Trying to FIX a CORRODED Game Boy Pocket
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- Hi, in this video I attempt to fix a corroded Game Boy Pocket. It was sent in by Lee who has already cleaned it using IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol).
It still has no power. Can it be fixed?
If you would like to support these videos, please click here / mymatevince
Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.
I'd like to thank the patreon for letting me be able to watch Vince's videos. Thank you all from Canada
As a MMV Massive Patron, you’re absolutely welcome! 👍
For the variable resistor just add a 100 Ohm (SMD) resistor in series with it to fix the lowest value.
Yep. That would do the trick.
Mooie profielfoto haha
You motivated me to fix my broken gameboy. 👍 earned
Cheers Tampa
Vince@ You motivated me to break my Nintendo switch yet here I am and I’m watching your videos and subscribed
@@pianosnoosh ok
@@pianosnoosh lol what do you even mean?
The polarity of the legs of a capacitor are relative to each other. Although you often see capacitors between ground and a power rail, this isn't their only use. There are many cases where the circuit has negative voltages, in which case ground may be "more positive" than the negative voltage. Also, there are cases where neither leg connects to power or ground - the capacitor may be used inline in some other way.
Vince! As always amazing work. You should really try more of the "use alternative parts" trick in your fixes. This is a true way to show people that you can use old broken electronics to fix other electronics.
Fun fact is, on game boys that had battery leak you can see that they have the foil on the back sticker partially / completely corroded away, that's because of the corrosion. It's pretty easy to tell if a game boy has corrosion just by looking at the rear sticker
Thanks again MMV Massive and other patreon supporters for making these videos possible!
Love this kind of videos when the apparent issue is not the only one. Very good repair Vince ☺️
Best gbp repair video i have seen. I really appreciate you trying new things, and doing things just for the video, like opening up that faulty resister at the end was awesome. good work man.
Hi Vince. I decided to become a Patreon. Great videos. I like how you video yourself attempting to fix all sorts of items, with little knowledge, and you take as along with you so we learn as well.
I really enjoy your repair methodology. Eliminate variables or questionable things until the only thing left has to be the main issue!
It is easy for us to sit here at the end and say well duh why didn’t you start with the final solution but most of the time you have to go along the path to find the destination!
There is a voltage divider created by using that potentiometer in concert with a voltage reference. The vref will not exceed the tolerance of the circuit that senses the output voltage, so even if it is a direct short it won't blow up. Just good engineering. Changing the pot just changes the scale and linearity of the contrast control behavior. You're all good mate.
Lovely stuff! Who would have thought those old PSP Clones could still be useful!? Oh, and the cryptic Monopoly shot at the end? 🤔
And the battery fits the GBA SP from the previous video, it is the PSP clone that keeps on giving :-)
@@Mymatevince The battery from an old shapped "Phat" DS will also fit in a GBA SP, you just have to trim off the little plastic holding tabs on the battery, discovered that only this week !
One of the most impressive and ingenious repairs I have seen. Amazing.
I absolutely love this, as I have the exact same gameboy pocket, doing the exact same thing. I thought the contrast wheel had been bad, because it's the exact symptom. I love your channel, and I have now confirmed my original suspicion.
Nice fix. I’ve had that exact same issue with one of my gameboy colours before. - terminal disconnected from ground even though there was no corrosion (unlike yours).
I did get it working though via a wire so it looked quite clean and it was sold to a guy on ebay for his child’s Christmas present so I felt quite good that way. I have repaired quite a number there are a lot of good pcb diagrams around for both models that can help greatly with diagnosis.
A great fix it's good to see you using parts from other scrap devices which Shows what can be done with out having to buy parts all the time.
Vince, a tip for you - DON'T use a fibreglass pen for PCB work, etc. Have you never got any of the pieces stuck in your fingers and/or ended up with itchy hands? I have and the fragments are painful and extremely difficult to remove (partly because you can't see them that easily except if you get a light source to reflect off them at the correct angle). You don't want to breathe in the particles either or get them in your eyes! Instead either:
a) Carefully use a scalpel or needle to scrape away whatever it is you are trying to clean
b) Use a Garryflex Block (google it) - they are available in different grits and you can cut off thin slices to use in the hard to get at areas. Yes, they create their own debris but it's just like grit and isn't going to lodge itself in your fingers or lungs, and if by some chance you get some in your eyes (unlikely) then it can be washed out.
Vince has commented on this quite a bit, he already prefers not to use the fiberglass pen for the reasons you mentioned.
You have never worked with fiberglass insulation then hahaha
Lovely improvisation there with the contrast control.
Excellent job Vince 👍
If i was going to novelize this i would call it "My mate Vince vs. the dodgy resistor". Good on you for winning one against those knock-offs by stealing from them. I had doubts that would even work
Really like the late '90s electronics. Not too complicated, small and flimsy to give up on.
Others might have mentioned it but capacitors are meant to smooth voltages or short AC signals around other parts usually noise from chips to ground. Electrolytics are polar as you already know but it is all in reference on what they are connected to. For example you have a -18V supply and GND. The cap would have the positive side connected to GND because in relation to the -18V GND is more positive than -18V. If a part on here uses a negative voltage than you will need caps on it just like any standard positive voltage. You may encounter some devices with a positive and negative voltage supply on them. You can treat them relatively similarly as long as you know what potentials you are working with. Hell you may encounter supplies with many different supply voltages like 5V, 3.3V, -5V and so on. It all depends on your reference.
Brilliant video. Calm and meticulous narrative. I think you are becoming Mr In vince able.
nice one, very ingenuitive with that wheel swap.
Reminded me of the "It's not possible" "No, it's necessary" scene from Interstellar, when Vince put in that other Contrast wheel from the cheap unofficial handheld and it worked.
One of the things you should consider doing with the spring-type battery contacts is also adding solder where the spring meets the metal that solders into the board where it crimps. I've had a few where cleaning didn't help and solder had to be applied to strengthen that connection. So now I just do that to all the spring-type battery contacts to strengthen the electrical connection no matter what. it's an extra step but it helps in the long run.
So glad you took apart the old potentiometer, I was so curious :)
That capacitor is probably on a -ve power rail! Excellent job =D I was about to suggest sending you a replacement variable resistor, but you found the perfect replacement =D Do you have a dremel (or similar) btw? That trumpet sound when MMV Massive appears always makes me laugh lol!
-ve power rail?? You will have to explain that to me next time we speak Chris :-) Yeah I got lucky with the size of that replacement, a perfect fit. I have a B&Q copy of a Dremel but it is called a rotary tool. It has a long flexible hose on it and the motor itself sits about 1m away and you just hold the end of the hose with the spinning attachments. I need to buy new attachments as I only have the thick grinding wheels left. I think it works very similar to a Dremel but might have a bit more play in it, so not as accurate :-)
@@Mymatevince A negative power supply. For example you can have a +3V supply AND a -3V supply. They use the negative supply for driving the LCD.
Yep, and therefore GND is MORE positive than a negative voltage, so positive lead from capacitor to GND and negative to -3v (or whatever negative voltage)
It’s also driven from the dc/dc board on the bottom of the pcb which provides negative voltage to the lcd and a few other voltages.
Gameboy pcbs are quite straight forward. A good tip is use a high powered torch. You can shine straight through the pcb and view any broken traces + corrosion or follow vias and traces pretty easily that way.
The Game boy schematic shows a -19V power line for the LCD.
If you think that a resistor that you have changed may be to low in value and drawing to much current but doesn't die straight a way. leave it on for 5 minutes in the position you think is the wrong value. Then feel around the board to check if anything is getting hot. If nothing is getting hot then it's okay.
Well done Vince.another successful repair completed,nifty work and positive result 👍👍
My mate macgyver, cool video vince. I'm guessing this might save the the lives of a few broken gameboys in the future.
Nice fix. I think they used a 5 pin variable resistor on the contrast wheel just to keep it the same part as the volume wheel, that uses all the pics as t's controlling two voltages (stereo).
I totally love your channel. I hope you get 2 million subs before the end of 2021
Great work as always Vince. Most of the Gameboy modders whenever given opportunity dip a drop of two of IPA into all of the potentiometers and power switches of those devices. Just as a good practice, 90% of the time this helps on issues like the one you're having with the contrast wheel. Cheers!
Thanks Marcel :-)
@@Mymatevince Marvel even :-)
@@outbackchillin5628 He's not wrong, Vince knows more than anyone else 😎
That capacitor is probably between center ground and a negative voltage for the audio amplifier.
One of those Chinese handhelds actually came in use. Damn. Never thought I'd see that. Great repair.
nice work! next time put a smd resistor in series with the poti. you can put 80ohms or 100 ohms in series and you would get the exact value from the low side which is what matters. in the high side 100 ohms more is not a big problem compared to 20K.
most potentiometers go from near zero to x value, to avoid short circuits usually have one more resistor in series with potentiometer. In situation like these you can add it yourself. Here you can use even a SMD one from that unused pad to actual resistor pad on board to make it "invisible" or just add normal carbon/metal film resistor. I'm sure there is one already in circuit and is not needed but just to feel safe and "professional" :D
If you don't already have them I'd recommend soldering iron tip cleaning trays. They'll ensure the iron tip remains clean making soldering easier. Either way, good video as usual!
Great fix, really enjoyed it, better than Sunday TV, by a million miles
Damn, what a fix mate! Genius!💯
Hi Vince .Replacement potentiometer you used was 20K , as opposed to the original 30K. Just means there's a little less range of adjustment . Done this many times myself when i have had to improvise.No chance of going bang , as voltages going to the pins,are way too low .
I just started watching! oh boy another handheld video, keep it going Vince! :D
Good fix, nice bit of out of the box thinking. Well done Vince and keep em coming.
Well done mate ..all the gameboys i get on ebay have corrosion so this helps 😁
I love gameboy fixes also water damage fixes. I would never know there are broken traces under the chip.
I'm getting nervous with you looking at the capacitor. It's meant to be reversed. The screen uses -18v
What you could have done is to take the corroded battery terminals and put them into a small container with vinegar. That eats away the corrosion, but also the nickel plating. Luckily that's an easy fix with nickel electroplating.
A big thanks to all of your MMV MASSIVE and other Patreons. Do any of your MMV MASSIVE Patreons have their own channels so that we can give them some love too?
Can't wait to see what Lee sends next!
It lives again! Very nice work.
Youre on a roll vince! 2 back to back fantastic fixes!
What a nice fix, well played Vince, very enjoyable to watch.
If you wanted to make the potentiometer exactly equal to the original one with the minimum 80 ohms you can use a surface mount 80ohm resistor in series with the potentiometer. You could have used the resistor to jumper the leg instead of bending it.
That was an epic fix, with that contrast wheel. Wow! Huge fan , keep up the good videos :-).
great vid, big fan of you and tronicsfix. I always feel though he buys 10 switches, 8 work out the box the other two need a simple fix, you buy 1 item and its riddled with issues!
But you power through issue after issue, hope you can keep making these great vids!
Another great vid well done. My son poured his cup of water straight in to my xbox one. Its headed for the bin unless you want it.
I want it lol
I always watch repairing gameboys videos i like all of them, i am amazed at how well are designed and that almost always are fixable, and also i like gameboy games a lot, and i do fix some on my own i have like 8 or 9 and all of them just needed a clean on the conductive pads of the buttons couse the quality is amazing and no more things can go wrong if they are correctly used, probably the porylizer film in the gameboy pockets screens can go wrong but its hard
Nice fix Vince,well done.
I googled that Kittdigital patreon, they're a repair service in England, but the major results that come up for me are lawsuits from the usa from a company called Kit Digital getting sued for deceiving investors. Didn't research it anymore to find out if the two different spellings were linked.
This comment isn't video related, just thought that it was interesting and the RUclips magic choosey math problem likes when we comment, like, and subscribe
You might want to test the link cable on the side and power port to next to the headphone jack
Nice fix vince, well done.
We do love vince
Cool !! Two new fix it vids this week, love it :-)
Loved it Vince - thanks for another great video :)
Thank you Jonathan :-)
Yes, those behind the battery terminal.
The gameboy is likely generating a negative voltage for some purpose, in which case the capacitor for that negative rail would have positive to ground.
It's also not unlikely to find some battery powered device where the positive of the battery is ground! If it runs on an inverting buck-boost circuit.
This fix was so satisfying! I enjoyed this.
The variable resistor is 30k Vince it says so on the pcb where you took it off, it even says it just to the top edge of the pins, you should pay more attention to what’s written on the solder mask.
"Vince Plays Pokemon" I'd watch it!
Excellent work
A few of those dark spots could be more corrosion that might cause problems later. I'd spend a bit more time with the fiberglass pen.
@My Mate Vice , I couldn't help but notice that you were calling off the numbers from you multimeter, and that the meter it self has only 4 digits but you were reading as if there were 5 digits , I apologise now if I'm coming across as trollish but again I don't completely understand how readings on a multimeter are suppose to be read. Other than this it was a great video keep it up. (Time Stamp 29:40 - 30:00)
kiloohms are 100 ohms so when it says 17.00 kΩ that is 17.00 kiloohms or 17,000 ohms
@@robXloserX, Thanks for the Info, I just learned something new. Just wished I started when i was younger to learn about electrical Theory Ohms law etc.
And yet another Ga e Boy saved from the pile. Great fix!
if you want to make a thicker wire join better, hammer it a little flatter first.
Great video brother!!!
Great job vince loved the video keep it up
Do you sell some of the things you repair
Doctor Vince here to save your Boy.
35:20 There were only foil stickers, this one must have had its silver trim removed
I have recently got a Gamegear i am trying to get working it was missing a battery cover so my dad is 3d printing me a new one and i am just waiting for some games to arrive to fully test it so far all ive done is cleaned it and opened it to check for corrosion or bad caps and it all looks good
Interesting trying to fix video i enjoy these type of videos you do.
Love the videos vince!
multiple issue fix. Great job
I loved this video, I'm so impressed! Great job
4:42 because that is a negative voltage rail, probably -5V.
Just what I was thinking. 😎
Vince, you Sir are a Master :)
Great fix and video as usual.
Cheers Pawn :-)
I think the capacitor next to the + sign leaked out and fluid went into the board. Thus causing irregularities. De-Oxit on the contrast switch.. to clean it.
I have been trying to diagnose my Gameboy for a few days. I have tested all over the board where my multimeter will reach and I can't seem to find the issue. The thing just wont turn on. The switch is fine and most of what I can get to also has continuity. I would appreciate any help anyone can give me.
So many fixes really enjoy every one
You need one of those like UV nail dryers
I hear your voice and keep imagining Ricky Gervais fixing a bunch of electronics.
Gracias por el video, has hecho que mi game boy pocket vuelva a la vida😘 la daba por perdida...
I wonder if you could use a small piece of aluminium foil to bridge wide flat broken traces, especially if under something?
Would be harder to get solder to stick to aluminum, there are products like copper foil and copper tape that could work well for that sort of thing but usually it's just more convenient to use wire
What about copper adhesive film to repair the big trace?
The board itself says it's a 30K VR, and you replaced it with a 20K, which probably means that the "proper" contrast would be around 15K. So all that means is that the VR is in a slightly different position from the stock one to get the optimal contrast. And in terms of the voltage going across there, 2 ohms isn't that far off from 90 ohms at the bottom end. And it's not like anyone is going to leave it at the low end anyway even on a stock machine, 'cause you won't have a usable picture!
All this to say is that it's a nice bodge fix. You used materials you had on hand, they worked, and will probably continue working for years to come. Does make me wonder why nintendo used a 5 prong VR though, when it clearly shows only 3 were ever actual connections when you took the bad one apart. So nothing lost by connecting a standard 3 prong VR.
Someone mentioned its the same stereo pot for the volume
Awesome fix. Thank you!
Nice job. Thanks for the video.
Hey vince, could you make a video on the equipment you use in your trying to fix videos please.
The new pot just has a wider resistance range then the old one. It will work just fine.