Restoring a GameBoy Cartridge with Corrosion (TMNT Fall of the Foot Clan)

Рет қаралды 19,054

4 жыл бұрын

In this video, I take a worn out game cartridge and restore it by removing the corrosion on the front of the PCB, re-flowing solder onto the PCB chip pins, and placing the game PCB in a new cartridge shell with a new sticker. I apologize if my right thumb is a distraction in the video. It's a bad stress habit.
Replacement GameBoy cartridge shell: www.ebay.com/itm/Official-Nin...
Replacement TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan Sticker: www.retrogamecases.com/shop/l...
Music by Eric Skiff. www.ericskiff.com
I am associated with the Amazon Affiliates Program. I receive a small percentage from the links to Amazon products. If any of my videos helped you in a project, please consider using these links to support me. Thank you.
Screwbits for Gameboy Color Cartridge: amzn.to/2JI2JeJ
Basic Multimeter: amzn.to/2UIS4ab
Fiberglass Scratch Pen Brush: amzn.to/2XbIu0W
Hobbyist knife set: amzn.to/39DCTTK
Hakko FX888D Starter Soldering Station: amzn.to/3bSbWgu
Hakko T18-S7 Bevel Tip: amzn.to/2yA6As6
Kester Solder 63/37 .015 Diameter: amzn.to/39Fnpyx
Kester Soldering Flux Pen: amzn.to/2R9ARUW
Soldering Fan (or make sure you are near a window): amzn.to/349EmjD
Isopropyl Alcohol can be found at your pharmacy or grocery store. Make sure to get 91% or higher.
Cotton Swabs can also be found at your local pharmacy or grocery store.
Videos that helped me with the basics of soldering:
-Hakko Review and Soldering Tip Care: • Hakko Review and Solde...
-Hakko Demo: • Hakko Demo and Giveaway
-Real vs. Counterfeit Hakko: • Hakko FX-888D - Real v...
-How to SMD Solder: • HowTo SMD Soldering
-Desoldering without Hot Air (Only for dead components): • Desoldering without ho...
-Louis Rossmann's Channel: / rossmanngroup
-TronicsFix's Channel: / @tronicsfix
-RetroRepair's Channel: / @retrorepairs

Пікірлер: 32

@ClaudioBalbin 3 жыл бұрын

Just found your channel, that's a nice inspiring video. Will try to fix some of my games right away, thanks!

@ElJosher 3 жыл бұрын

Nice and simple vid. Keep it up

@HakkoUSA 9 ай бұрын

Good Lookin' Soldering station you have there! 😃

@meunaimharouj6325 2 жыл бұрын

Great work! Subscribed!

@am7442 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting, your obviously a bit of a genius to to the electrics on these things.

@Famedawg 2 жыл бұрын

Subbed. Great work. I’m picking up the hobby myself.

@cptcaveman26 3 жыл бұрын

Cool video 👍

@chriss4365 Күн бұрын

I would apply a small amount of e6000 glue to cover the exposed leads.

@Whyousomadcryboutit Жыл бұрын

In my research anyway I've seen that using an eraser is actually not good as it can create electrostatic charges.

@codyraymiller 4 жыл бұрын

This is so fucking cool!

@hzafary Жыл бұрын

Is there a way to tell if an unlabeled shell is original or generic?

@playniacsmcdudes9854 8 ай бұрын

Maybe I’m just a weirdo, but this is inspiring to me.

@sergiocastillo760 4 жыл бұрын

Can you send a link to the seller of the 2nd hand shells?

@technotard13 3 жыл бұрын

I posted this for a similar comment: If the link I provided in the description doesn't work, you will have to manually search for it. I got my shell on eBay and usually a listing only stay up for 30 days until the seller re-lists the item. If you trust AliExpress, I believe they sell them as well.

@douglassmith9445 Жыл бұрын

The ebay seller is no longer available. Where can I find OEM replacement cartridges?

@imdifferentchet 3 жыл бұрын

Just got a copy of Metroid Zero Mission... I believe it has some heavy corrosion and/or dead/corroded save battery... Game will show the Nintendo logo when booting, will start to go the next screen and then hangs...what are the odds its salvagable?

@technotard13 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds interesting. If by 'start to go to the next screen' means it stays at the white background of the Nintendo boot up logo, that might be salvageable depending on what needs to be re-flowed and/or repaired traces. If you mean it actually changes to a different color screen but nothing happens, it might be chip related and a harder fix. Hope you're able to get it repaired!

@imdifferentchet 3 жыл бұрын

@@technotard13I made a video to help explain better... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bbtyf5SgvLKuoYU.html

@jonhanson2821 3 жыл бұрын

Do you do repair commissions? If so, can I email you? I have a broken GBA cartridge (solder on pins, internal battery won't work)

@technotard13 3 жыл бұрын

I'm flattered by the request but unfortunately I do not. I make these videos to show that everyone can do these kind of projects with enough time and practice. If a C student like me with shaky hands can do repairs like this, I think you can do it too. Good luck with the cartridge!

@MrZillas 9 ай бұрын

This is the original axe of George Washington. I just had to replace the head. And the handle.

@cesarguerrero5630 4 жыл бұрын

Where can I buy second hand shells?

@technotard13 3 жыл бұрын

If the link I provided in the description doesn't work, you will have to manually search for it. I got my shell on eBay and usually a listing only stay up for 30 days until the seller re-lists the item. If you trust AliExpress, I believe they sell them as well.

@Saberwaisen Жыл бұрын

If the game is valuable and you find corrosion inside it would be worth to remove the chips and check for corrosion under them.

@weniard 11 ай бұрын

You should use solder mask instead of tape

@josetavarez10 3 жыл бұрын

Anyway I can send you one of my games and see if you can help clean it?

@JS-cy3oi Жыл бұрын

Damn Boy U need a therapist to Stop chewing your nails and fingers

@douglassmith9445 Жыл бұрын

Therapist? That’s going way overboard, even as a joke lol he should stop though. Gloves do the trick if you’re pretty bad with it.

@ES-qm5hr 3 жыл бұрын

If the cartridge worked why didn't you leave it alone? What you are doing here is actually doing more damage than good. Then you effectively make a forgery by using a reproduction sticker. This is why buying old games is becoming a nightmare. Good restoration means keeping things as original as possible, only doing what is necessary to preserve originality, and function.

@technotard13 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for commenting. When I saw the traces to the pins at the bottom of the board, they looked either corroded or worn from excessive use. From restoration videos I've watched over the years, if you don't take care of a problem now, it will be worse in the future. I took the initiative to fix the potential wear/corrosion now instead of letting someone else deal with it later in life. The cartridge itself was in bad condition with the label not looking any better. The game isn't worth anything whether its new, restored, or it's former condition. If this was a Pokemon cartridge, then I probably would have tested that it worked instead of going through the lengths I went through in this video. I have no plans selling this game and would only give it away to someone close to me that would take of it like I did.

@BeyondWorldOne Жыл бұрын

@@technotard13 I have no idea about the repair, but the sticker I found quite disturbing, it's too close to an original, and I don't think a business that has potential in tricking people to buy something counterfeit should be supported. The companies that do reproductions who have integrity will write reproduction on the product.