The little kid's voice in your background track really freaked me out. I had to rewind to make sure it was in the video and I wasn't just hearing things
I love any and all retro electronic projects, even quick ones like this! I am also very happy that you detailed the removing of the flux afterwards. So many people skip that step! Keep it up! :)
A little trick I did a few years back when I wanted to ensure not to lose any of my saved games when I was a kid - I soldered a couple wires to a 3.3v battery and soldered them to the leads on the board before removing the almost-dead old 3.3v battery. Then, I removed the old battery and soldered a separate new 3.3v battery to the board and removed the wires & other new battery. This way, I was able to keep my old saved game, and refresh the battery ensuring another 10+ years of life in my games.
It's crazy how long those batteries even last. Like I plugged in my SNES after a good 15+ years since it was used and some of my childhood game saves were still there. It's quite impressive. The load is super small but still impressive nonetheless that the saves lasted all this time.
So the battery comes with the terminals already spot-welded on it? Well, that's a complication. Still, now I know what it takes to open and repair them; I've got several games with dead memory batteries and I want to apply this skill in my new NFP. Thanks!
I always used rubber bands and a metal rod with the matching diameter for weird screws. But your method looks way more convenient! Thanks a lot ^^ Please post more short videos.
Years ago I bought a game on ebay and the battery was flat... But I wasn't smart enough to know that the cartridge had one so I gave the seller bad feedback - he got really angry at me for claiming he sold me a dodgy game. This jogged my memory and now I feel guilty for that guy.
Hello, any way to keep power on the cartridge while changing the battery? I have a pokemon yellow game with my savegame still alive and i would like to keep it. Thanks in advice
You need to keep it powered while replacing the battery. You don't want to charge the battery to the point it explodes or shorts, so you could use a bench PSU and dial it down to
the other size typically used is CR1616 I believe, however you can, in most cases, use a CR2032 as well(I did this for a copy of Pokemon Crystal). Same voltage, longer life.
Love your stuff. Didn't know the cartridges had a battery either. You up for making a Pi notifier of sorts? I'd like one for my mailbox, so it emails and/or texts me when my mailbox was opened by way of triggering or releasing a button. Make it as unobtrusive as possible. And maybe one for a door in my house too. Perhaps use Wi-Fi. Thoughts?
Yeah, that can be done. Some people say to use a 9V battery, but that's about three times more voltage than the battery you're replacing, so your mileage may vary. Don't want to burn out your SRAM!
Lots of flux on the pads when soldering. Flux always helps. You have to get that heat into both the pad and the battery terminal and it should flow together
@@SeanHodgins ok cool thanks I’ll try this! And the pads don’t have to be glued at the same spots where the old battery pads were at in order for it to work do they?
I was just discussing this with a co-worker past Friday -- thanks for the tip on removing the screw! Now this is indeed quite simple but... is there any way you can replace the battery without actually losing the save game?
Yeah, but its more involved, and you still might lose your game. You could solder on some leads on the cartridge to a 3V source before taking off the battery. Another possibility is to have the game in a powered on Gameboy with the cover removed, again risky though.
The little kid's voice in your background track really freaked me out. I had to rewind to make sure it was in the video and I wasn't just hearing things
Same
Yeah I normally try to avoid the audio watermark during talking!
Thanks for the improv screwdriver tip
I love any and all retro electronic projects, even quick ones like this! I am also very happy that you detailed the removing of the flux afterwards. So many people skip that step!
Keep it up! :)
Thanks! Yeah I can’t stand the look of sticky flux on a board. Need to get a proper pcb cleaner one day.
A little trick I did a few years back when I wanted to ensure not to lose any of my saved games when I was a kid - I soldered a couple wires to a 3.3v battery and soldered them to the leads on the board before removing the almost-dead old 3.3v battery. Then, I removed the old battery and soldered a separate new 3.3v battery to the board and removed the wires & other new battery. This way, I was able to keep my old saved game, and refresh the battery ensuring another 10+ years of life in my games.
It's crazy how long those batteries even last. Like I plugged in my SNES after a good 15+ years since it was used and some of my childhood game saves were still there. It's quite impressive. The load is super small but still impressive nonetheless that the saves lasted all this time.
To be fair, the Pokémon games beginning from gen2 have a clock running inside the cart, fed from the same battery.
Nintendo has a pretty good quality track record. I’ve had lots of coin cells just die on a shelf. Let alone keep power to a chip.
Only if this came out 6 years ago when I REALLY needed this for Pokémon Emerald
damn bro, 1yr old comment, minus 6 takes you to 2013ish, emerald released in what 2004? the gba batteries only last 10 years now?
So the battery comes with the terminals already spot-welded on it? Well, that's a complication.
Still, now I know what it takes to open and repair them; I've got several games with dead memory batteries and I want to apply this skill in my new NFP. Thanks!
Yeah they do, why is that a problem? You can get them without terminals too.
Nice! I actually did this to a game i got for my son - thanks man!
Man, I still remember playing Pokemon Red as a kid! Nice tip!
I had yellow... I may have kept the second game boy for myself. Haha
Wow Pokemon Gold is exactly the game I need this tutorial for xD
I have 0 soldering experience. Do you recommend that I give it a try? I'm genuinely scared of ruining my childhood carts
I always used rubber bands and a metal rod with the matching diameter for weird screws. But your method looks way more convenient! Thanks a lot ^^
Please post more short videos.
Yeah that would work for these also, they’re not screwed in very tight.
Years ago I bought a game on ebay and the battery was flat... But I wasn't smart enough to know that the cartridge had one so I gave the seller bad feedback - he got really angry at me for claiming he sold me a dodgy game. This jogged my memory and now I feel guilty for that guy.
Now you know! Seller could have told you they didn’t save though..
Hello, any way to keep power on the cartridge while changing the battery? I have a pokemon yellow game with my savegame still alive and i would like to keep it. Thanks in advice
You need to keep it powered while replacing the battery.
You don't want to charge the battery to the point it explodes or shorts, so you could use a bench PSU and dial it down to
the other size typically used is CR1616 I believe, however you can, in most cases, use a CR2032 as well(I did this for a copy of Pokemon Crystal). Same voltage, longer life.
Love your stuff. Didn't know the cartridges had a battery either.
You up for making a Pi notifier of sorts? I'd like one for my mailbox, so it emails and/or texts me when my mailbox was opened by way of triggering or releasing a button. Make it as unobtrusive as possible.
And maybe one for a door in my house too. Perhaps use Wi-Fi. Thoughts?
Seriously though, just spend $4 and get a screwdriver for it cause your probably be doing it more than once
Is it possible to hook another battery up in parallel to prevent losing any progress?
Also had no idea these had batteries in them!
Yeah, that can be done. Some people say to use a 9V battery, but that's about three times more voltage than the battery you're replacing, so your mileage may vary. Don't want to burn out your SRAM!
Is there a way to solder the batteries to the tabs? Instead of buying pre soldered tabs?
Hey I tried all this out. I was able to remove the old battery but getting the new battery to stick has been a problem for me. Any tips?
Lots of flux on the pads when soldering. Flux always helps. You have to get that heat into both the pad and the battery terminal and it should flow together
@@SeanHodgins ok cool thanks I’ll try this! And the pads don’t have to be glued at the same spots where the old battery pads were at in order for it to work do they?
So I tried more flux and it seems to be sticking but now when the game turns on, it freezes
I was just discussing this with a co-worker past Friday -- thanks for the tip on removing the screw! Now this is indeed quite simple but... is there any way you can replace the battery without actually losing the save game?
Yeah, but its more involved, and you still might lose your game. You could solder on some leads on the cartridge to a 3V source before taking off the battery. Another possibility is to have the game in a powered on Gameboy with the cover removed, again risky though.
Nice vid
I want a tutorial to replace old batteries for lithium batteries to power on
Maybe I’ll come up with a simple method.
awesome
You should make retropie gameboy
Thinking about it using one of those cheap clones for a housing.
SeanHodgins Yeah the new rasberry pi A+ form factor is perfect for these kind of things