Fixing a GBA SP Broken Power Switch NO REPLACEMENT PARTS

[@rodrigomorales7482]

Even though my soldering skills are terrible, this made the trick, works like a charm. Thank you so much.

[@FantasticQuack]

Glad it helped!

[@ScottBaker38]

Great video! My old SP is randomly shutting off and showing low power on a fully charged battery. I’ve heard the power switch is the culprit but I wasn’t sure how to clean it. Thank you!

[@FantasticQuack]

Thank you! I'm glad I could help :)

[@soylent_jjiirr]

Thank you, Ive just finished de/resoldering successfully for the first time in my life watching your vid. My gba sp is as fine as a new one now. I really appreciate you for this.

[@FantasticQuack]

Great to hear this and glad I could help, cheers!

[@AGTS10k]

Thank you for the vid! Just fixed my AGS-101 using your method. The hard part was lifting the first side of the lid - had to use a solder wick and some flux to remove solder around the legs and not melt the plastic. Cleaned using some lint-free swabs (the ones that are used to clean inkjet printer heads), soaked in isopropyl alcohol, because I found that I had no pensils or erasers at home :) Now no more green-red flickering or random shutdowns! Awesome! Saved myself a couple of bucks on a replacement.

[@FantasticQuack]

Glad to hear this! Yea that metal shield over the switch is tricky, it has a small cross shaped feature that locks it from being pulled vertically so you have to pry it sideways a bit before it will lift out. It didn't get good enough / close up footage to properly show this.

[@Big_Kona]

I'm getting the green red flickering, solid red led sometimes if I wiggle the switch up, if I flick the switch on too far/hard it doesn't power on. Is that similar to what yours was doing? I'm hoping I just need to clean it. Was hoping to avoid soldering at all but I guess I may have to

[@AGTS10k]

@@Big_Kona Yeah, that's exactly what happened with my unit, too. Especially after the battery discharged after playing a while - because at a full battery it was always green for me. You can try to do the method from the first part of the video - just soak the switch in isopropil alcohol and wiggle it on-off repeatedly for a few minutes (with the battery disconnected, of course). That should loose up the gunk inside the switch and make a better contact this way. However, this would be a temporary and still unrealiable solution, as demonstrated in the video as well. The best way is to do the soldering part. To make it a easier, use the flux. Actually, always use flux, whenever you soldering anything, as well as a soldering iron with temperature control: two of these points made soldering for me go from "why can't I solder two wires properly" to "wow, this is just too easy".

[@Big_Kona]

@@AGTS10k I am installing a FP V2 either tomorrow or the next day, so I need to solder the brightness adjustment wire anyway. I feel like soldering could be fun if I can do it properly

[@AGTS10k]

@@Big_Kona Soldering *IS* fun, but only when you have the right tools for it :)

[@nikovidya7994]

Had the same issue with my SP, followed this fix and it worked like a charm, thanks 👍

[@FantasticQuack]

Glad to hear it!

[@devarionarias]

Same exact thing happened to the switch on the one I have. This trick worked perfectly! Thanks a lot.

[@FantasticQuack]

Glad it helped

[@heraldkiarastormlight]

This is exactly the info I needed, thank you!

[@FantasticQuack]

Glad it was helpful! Cheers

[@Yafte777]

Amazing video again! Very useful to give a second life to the switch button!

[@FantasticQuack]

Thank you! I was pumped to get this one working again with the original part!

[@irregularmana6216]

Mine has the the EXACT same issue and it's a silver one too lmao. Great videos :)

[@FantasticQuack]

Thanks, I hope you can get yours fixed up!

[@SupraViperhead]

I decided to sell my Pearl Pink AGS 101 and when I went to test it, I had this very issue. Haven't opened it up to fix it yet, but it's good to know a potentially easy solution. I have a friend that does micro soldering, so if the switch needs replaced, he should be able to do it.

[@FantasticQuack]

Hope you can get it working! Those 101 models we especially need to keep going

[@sombreset9792]

I had this same issue. Luckily, cleaning the board with IPA, especially around the switch area, seems to have done the trick!

[@FantasticQuack]

Glad you got it working!

[@DrSuperKamiGuru]

I managed to follow your instructions without fucking anything up. Thank you so much for this video.

[@FantasticQuack]

Awesome, nice work!

[@dp_lucid]

Thank you!

[@FantasticQuack]

You're welcome!

[@martinhui7673]

How long does it take to solder off the shell that cover the contacts?? Because I can't really seem to remove the case that covers the contacts. Many thanks!

[@FantasticQuack]

Desolder the whole switch first, and then you have to bend the legs of the metal cover outward to get it unlatched.

[@bluejay420]

Dude thank you so much! 🙏🏻

[@FantasticQuack]

Happy to help!

[@TrueMetis]

Oh, I'm gonna give this a shot with mine. My power button works, but the power indicator light is red sometimes even when I know the battery is fully charged. Figure corroded contacts might cause it to sometimes get less power making it think the battery is low. On another note, I did a shell and IPS screen replacement and now the top and left d pad need a lot more force to work, any idea what might be the issue? They don't feel any different when I press them.

[@FantasticQuack]

Hope it works out for you! On the battery problem, cleaning the contacts with alcohol and/or bending them outward for better contact pressure might help. On the buttons, the issue is either related to the shell being poor quality or the button pads on the circuit board are oxidized/dirty--I would recommend cleaning those pads with alcohol

[@notanazi8632]

Hey, I need some help. I finally got my SP, but it has the same problem as this one. I thought it would be an easy fix, but I can't get the top middle screw out no matter what I try. Do you have any advice?

[@Big_Kona]

Great video! Hopefully this fix works for me.

[@FantasticQuack]

I hope the same! Thanks for watching :)

[@Big_Kona]

@@FantasticQuack When I was re-shelling and installing an IPS I spreyed some isopropyl alcohol in the switch and flicked it on and off a handful of times, and it seems to have fixed the problem.

[@edsddsdsds4719]

Hi, Im a kid. I have the same problem where my game closes after a few seconds opening the game. I just have some few questions. 1:Do i have to dissasemble the shoulder buttons to take it off/on? 2:Does 80% cologne do the trick?

[@FantasticQuack]

1: No, the shoulder buttons are on the other side of the shell. 2: Use rubbing alcohol.

[@wilsonop1227]

i have no tips to give but the cologne part made me laugh lol

[@edsddsdsds4719]

What was i on when i made this comment 😭

[@wilsonop1227]

@@edsddsdsds4719 lol I ended up just melting the solder on the power switch and cleaning it and also did you get your gameboy fixed?

[@edsddsdsds4719]

@@wilsonop1227 Thats what I was gonna do too but since we didnt have a soldering iron and none of the people know how to fix a gameboy in my country since its 20 years old and nintendo cut support, we went to a Xbox and Playstation mechanic hoping they would somehow fix it... And they did?!?!? We didnt even tell him anything though and he just immediately said "its the power switch"

[@superboy3229]

Thank you for showing us. My SP and original GBA systems need to clean those turn switch inside. Sadly couple years ago, I bought $30 a Pokemon emerald from my friend. This emerald has 8 badges and over 20 Pokemon 100 lv and many items. I used a GBA to play an Emerald but I puzzled its turned off itself while saving it. I turned on again and can't believe emerald save file had corrupted then it must to new game. Everything's gone in my Emerald. I tried to fix this save file back Sadly, it cannot fix it back. I was upset that I wanted those Pokemon transfer to my Diamond or Pearl. But it gone.... :( I had to repair or clean my damn GBA systems before take in some games. I don't want to happen again......

[@FantasticQuack]

That's an unfortunate situation, I think we've all been there with losing a save for one reason or another! This just means you can start a new adventure all over again

[@superboy3229]

@@FantasticQuack but,I glad that having an Emerald is an official Pokémon company game as Game Freak! 😁😁😁

[@JuicyJakeRepairs]

i normally just use IPA and a q tip to clean

[@FantasticQuack]

Totally works, but in my experience the pencil eraser does the job faster for dirty/corroded pads. Plus a regular Q-tip would be too large to fit in the housing of that little switch.

[@robertwolfmodz5246]

I did this exact thing. Blew on the plastic white piece and the small metal pin flew off somewhere. Haven't found it and most likely won't. Came here for answers. Lol

[@FantasticQuack]

Time to buy a replacement switch at that point

[@robertwolfmodz5246]

@@FantasticQuack I'm literally broke. Anyway I fixed it used a clipped leg off of a tactical switch! Lol worked like a champ!

[@kevinvillegas5269]

Jesus loves you!

[@FantasticQuack]

:D

[@dzulio11]

thx for the tutorial, but clean the shell of gameboy, please...

[@FantasticQuack]

In most cases I do the cleaning later off camera unless cleaning is the whole (or part) focus of the video