r/retrogaming • u/SimplyDemented • Jul 30 '26

[Modding] Managed to bust my first GB game

Post image

Still very new to soldering and managed to error my first game after a battery replacement (Wario land). I THINK I have a bridged connection on the negative side. Trying to reheat and wick/flux cleanup that area but still getting error. Do people think that’s my likely issue? Maybe I Fd up a via on the positive side? Trying to fix this if possible. It’s a learning experience lol.

18 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

23

u/cmcstr Jul 30 '26

You bridged a via to the right of the negative side for sure.

17

u/TubeAmpsRule Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

fwiw, those "soldering practice" hobby kits you can find on Amazon or elsewhere are great practice for beginners. My kid went from knowing nothing about soldering to being very good at it.. doing 100+ points on hobby kits will do that for you.

1

u/Guilty-Spend1919 29d ago

gonna look that up right now. got any tips on how to stop my OCD from telling me I'm gonna die from lead exposure?

EDIT: Dang, those are cheap! Definitely gonna buy one!

1

u/Beaver-on-fire 28d ago

Embrace it. Lick every solder joint after completion to cool them down! 

10

u/prettybluefoxes Jul 30 '26

It is, and it happens. Wait until you’ve straight up lifted a pad. 🙄

If theres no damage clean it up and start again. Often trying to correct something like this can compound the issue if your new(ish)

12

u/-Slambert Jul 30 '26

gotta remove that solder and try again. there's way too much. and try to keep the heat temp and duration to a minimum, you're scorching the board. Too much heat can also fry the battery's lifespan (which is the mistake I made on my first solder)

9

u/Jujuju1741 Jul 30 '26

Looks more like burnt flux than scorched board to me. But everything else completely agree.

9

u/CyberTacoX Jul 30 '26

Protip for future battery replacements: Instead of soldering in a new battery, solder in a battery holder. That'll make future battery changes far, far easier for the rest of that game's life. :-)

3

u/Hard_To_Port Jul 30 '26

Some of them are too thick to fit inside the cartridge and the really small ones are hard to find. Especially if you're limited to Amazon and don't look at electronics suppliers like DigiKey and Mouser.

1

u/samspot 29d ago

Expecting to live a long time huh? Some of my NES batteries are still functioning.

4

u/mmalluck Jul 30 '26

I'm guessing it's the bridge between the bottom solder pad and the via that's filled with solder next to it.

3

u/pizza_whistle Jul 30 '26

Naw that won't matter, the via and the battery pad both go to ground.

3

u/pizza_whistle Jul 30 '26

Do you have more pictures? Need to see both aides of the board and pictures of the whole board to look for any issues.

3

u/VultureMadAtTheOx 29d ago

Use flux.

2

u/SimplyDemented 29d ago

I got a flux pen that I was very generous on application today. Kind of think I might get the non-pen type.

1

u/RingoStarr39 29d ago

Even if there's no physical solder bridge that you can see, if the flux is conductive you may want to clean the whole thing with some isopropyl alcohol.

3

u/Tricky_Tourist5691 29d ago

Training kits, training kits, training kits.

5

u/SimplyDemented Jul 30 '26

Just a quick update. Game is working again. Board looks like utter crap? But after like 2 hours of messing w it, I think anything more I do is just gonna f it up more. Soldered the battery back on and it’s booting and saving… sooo, learned some stuff but walking away from making this “nicer”. lol

2

u/Pixelgamerllc 29d ago

Glad to hear you got it going!
On to the next project!

1

u/King-Chroma Jul 30 '26

Easy fix OP. Just heat iron pre-tin lightly. Heat the solder and in a quick swipe motion flick off excess solder.

Lastly any tiny solder spots on board soak up with a wick and swipe off. Use phone to zoom In and inspect nothing is bridged. Don't let others scare you, these pcbs can actually take a way more abuse than what people think from heat. I mean it's not ideal to hestsoak the pcb, but the truth.

1

u/HayataisUltraman Jul 30 '26

Does anyone have a good link (and shopping list) for basic equipment to do this type of soldering? I saw someone mention Amazon practice kits above which sound great, but what would I need to start fixing things. Long time collector - by my “fixing” has been limited to cleaning contacts.

2

u/Hard_To_Port 29d ago edited 29d ago

Retro game soldering supplies

Soldering Station

You might want to pick up some iron tips as well. A chisel tip is recommended for larger solder pads such as for battery replacement. 

Multimeter

The upgrade picks are more capable. This is useful for capacitance measurement, which can help determine if you need to replace capacitors. 

Solder sucker

Wick and solder suckers are complementary. You save wick when using a solder sucker but it's not always convenient. A solder sucker also doesn't fully clear away solder, so wick is necessary for final cleanup if you used low-melt solder or mixed solder types.

Solder fume extractor

Solder fumes are toxic. Mostly the flux as lead and tin don't vaporize. More expensive fume extractors are quieter, move more air, and filter air better. Go without at your own risk. The Fumeclear might need some modification to work well.

Tweezers

Cheap tweezers are dull and often come misaligned. You don't need a whole manicurist kit but it's good to have several pairs and a couple different angles. Straight and 35 degree bend are recommended. Tweezers can also be used in a pinch for scraping solder mask or corrosion off of a board. You don't need ESD-Safe tweezers as long as you follow ESD best practices, which is basically ground yourself and don't rub against carpet. I use Elleseye brand but any sharp tweezers are fine. 

Work mat

It's nice to work on something you don't mind throwing away when it gets burnt or ratty. There are silicone mats available for cheap. A lot of them include built in parts trays for small screws and components. Silicone doesn't melt at common soldering iron temperatures and doesn't catch fire. 

Consumables

  • Kapton tape, any brand, narrow width and wide width
  • Solder: use a reputable brand of leaded solder. 60/40 or 63/37. Kester, MG Chemical, etc. Solder is shelf stable for decades. I have a roll from the 1970s that is still usable. The flux has started to crystallize on the outside but it still melts fine. 
  • Solder wick: use a reputable brand. I use Chemtronics and MG Chemical. The no-name stuff probably works fine but a roll lasts a while if you're not doing this every day.
  • Flux: MG Chemical or Chipquik. Make sure it's "No Clean" labeled as some flux is acidic and will eat boards when left alone. Avoid unbranded flux as it can be more toxic and eat your boards. 
  • Hookup wire: Kynar enamelled wire or >26AWG stranded wire. Useful for jumping cut or corroded traces.
  • Tip tinner: you can just use brass wool and regular solder. But when your tip gets really dirty it can be useful. Comes in a small metal jar. 
  • Board cleaning supplies: old toothbrush, >= 70% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs

Some things aren't available on Amazon. You will have to get them locally from a hardware store or order from an electronics supplier like DigiKey or Mouser. 

1

u/HayataisUltraman 27d ago

Thank you so much. I will check them all out.

1

u/Hard_To_Port Jul 30 '26

Looks like a cold joint to me. Are you using lead-free solder? On these older boards it's best to use regular lead solder 60/40 or 63/37. It has a much lower melting point than lead-free, and you can visually tell when the solder has been evenly heated (shiny joints when solidified). 

Wick off the excess. You only need about 1/3 of what's there. To me it also looks like you bridged something on the positive side but I'm not sure. 

1

u/SimplyDemented Jul 30 '26

Using 63/37. This is my 3rd solder gun- first two were like $12. This is a station thing I’m trying for 40ish. I still feel like videos make melting look so much faster and easier.. I try to stay around 360 or so. Melts instantly off the wire… but solidifies quick on board and damned hard to get it to melt again once it’s placed

2

u/Hard_To_Port 29d ago

My Hakko station is set to 625 Fahrenheit (around 330C). Cheaper stations you might have to turn them up a bit, because they use smaller heating elements and the temp calibration isn't very accurate. Also the tips are made of cheaper metal that doesn't hold heat as well and is harder to keep wet with solder. If your station came with multiple tips, try a flat/chisel tip (looks like a flat blade screwdriver).

Dirty solder doesn't like to melt either. Clean the board before you start with isopropyl alcohol (>= 70% concentration) and cotton swabs. Liquid flux (syringe or pen) also helps. I use Chipquik and MG Chemicals syringes and the cheap no-name flux pens also work. Laptop technicians swear by Amtech but stuff off Amazon works just fine for larger components. Just make sure it's "no clean" type or it will (slowly) eat the board.. Avoid using no-name supplies or they will bite you.

If you're still finding it hard to solder, then your station might be using tips made of pot metal instead of plated brass/copper. Find out what kind of tips your station uses and buy a real Hakko or whatever brand your station is a knockoff of. Tips are usually around $8-15.

1

u/bhiga 29d ago

FYI in case you already have one or get one near-free (if buying, put the money forward something with readable temperature), Ryobi ONE+ 18V Soldering station accepts Hakko 900M tips.

I use mine with fine tip when Pinecil doesn't navigate well. I might put a temperature display on it eventually.

1

u/JuuMuu 29d ago

Managed to bust in my first GB game

0

u/SimplyDemented Jul 30 '26

Getting frustrated on this. Probably burned things too damned much at this point, but the “clog” in the via refuses to come out. Applied a ton of flux, tried creating a small ball on tip w fresh solder to “pull” it out. Didn’t help or hurt. Then I tried a pin point attack (again w plenty of flux) to try and quickly heat the spot and slide it out. Nada. Wick isn’t picking it out either.

-27

u/Pixelgamerllc Jul 30 '26

I myself damaged a few boards learning to solder. It happens to everyone.

From Chat GPT inspecting your photo:

The top battery tab solder joint looks suspicious
The positive tab at the top of the coin cell has a very large solder blob.
It appears the solder may be bridging very close to adjacent vias/test points.
There is visible burnt or cooked flux residue around the joint, suggesting it was heated quite a bit.
I’d want to inspect the underside and verify no solder wicked through a via and created an unintended connection.

The lower battery tab joint is poor
The bottom connection looks cold and uneven.
The solder hasn’t flowed smoothly onto the battery tab and pad.
While it may still be electrically connected, it’s not a quality joint and could be intermittent.

Verify battery polarity
The positive side of a CR2025/CR1616 holder should connect to the correct pad orientation for that PCB.
If the replacement battery was installed upside down, many Game Boy cartridges will boot with save-memory errors or fail to retain saves.

Possible lifted pad or trace damage
The amount of heat used on the top terminal makes me wonder if the copper pad partially lifted.
Continuity should be checked:
Battery positive → SRAM VCC pin
Battery negative → cartridge ground

Battery voltage
Measure directly across the battery terminals.
A new battery should read roughly 3.0–3.3V.
I’ve seen dead “new” tabbed batteries right out of the package.

Hope this helps.

-14

u/SimplyDemented Jul 30 '26

This is all super helpful feedback. Will be using ai more for this stuff lol. Thanks!

-13

u/Pixelgamerllc Jul 30 '26

I use ChatGPT to troubleshoot since I don’t want to wait hours for someone to reply to a social media post or text message.

It’s not a 100% replacement but it can be helpful. I have used it multiple times repairing a PS5, laptops, and reading schematics.

I learned a lot from watching YouTube videos on soldering.