How to Fix Audio Issues on a Game Boy! Cleaning and Cap Replacement on a Game Boy Color

People have been asking me to make a video on replacing capacitors for a long time. Shoutout to my friend Ian for showing me this easy method for removing the old caps, you can follow him on Instagram here: / bombs_notfood
Get cap kits here: console5.com/store/cap-kits/c...
Replacement speaker: www.retromodding.com/collecti...

[@esotericsean]

So I've gotten a few comments from people who have torn the solder pads underneath the capacitors. The method I showed in this video where you wiggle the capacitor back and forth until it breaks really isn't the proper way to do it. It does often work, but a much more proper way would be to use a generous amount of flux and slightly higher than normal heat to really make sure it travels under the cap and melts all the old solder. Or better yet, if you have a hot air rework station, that would be even more ideal. The original solder that's there is old and definitely needs a lot of flux to get flowing properly again.

[@SLRModShop]

Yeah man, don't do that, especially in "tutorial" videos. If you want to do it, fine, but don't record it. Your video has been seen by roughly 4000 people, 400 people will try, at least 25 gameboys are now "dead" because of your video... Yeah, it's repairable but if people are the kind of people who use pliers to remove caps, they're not the kind of people who will know how to repair that and they'll sell it on Ebay as untested...

[@japanboys13]

Thank you for the advice! I already understand that any DIY is at your own risk, so if I mess anything up its on me, not you. Thank you for the awesome videos!!

[@Snohup]

You can add some annotations on top of the video, to let people know that there are better ways on the pinned comment.

[@PersonausdemAll]

I have seen this method as in the video in other videos and I'm looking for a video in which someone unsoldered the old capacitors, that has to work somehow. 🤔

[@emmettturner9452]

@@Snohup KZbin deleted annotations a long time ago and removed the option to make them even longer ago.

[@cloudstrifex88]

You know you love gameboys when you just randomly "find" a gameboy motherboard laying around

[@netherrack7059]

these videos really calm me down for no reason at all

[@prottentogo]

NETHERRACK ! Same here. If it was 1h long I’d watch it.

[@supernintendochalmers-wj8rz]

Woohoo! Thanks for the shoutout at 6:05, Sean! Love all of your videos.

[@ScruffyLookinRGB]

Fantastic video Sean! I haven't seen many tutorials on how to replace capacitors. Great idea! Love the tips and tricks my friend. Keep em coming! Will definitely be doing this on some of my hand helds and consoles very soon Thank you!!!

[@yoshitabureto2452]

Really thanks a lot bro!!! The cleaning fix on 4:27 saved my DMG Gameboy from dismounting and disassembling the jack connector. Just with a small blade, I was able to fix the sound back to the speaker. Thanks again bro!!

[@angahchelsea7146]

That's an awesome tutorial sean,as always..

[@bonnome2]

Just another big tip, replace the 100uf, 6V cap with a 470uf or 680uf with voltage rating of at least 6v with a diameter of 6.3. This removes lots of the high pitched noise and crackling noises.

[@vhfgamer]

I just spent some time with the schematic for a gameboy color, and it would sure seem like the 100uf 6v cap (C32 on the schematic) is a power filter cap and has nothing to do with the audio. Perhaps you meant the 100uf 4v cap which is C38 on the schematic?

[@RGmodsitalia]

Well done Brother, great video and tutorial for the Game Boy Color Love!!

[@MathGeekQ]

My old gameboy color has a volume issue, thanks for the cleaning tip!

[@GoobyGooby]

Got a gameboy recently with corrosion on the caps and no sound. timing of the video is perfect

[@segagirladventurespico]

This is BEST video I finally finished watching it. I'm a mom takes me a while to watch with lots of interruptions:). Do you have a instagram page to for your collection?

[@marcosmacoeove5915]

Yay. So cool. I love it.

[@El_Juank]

Niice video, fortunately my gameboys are still in good condition but it is something that can happen over the years and it is good to know what can cause it and how to fix it. By the way, "off-topic" question, where did you get the "Gameboy Color Light Ana" screen lens? I have seen it in the thumbnail of the vid and I found it pretty cool.

[@lolight2]

Awesome video! I had to recap one of the capacitors on a board but unfortunately never got it to turn on :( I did notice that the component C30 to the left of the capacitor opposite of the speaker is brown so maybe it is burnt? Do you happen to know a viable replacement for it? If it isn't too much trouble an Ebay link would be extra awesome. Thank you for your amazing content Sean! :)

[@andromedaneoprog]

Excellent video! One question: if during the removal of the capacitor you happen to damage the soldable area underneath the capacitors ¿how would you repair it? Would copper tape be useful so you can solder again on it?

[@RetroWolf13]

Awesome

[@ImIkonic]

Hey It looks like you usually stick yo Gameboys but is their any chance you could do a Game cube controller video. I want to invert the C-stick so up is down left is right. So that playing super mario sunshine doesn’t suck because it has inverted camera controls

[@retrorestored]

Nice vid, makes sense that a cap replacement would fix the low volume issue. Should have done that do all the GBC's I've worked on. Well I will now. :)

[@carlosanderson4479]

Hey Sean this question is totally unrelated but is it possible for me to get a clear DS Lite shell to look Atomic Purple? I don't know what process is used to make those clear color shells.

[@segagirladventurespico]

How can I get one of those green cords? I noticed our gbc don't have one only batteries. I think I need to clean our gbc sounds exactly like yours:) this is very helpful. I never had a gbc these are our first.

[@esotericsean]

It’s just an AC adapter, there’s a small port on the bottom of the Game Boy next to the headphone jack. You can get them cheap on eBay or AliExpress.

[@edwardtcrump5312]

Do you buy Console5's cap kits simply out of convenience? How would you go about purchasing caps yourself? I'm restoring lots of GB's in the UK and am trying to keep costs down.

[@esotericsean]

Edward T Crump They’re very inexpensive from Console5, but you can order from components websites individually (like digikey).

[@segagirladventurespico]

Is this just the inside of the gbc? You just took the shell? I just subscribed

[@pietreetreepie]

Can i replce the c32 capacitor with 100uf 10v? Or would that kill my motherboard? :3

[@srmrs]

Can I replace with different speaker (example: speaker with suspension that can fits in the space)?

[@esotericsean]

There are a lot of replacement speaker options. You just need to make sure that it uses the correct voltage and amperage, really.

[@segagirladventurespico]

I won a bid on ebay on a yellow gbc for my kids but sound you can hear teeny tiny bit only if I put my ear on the console you can hear tiny tiny sound lol do you think I just need to clean speaker or Order new speakers?

[@esotericsean]

Might just need to replace the speaker, but you should probably replace the capacitors too if possible since if they’re original, they won’t last much longer.

[@edisonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn6238]

My gameboy color speaker has a problem when I turn up to max volume the sound it produces very soft I replaced a new speak but no different. what should I do ?

[@smackdaddy710]

you need to mod a gbc with usb type c charging you did one with micro but time to future proof a gameboy please!

[@catboysforcats2717]

Hey, I love your videos. I'm having a wild problem- my headphone socket doesn't work. Speaker does- socket doesn't. No sound, not even a click. The whole thing works fine apart from this. I've tried to look at the socket but I have no idea what to look for. Could you offer any advice? I'm so confused :(

[@esotericsean]

That definitely sounds like something faulty with your headphone jack. Do you have a multimeter? You can check continuity with headphones plugged in and with them unplugged to see if the connection is actually switching.

[@edwardtcrump5312]

What does this board have plugged into the screen cable socket?

[@esotericsean]

Edward T Crump That’s an “ElClono” adapter from BennVenn. It converts the signal from GBC to work with AGS-101 screens.

[@edwardtcrump5312]

@@esotericsean Oh cool. I like how it's formed to sit on the board taking up the empty space.

[@davidpohle]

I've changed out my capacitors, replaced the speakers, and cleaned over and over again the headphone jack which doesn't look like there is any corrosion on TWO different GBC's. On both of them them the sound still doesn't come out of the speakers but does in the headphone jack. Another youtuber told me its probably the headphone jack and told me to test the connections with a multimeter. 1. I don't know how to do that, do you know of a video or do you have any interest in making one of using a multimeter to check for stuff like 2. Any other suggestions of what might be wrong to fix the issue?

[@davidpohle]

also looking for a good Discord server if anyone has a suggestion

[@xarifab]

I am exactly in the same situation. I have changed the speaker. I have disolder and cleaned the jack with isopropyl alcohol and vinegar, I have changed the capacitors.. still no sound coming out of the speaker. The headphones work but nothing comes out of the speaker. I have bought a brand new jack and will install it, this is my last hope lol.

[@davidpohle]

@@xarifab where did you buy that? Also, let me know if it works!!!

[@xarifab]

@@davidpohle I got the jack a d the capacitors from a website called jelly belly customs: www.jellybellycustoms.com/ I will let you know if replacing the jack will work on my console🤞🏾

[@pedroortiz3065]

My GBA’s volume works fine without headphones , but once I plug in headphones , there’s this high pitch frequency. Do you how I can fix this?

[@DirtyPlumbus]

I already ordered a new speaker. I guess I'll replace the capacitors while I'm at it. 👍

[@ZackMuffinMan]

🐨

[@atariforever2002]

DEOXIT!!

[@BluHawk_X]

How is the GB able to startup chime without batteries? Am I missing something?

[@esotericsean]

James Moran I plugged in an AC adapter to the bottom 😊

[@BluHawk_X]

Ahhh of course. I kept staring at the empty battery terminals on the board thinking “what witchcraft had you performed?”. Lol

[@retrobrogaming7346]

Did a GBC power regulator mod and now I have no audio. I changed the other two capacitors just to be sure but still no luck. =\

[@esotericsean]

No audio at all? What about through headphones?

[@retrobrogaming7346]

@@esotericsean I just got home and tried the headphones and it works. I tried 2 other working speakers but I still didn’t have sound.

[@DKTAz00]

Holy fuck this is going to leave people ripping thier pads off, DONT try to pull off the left over metal bits. Or the pad is very likely to leave with it. Thankfully youtube has removed the dislikes, so yay xD

[@frazao9144]

Já aproveitei e troquei o botão de volume por que voltou a falhar depois de limpo. Encontrei ele nesse link: produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-1503110787-boto-de-volume-game-boy-advance-color-potencimetro-gba-gbc-_JM?quantity=1