you got any tip on maximizing my profit? And just to be clear I'm not expecting high profits any way.
Thanks a lot in advance, hope you find the time to answer me :)
What's behind the sticker?
What sticker?
@@RetroRepairs The little white stickery thingy (tape?) top left.
Jochen Würfel clock crystal
Ah yes, there's a component taped to the board. Im guessing because they're relatively long legs so dont want it moving
I have noticed sometimes when ordering new batteries of that manufacture that the poles have been switched or rather the fasteners have been bolted to the wrong side.
So don't just assume that they're always in that alignment, make sure by looking at the print on the battery. I have also had bad batteries in a batch so if it doesn't work check that the battery isn't flat by connecting wires and doing a tungue test or something. Nice and concise video dude :)