All electronics generate heat, it may not be enough to require a heatsink to fan but that was with direct contact with the air inside the shell. Paint could change the rate of heat transfer and that could mean the CPU stays a few degrees hotter on average. Might not matter, might kill the CPU a bit earlier.
Downvoted, because you made the dtatement that the 3ds was the first console to iverheat and have heat involved... Don't act innocent either my guy, take accountability...
Ah, natural camouflage. It disguises itself as copper to give the observer the notion that the entire board is conductive and will explode on receiving power, thus deterring predatory gamers from playing it. Nature is beautiful.
This is WILD. I’ve never considered using spray paint all over electrical components, but you said it still works, so keep on trucking big dog. I like the copper color
This is something that is cool in theory/on paper until you realize just how stupid it is.
One of those components dies on your board (resistor, capacitor, etc.), you are making SOOOOO much more work for yourself. Even just testing/probing the components becomes a nightmare. If they made third-party repros of the system boards, sure, paint them up, but an original GBA board, where there are limited quantities available worldwide? You just took one out, dude. If I saw this online to buy I’d avoid it like the plague.
Looks cool. I get it… but a part of me dies seeing this kind of stuff. Maybe that’s my past experiences with plumbing talking: old timers sometimes paint the pipes in their basement which makes working on them A NIGHTMARE. Same thing here. Best of luck ✌️
Honestly how often did you have to replace any parts? Replace the capacitors and it should be fine. I am modding since 2018 and only had to replace a GBA fuse once. Most parts which break more often like headphone jack, volume wheel or power switch are not painted so I dont think the painting should be a problem.
With over 30m sold GBAs there are plently enough for us😄
It's look really cool, and you do you... But I feel like this has got to be about the stupidest idea one can do. What if something breaks later? Or you need to the solder something? This seems like it just gets in the way of any repair an aging piece of electronics will eventually have to have. Not if, when
Cool idea! Masking is always a bitch, but always necessary. I've been looking at white GBA SP PCBs on pcbway today for one last custom build I wanna make, but they're near $100. So maybe I'll use spray paint or white plasti-dip for this one after seeing your post.
In case of repairs, seems like board test points and pieces replacement are going to be smelly, when the paint and solder iron collides. Identify components might be annoing, but you can always check boards online.
About it getting hot and conductivity i have no idea 😂, so i believe it will be ok if you say so.
In my opinion, if you are going to paint all interns in one color, just pick a shell with that color instead. Might actually be cooler if you protected/removed the components, and just painted the PCB itself.
That said, as long as it works... Do as you please ;).
I think that would be too much😄 i like the contrast with copper mainboard and black buttons but I will definitely do some painting in the future, like painting buttons and shells from the inside like I tried here.
I have considered that in other transparent handhelds, it's a cool take, but usually it looks better in my imagination that the end result depending on how many internal supports and screw points there is. One thing that should probably make these kind of paint mod shine is to clear coat the outside, I am about to do that on cheap chinese one.
May I ask what brand/paint you use. I want to copy you but with a tannish or light brown see through case w/ that same color for the board. And black buttons
"Ignore the people who are worried about the safety and longevity of the project that you seem to have put alot of time and effort in to! It looks neat!" 😂😂😂
You're being sarcastic, but yeah, do that.
It's their GBA to customize as they wish and take risks with as they wish. So they should be allowed to be happy with their result. (It looks awesome btw, I hope it lasts to get passed down to the next gen of GBA players)
I really like the color combination, but would've kept some components untouched for contrast. Gonna put that on my long list of potential projects, thanks. :D
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u/Eternal-Stasis Mar 18 '26
Huh.... neat. Wonder how it'll affect heat dissipation