How to Repair a Gameboy Advance Power Switch

The original Gameboy Advance is timeless. Unfortunately, the components inside it are not and can wear out. In this video, I show you how to replace the power switch inside it with a new one, using a soldering iron and some basic tools. Enjoy!
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[@KyleAwsm]

Hey all, I've posted a quick follow-up video to this tutorial here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnWqfIKPdpykhJI

[@sojannedos]

Using Isopropyl Alcohol 91% worked for me. Great video!

[@0darthbra0]

Thank you so much, this is happening to mine and I have just bought a new switch, this video is what I will follow and feel better prepared to take the job on. Thanks

[@esotericsean]

Nicely done! Such a polished looking video, Kyle. Nice to see new content from you :)

[@sojannedos]

I'm a huge fan of your videos! Kinda cool seeing you here :)

[@KyleAwsm]

Thanks so much, Sean! It's good to be back. 😎

[@RagManXX]

Handy video for me. Just worked on a GBA of my own that has started having a similar problem. Power switch doesn't work reliably for me. And thanks for the follow-up to this about power switch pricing. Will be doing this repair once prices come down on power switches again.

[@RGmodsitalia]

Awesome video my friend, finally!

[@APlusModding]

Nicely done video, great to see new content from you. Looking forward to seeing new content in the near future as well.

[@KyleAwsm]

Thanks man! Yup, plenty more is coming very soon. 😎 Cheers!

[@JayBoyModz]

Nice Vid Kyle

[@wade7130]

How funny we were talking about a power switch a few weeks ago an now you have a video on it!

[@KyleAwsm]

Who do you think gave me the idea for this video.... 😎👍

[@BashoStrikes]

I've done a number of this type of switch replacement. I suggest taping off the area around the original switch with kapton and removing it with hot air. As far as the pads go, it's not really necessary to load them up with solder and if they have too much the switch board may not sit appropriately to align well with the plastic slider. If you accidentally lift an anchor pad (the ones on the side) it can be replaced with copper tape adhered with high heat epoxy.

[@sneakingelephant]

Great vid. Going to try the swab with alcohol first. Hopefully that works cause soldering seems intimidating

[@wade7130]

Great Video!

[@nunyuhbusiness9016]

Good video and good instruction. I don't see why it was necessary to remove the board though.

[@kevinm4x]

Hope to see more frequent videos from you bro

[@KyleAwsm]

You got it! 😎 Another short one coming this week.

[@Keithjordan101]

When I removed the old power switch, I mistakenly took off the contact pads underneath. Anything I can do to solder a new power switch on?

[@Restalgia]

Great video man. If I can suggest, try using a soldering iron with a pump built in. Works so much better for removing solder since you are essentially sucking the solder as it melts, and leaves it very clean.👍👍

[@KyleAwsm]

Thanks for the tip, brother! Good to see you here. 🙂

[@chmurqab]

I'm planning to do this since like.. more than a year now, haha. I've got the replacement switch, but I'm just not confident enough in my soldering skills. I'm fine with replacing batteries in gameboy carts, but yeah.. this is another level. I've got a simple Weller at home which has temperature control done by changeable tips (called Magnastat IIRC), but I'm not sure I have one going so low.. well, maybe your video is a sign,.to finally give it a try! :)

[@chmurqab]

So I finally got to work a week ago.I think the most stressful and hard thing was to remove the switch from the board. I grabbed it with a tweezers, kept heating up the four solder points, but it just didn't want to budge. I tried to be patient, but it was hard to keep cool considering that tweezers kept sliding off and that I felt the anxiety of frying the board. Finally it popped off without causing any damage. I thought that it would be smooth sailing from that point but oh boy.. I applied new solder to the pads, positioned the new switch.. and spent next 15 minutes to get this fucking thing to stick to at least one point. It was just hard to use tweezers to keep it properly in place, it just kept moving off in different directions. Finally I somehow managed to get it to stick to the on side and from there it went a bit better, but I still struggled for quite some time. When it was finally done, I quickly put everything back together and, considering how sloppy I was, it surprisingly worked like a charm. I definitely wouldn't recommend this if you're not confident with your soldering. Maybe it's not the hardest thing ever, but it's definitely not the easiest. Also, a small observation: I've started with a soldering tip at 320 Celsius as it was the lowest one I've got in my arsenal. Couldn't really melt the soldering points in reasonable time (took way longer than 2 seconds which you recommend). I've switched to 370 Celsius and it went way more smoothly.

[@ginmil3436]

What alcool should i use i dont have acess to isopropyl where i live it doesnt exist and i cant order it im lost i got a bunch of old console to repair..

[@HighSaiyanZ]

9:16 I ripped off the solder pad where it says 2 on the motherboard can I fix it or is the gba broken? Plz help

[@jelly4663]

Thanks mate👏👏👏👏👏👏😁😁😁😁😁😁👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Guzman_j]

Do you have a link to the switch you bought

[@ViVa___]

what would you call this gripping tool at 7:59? looks insanely useful

[@KyleAwsm]

Metal electronics tweezers 👍🏻

[@ViVa___]

@@KyleAwsm Thanks. Do you know where to get some like yours? When I google that I get mostly normal tweezers or just flat ones, but the grip on your pair looks much better.

[@vvalmart]

Do you have a multimeter recommendations for working on gbas?

[@KyleAwsm]

I like my Etekcity meter, but any meter that tests volts, maps, capacitance (some don't!), continuity, resistance, DC, AC, etc. then you should be fine. Expect to spend around $30 for a decent meter.

[@vvalmart]

@@KyleAwsm thank u very much for the informative, detailed reply sir

[@caseywilliams7912]

Hey Kyle can please link me to the aliexpress page to purchase the switch.

[@KyleAwsm]

Here you go: tinyurl.com/s5w44ps Looks like the price went up on them since I bought mine a few months back. Hope this helps, and thanks for watching!

[@caseywilliams7912]

@@KyleAwsm wow, very pricey, do you remember what you paid ? I hope the price drops later this year . thanks

[@matthewclardy3937]

How hot do you need the iron to be?

[@KyleAwsm]

5:08 - Between 400 and 500 degrees F.

[@kinesebalbo]

battery LED flickering between green and red even with a fresh set of batteries, the power switch is almost certainly your

[@EllyTaliesinBingle]

If you as the rest of us are worried that at any moment your videos could be mistaken as "for kids" by youtube, you should start adding 1 random PG-13 word to every video. Like, "Yeah, the cheeky *bastards* at Nintendo include tri-wing screws on everything so you'll need one of those unless you realllly wanna mess around with the melted pen method, etc." lmao.

[@EllyTaliesinBingle]

Also, when I was a kid, I actually looked up stuff like this. I was 12 years old modding my NES and learning basic HTML for websites. BUT, if my grandparents caught me looking at something with a SWEAR word in it, you better believe it would be banned from our household. :P Supposedly, KZbin has algorithms that look at people's cookies to determine their likely age (I.e. if they're lying about being above 13.) based on all sorts of stuff. Now, I'm not *seriously* saying you have to go add a random swear if it ain't your style, and IDK how much it would help if any, due to things such as what I've pointed out above. Would be kinda funny tho. Could always *censor* it and put it as a little sound bite joke at the beginning, right after the disclaimer. Just for luls.