How to fix a Game Boy

After fixing over 200 faulty Gameboys, Remy thinks the process mostly fits into three categories that's relatively simple, fun and rewarding to bring those 80s and 90s memories back to life.

Transcript

1. How to fix a Gameboy Or: How to spend money a s a 80s kid with unfettered a ccess to eB a y. How I fi x a gameboy Or how to spend money as an 80s kid and unfettered access to ebay.
2. 200 plus Gameboys fixed - I had my gameboy in the early 90s - and I loved it. - I had a paper-round and bought games - fi rst adult gameboy in December 2021 - within a month I'd modded & bought 5 faulty gameboys. - Hooked on the hobby of fi xing faulty consoles, gameboys in particular. - Rewarding: no land fi ll, kid me would be impressed - it's also simple tech compared to today's machines - I still have more waiting to be fi xed!
3. It can get out of hand… This was a few years ago!
4. Power - does it turn on? Sound - can we hear anything? Cart - does it load? Screen - is it working? The checklist When I'm fi xing a gameboy, my checklist is this:
5. but first, the tools.
6. Raid your parent's loft or hit up ebay - £35-40 "faulty gameboy" next are tools you probably won't have around the house
7. Isopropyl alcohol- ideally 95% upwards Tri-wing screwdriver Solder iron
8. continuity mode and click wheel
9. …but do we have power? — 80s. Yes. So, he has the power, but do we have the power?
10. This is, fairly gross example, not entirely uncommon. Actually: the grossest thing faulty gameboys is cleaning other people's dead skin out of them.
11. 1. Check battery compartment for corrosion 2. If you can, check power from DC jack (note: centre poll negative) 3. Open shell, remove battery terminals
12. White vinegar works really well Also: microwave, but do outside SMELLY
13. Battery alkaline + acid = salt + water Not drinkable 🤢 If it still doesn't work, it could be around the soldered on terminals requires soldering skills and there might be trace repair to do, but that's out of scope!
14. Sound: bangin' 🍟 toons "Chip" tunes. Get it?
15. Check with headphones rst First things fi rst if there’s no sound on the speaker, check headphones. If this works - it’s good. IPA + jam the jack in and out Also worth adding IPA to the volume wheel
16. This is the internal switch on the headphone jack
17. Continuity on the speaker
18. Cart If you've ever owned a gameboy this will probably be a familiar sight. The gameboy can't read the data on the cart, so you get this garbled text. It's also worth having a 2nd cart to test with too, in case the cart is bad.
19. Approved 1989 method: Blow on it. Blow on it. There's usually dust and dirt in there.
20. Approved 1989 method: Blow on it. Or a rubber. Or, if you can open the cart (using a gamebit), a white rubber/eraser will work perfectly. Equally, IPA works.
21. Rust? Sandpaper But go gentle. If the cart slot itself is damaged, it's repairable, but requires lots of soldering and special parts from china / aliexpress.
22. Screens These are particularly bad examples, and actually, although these are all actually fi xed, I’m sure these screens were beyond repair.
23. "Screen burn" - polarizer replacement Polarizers are cheap to replace. Knife to remove, IPA to clean up. Then it glues back on - make sure to get angle right before sticking down (it inverts the light)
24. "Screen cancer" Stuck on liquid cryst a l Hate the term, but when liquid crystals are "stuck on". I can be PUSHED away, but it's hard work and always leaves a mess
25. Horizontal :( This is broken and really can't be simply fi xed.
26. Vertical :) This can be fi xed
27. 32x A tip here is to put the contrast on full, so you can see where the lines should be.
28. Now go save some Game Boys from land ll https://retrobyrem.uk This talk was supposed to be presented on the gameboy, but I made a maths mistake. I also have a few custom carts I made for repairing gameboys - if you're genuinely think you'll fi x a gameboy, I'm happy to give you the cart. I've only got a couple though!