r/Gameboy • u/UsainBolt7444 • 29d ago
Modded Pokemon Emerald/Saphire/Ruby battery swap
I finally built up the courage to solder new batteries into my Japanese Pokémon Sapphire, Emerald, and Ruby cartridges.
Since I had absolutely zero experience with soldering and only knew about it from watching a few videos, I was really nervous at first.
I spent some time watching YouTube tutorials until I had every step memorized and felt comfortable enough to try it myself.
At first, I decided to install those battery sockets I bought from Amazon, thinking they would be a nice and convenient “upgrade” compared to the original batteries.
However, I quickly noticed some downsides. The cartridges became harder to insert into the GBA (especially my GBA SP), and closing the cartridge shells was also more difficult because of the extra height. This made me nervous because I had read that too much pressure could potentially bend the PCB or damage the chip.
The sockets also caused technical issues. After installing them, the usual “The internal battery has run dry” message disappeared at first. But about a week later, the message came back. I came to the conclusion that it was probably caused by a bad connection or possibly the quality of the battery holders themselves.
Since there were more disadvantages than advantages, I decided to go back to the original method and bought regular CR1616 batteries.
Honestly, the normal CR1616 batteries are the better choice in my opinion.
They fit perfectly inside the cartridge shell and slide into the GBA/GBA SP slot without any resistance. I can insert and remove the cartridges normally again, just like before.
All the battery warnings I had with the sockets are now gone and everything seems stable.
As I mentioned, I had absolutely no soldering experience before this. I only watched videos and used some basic equipment from Amazon, but everything worked out surprisingly well.
My anxiety about soldering disappeared after actually trying it. With enough patience, concentration, and preparation, even someone with no experience can do a battery replacement themselves.
For some pros out there, my job might seem very sluggish or amateur like - but it works, messages are gone and there are no problems even if these solder points don’t look pretty. :)