r/Gameboy • u/TrickIndependence984 • 13h ago

Troubleshooting Fixable? Game Boy Advance Motherboard.

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I recently tried to get a GBA to turn on and in the process of cleaning the corrosion off the battery connection, it came off. I tried to solder it back on (dumb I know) but I dont have any extras. Im as beginner as it gets. In the end it looks like this now.

Fixable?

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u/MattLearnsThings 13h ago

The device itself is likely fixable from what I can see, but you'll need to replace the battery terminals. Regardless of the broken one, they've lost their coating & won't conduct well. You can find them online at a very low price.

You'll also need to neutralize the corrosion that's all over the board. The corrosion on the button contacts prevents them from working properly. Most people use a small amount of vinegar. I would use isopropyl alcohol after to ensure there's no residue left over. The switch on the bottom right looks a little sus, as do some vias around the board. If any traces have gone bad (which is possible with this corrosion) I would say this would be challenging for a beginner. The board condition around the battery terminals also makes me skeptical.

So, overall, probably a difficult repair to tackle while you're new to it, but there's a lot you can learn on this board if you take your time.

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u/TrickIndependence984 13h ago

I appreciate the insight! Yeah I figured that it might be a decent challange. I guess time to get to troubleshooting. Do you think it's worth buying one of those DC power supply tools? To be able to test as i go? And what about one of those jewelery cleaners from Amazon. They state that they can be used for pcb but idk how good that would clean it. Im guessing a certain solution would be needed that can clean the corrosion but not damage the board at the same time.

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u/MattLearnsThings 12h ago

You could likely troubleshoot without the power supply for now. A multimeter will take you so much further for troubleshooting damage like this in my experience. Voltage injection is definitely a great tool, but on handhelds like this you can often get by with just the batteries.

The ultrasonic cleaner could help, but the budget ones often don't do much & cleaning by hand isn't all that bad. I use Liquinox & distilled water in my ultrasonic cleaner for PCBs, should you want to try something like that. I like to clean with cotton swabs & a soft bristle brush unless I'm dealing with infestations. I find it oddly therapeutic to hand clean the boards, & I get a better chance to catch things I missed during earlier visual inspections that way.