I Paid Only $30 for Pokémon Emerald - But It's In BAD Shape

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I Paid Only $30 for Pokémon Emerald - But It's In BAD Shape - This Pokémon game is for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) but it's broken. A viewer bought it but sold it to me when they couldn't get it to work so I could try to fix it. It needs several chips resoldered and some new jump wires to bridge damaged circuits.
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Tools I Use:
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[@Tronicsfix]

Wanna see me try to fix even more game cartridges? I tried to fix 9 of them in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/roq4iGOri6ejZs0si=FzB4iJJF54AEyX5k

[@allansantos8085]

Bravo !! Só vídeo top

[@allansantos8085]

Bravo , só vídeo top

[@ellaquin]

I still have a New 2ds XL that I need to send over, I keep forgetting to send it

[@Ryan_DeWitt]

Yes, that was great. Probably one of if not the hardest fix I have seen you do yet. Most people would have said no way not worth it.

[@johndorian4078]

Would you, with a good conscious, try to sell that cartridge for full asking price....:) or would you feel the need to disclose all the work you had to do just to get it to work.

[@XeonProductions]

That cartridge was a crime scene, someone tried to murder it for good. You're truly a necromancer for bringing that thing back from the dead.

[@killingtime4444]

You could say Steve was.... Super Effective

[@GeomancerHT]

That would be called a Technomancer.

[@zZiL341yRj736]

$30 for that POS.

[@funnytomato69]

Bro is fr a necromancer lvl 5 💀💀💀

[@Supermack20]

Of course, he could have used a necromancer spell, but those use a lot of glitter….

[@12345.......]

Impressive how many things can be wrong in a single came cartridge.

[@Tronicsfix]

Lol, yes, there's a lot of little things going on inside these things

[@hmello3250]

most of the damage was caused by the previous repair attempt tho

[@HD-wf3bp]

It's completly fine to break stuff while you learn but selling this stuff I think is unacceptable for customers or other Repair people. It's really disrespectful and says everything about a person that is selling this.

[@kaosaetern5794]

@@HD-wf3bpit’s okay to sell broken stuff to other who can fix it as long as you disclose it

[@CanadianBakin42O]

Game*

[@jasonslawinski9506]

Hey Steve! Im Jason, the guy you bought this from! I knew you were the one for the job! I knew better than to even attempt this one as I’m still learning. Can’t believe how much was wrong! I learned a lot! I’m so glad this game can be played another day! Also, I tried to return this for my $100 back, but they didn’t even try to work with me when I was obviously scammed. People really need to be careful! Thanks so much for doing this video!

[@Nikolebichon]

Many fake iPhones

[@AmritSingh-si3pv]

You should be pinned good sir.

[@DiatribeDeity]

Am I the only one who finds these under microscope fixes increadibly relaxing?

[@jasonshapiro6420]

Nope. That is why we love him

[@-FAFO-]

It's kinda like a tinkerer's ASMR

[@cupcakemedia1143]

I often let Steve's videos autoplay while I'm working on something, they're great to watch out of the corner of my eye or switch focus to to recharge a bit 😊

[@doctorjango1]

Same, I often have Steve on autoplay

[@anotherland2462]

yes. you are the ONLY one.

[@DarkroeTech]

I just did something similar with a Pokemon FireRed game. Cracked PCB. managed to scratch away the PCB to bridge the traces between the crack. But despite getting the game to play the game it would not save, and gave me a save error I have never seen in a Pokemon Game. So I took the PCB from a Mario Kart Super Circuit game and migrated the components to that PCB. It was my first time using a hot sir station and migrating components. And I did it! It now plays and saves :) Always good to see these videos, whether the repair was successful or not. It's always a learning experience.

[@Kangamoos]

it's marvelous how you managed to salvage that game. Especially having to redo all the chips, plus that extra resistor that came off in the process :D

[@Tronicsfix]

This was a difficult repair for sure.

[@boofkharia472]

@@TheLazyCat1 friend, don't read the comments before watching the video lol.

[@Retro6502]

"Only $30" for a poor quality cart! The market's gone nuts lol

[@maxalmonte14]

Yup, and the worst part is with so many people capitalizing on it the ones that just want to play some games are in a really bad situation.

[@4ndrewMac]

@@maxalmonte14 if you just want to play the games there’s loads of options between reproduction cartridges and emulation. These prices are inflated by the collectors market

[@MrManBuzz]

​@@maxalmonte14 Emulate. If money is an issue, it won't cost you anything either. You know what I mean.

[@aikou2886]

​@@MrManBuzzYeah. At this point a GBA flashcard is definitely more convenient and way cheaper.

[@Alex-rw3ij]

Steve, you make very delicate work look easy. Thanks for putting these out and letting us enjoy the thrill of the repair by proxy.

[@Tronicsfix]

Thank you! So glad you enjoy these!

[@mepik15]

He makes it look easy bc it is easy if you know what youre doing. You mostly need steady hands and patience

[@Tazxding0]

​@@mepik15Steady hands come with a lot of practice i imagine.. so not that easy after all 🤓

[@HMNNO]

@@mepik15 yea I don't have great steady hands

[@aikou2886]

​@@mepik15You basically need to be a surgeon so it isn't that easy if you don't have years of experience lol.

[@eppy5630]

looks like when you go down the DIY repair video guides and one thing leads to another.

[@Tronicsfix]

Lol, that's good way to describe it!

[@ArticAzelhart]

230$ for a Pokemon Emerald cartridge??????? Here in spain with that much money you can get a full copy with box and manuals and still have spare money wtf

[@Qwerty10254]

People in the US are crazy

[@samuelmoreno974]

Scalpers

[@petruccilewis]

Awesome work! You know, I started watching your videos knowing nothing about electronics or soldering, but now I am doing similar repairs. Thanks for inspiring me into this beautiful work!

[@Tronicsfix]

So glad you're learning this stuff! Love comments like this.

[@Chewligan1]

I can tell Steve looks at these damaged components and just thinks "I love a challenge". That was an awesome fix !!!

[@Tronicsfix]

Ha, ha, yep!

[@cupcakemedia1143]

I really want to believe that someone desperately was trying to fix that cart because it was their favorite game or something, but just didn't have the skill to do it and it made its way to the scammer somehow. Thank you for giving this wonderful little cartridge a new life ❤️

[@speedwaynutt]

If games could talk I would love to hear this emerald explain what the heck happened to it.

[@Tronicsfix]

YES! Agreed

[@haloslayer255]

It all started when my original owner spilled salt and then his drink spilled into my pins. I thought I was dead, oh was I wrong but it felt like it. Thankfully I was saved!

[@kattrielladoesstuff]

This copy in particular would probably need therapy. Poor thing probably has PTSD.

[@MichaelDoran23]

I like how you showed diagnosing the board and tracing through it with the meter explaining what you were doing. I know you do this in your other videos but this one seemed more detailed. Really like that.

[@steveaustin330]

Steve, straight up performed voodoo magic on that fix.

[@CubbyTech]

I did not expect that! Amazing that you were able to bring that poor cartridge back to life!

[@saturn580]

My first thought was "Why didn't they practice on some cheaper cartridges first?". Then it occurred to me that perhaps they did! 🤣

[@emlyndewar]

RIP to all the lesser games that were butchered before this one.

[@bryans8656]

There's no way I could or would attempt something like this. Which is why I enjoy watching you do it with just the perfect amount of solder.

[@Tazxding0]

I get the opposite feeling, i want to practice and get this good, thats money!

[@WallyWallcakes]

Not sure why, but to me, this might be the most impressive fix yet. So many small, intimate details to troubleshoot and correct. Well done, sir!

[@KiseiruYoshioka]

That is definitely an S-Rank difficulty fix and you've nailed it, I am tremendously impressed ! You are truly a miracle maker with a top notch skill ✌️

[@hogwobblin9630]

Came back to you after about a year and so glad to see its become more chilled out, really enjoyed this!

[@JSnakeRepair]

Just want to thank you for your work; finally decided to branch out and do real cartridge repair (after buying some tools). I installed two jumper wires on a Pokemon Crystal and brought it back to life (after probing for an hour). Probably would have never thought possible if I hadn't seen your videos. It only gets easier!

[@gsus4751]

I find videos like this so relaxing, just diagnosis and soldering. Actually watched this while soldering on a little pcb for a homework

[@mattnorth7452]

Always a pleasure to watch you bringing hardware back to life! You inspired me to start reviving and modding older consoles and I'm having an absolute blast.

[@DarkCobra88]

This was like a action movie for me (as weird as that sounds), it was oddly gripping to see what was honestly one hell of a battered cartridge slowly coming around bit by bit, but somehow, you did it. Magic fingers for sure! honestly, that was quite the fix.

[@MsJom123]

You gotta show what it looks like after the restoration is completed. Cleaning the game cart shell, flux off the circuit board and ideally figuring out something with the game sticker. That makes the videos all the more satisfying. Even so, I appreciate the time and talent you have going on in this video.

[@jasongoswelluk7475]

I just cannot believe the state of the things you get and then manage to fix. Amazing 👍

[@Tronicsfix]

Thanks! So glad you enjoyed this one.

[@Puzznik]

Wicking all the old solder off pad bared by removing a component gives a clean slate and makes reattaching easier/more trustworthy. Awesome job, I thought that was a no-fix for sure!

[@mrbisshie]

That Pokemon Emerald cart lived a tough life.

[@Tronicsfix]

Yep, it's got some stories to tell, lol

[@MaxSxB]

Probably your best video for the longest time, the amount of repairs you did is insane !

[@ericperkins971]

Looks like the person watched one of your videos and failed miserably. Another fantastic video.

[@Tronicsfix]

That's possible, but at least they tried!

[@lenorkhide2873]

I really enjoyed this one! I liked the explanations of some of your process in troubleshooting the issues

[@michaelmay9728]

Dang!!! Excellent fix I just repaired my old Pokémon Yellow cart! Was kinda tedious but with watching your videos it helped a lot, also fixed my GameCube.

[@reinhardt6217]

That was fantastic! I’ve watched probably all of your videos and that one was one of the best! Can’t wait to see next Fridays video now!

[@andrespacino4985]

These kind of fixes are the best! When you know a replacement will be hard to get and you start scrapping and using creativity, This cartridge is now half Play Station! Great fix mate, keeping it up as always!

[@B_M_A]

Nice job man. People underestimate how much time and patience it takes when you are learning to solder. Whomever attempted to mess with that cartridge really had no clue what they were doing and it was painful to see how damaged that was.

[@danieleriksson3170]

Well done! We need to see some game play though! :D the reason why the big tip didn't work, was it has burnt solder on it, not leading heat good enough. you should get one of those wet sponges (similar to stamp mats). That will quickly clean the tip to take solder off it and clean it fast.

[@pawouapproval984]

You really are a master of your craft... This is incredibly impressive. As someone that has tried to do things similarly and has made things so much worse... I am impressed

[@GenericPast]

Great job. I would've looked at that and decided to try salvaging the ROM chip in another board. I couldn't do the effort you did into bringing it back to life.

[@awilliams1701]

I recently saw HDD repair services have a flash memory that was missing a TON of legs. He had to grind it down as you were suggesting you might have to. Another recovery shop gave up on it. He got the data recovered. He's absolutely incredible.

[@Tronicsfix]

I almost did that in this video but there was enough there to solder to. Flash memory would be a difficult repair for sure.

[@awilliams1701]

@@Tronicsfix yeah he always impresses. My favorite is still a microsd card damaged by salt water. He ground down the plastic coating on it to expose the traces, but just barely touching them broken them. He had to solder something like 30 traces the size of a hair to tiny ass vias!! The entire area he worked in was the size of a large water droplet. I still don't know how he did that. He recovered that as well.

[@angelofranso6849]

So much work for such a small game, but got it working. Always enjoy watching such difficult repairs!

[@Tazxding0]

Your level of skill is so good i want to practice! sometimes when u grab stuff to show in camara i have the feeling i paused the video by accident, but is just that the object is not moving at all 🤯

[@FAhmad1782]

I'm so addicted to this channel! Watching him fix stuff is very entertaining

[@hadla]

Love the solder wick! The mix of silver and copper looks so cool 💕

[@lilligma1519]

You have inspired me to fix stuff like these, not quite as professional but im still learning. Thank you!

[@rupeesong555]

Just subscribed. The cool thing about repairing old games is that you can potentially restore someone's childhood memories.

[@GrizzlyBearmann]

I’m floored that you made new legs for that chip. Great work. I was totally absorbed!

[@smasher2265]

that was beautiful, it was so satisfying seeing the cartridge working fine after all that

[@briancoulomb]

That was an amazing repair. It didn’t look remotely salvageable at first. Nice work.

[@djbawb]

this recovery is incredible. great job!!

[@raygarcia4062]

I am so glad I found this channel. I have learned so much on here.

[@alexlefevre3555]

The bent conical tips are THE BEST for trace and component level repair like this

[@Anthoonius1]

This was a pretty crazy success! Nice job !

[@aanmaaklimonade]

These video’s are the best, challenging soldering and recovery of such a small item!

[@chenming91]

First glance the game card was in so bad condition than see the after repair it lives again really impressed on the repair steve.

[@ianburkard]

Oh my... one minute in and this looks like a complete cluster. Fingers crossed.

[@HouseCiliviel]

What a professional, thanks for bringing these to us. Keep up the great work.

[@alext6933]

Challenge the argument, not the person. I like that.

[@mikecole6842]

Great job fixing history! Enjoy watching you fix this old stuff🤣

[@cris.villegas]

i don't understand many of the things you do in your videos but can't quit watching them XD

[@robertday5243]

Great fix Steve, that looked a right ol mess

[@b3ar529]

its been so long since i watch your videos and wow look at the number of your subs, congrats man 😊

[@austinwilburn1772]

God I wish I had a fraction of your skill. You have so much talent when it comes to this, just amazing work.

[@_RETROFIX_]

Awesome effort! A joy to watch! thank you!

[@carlostrevino8248]

You did it again, a lot of implicit work, another great class of electronics... Best regards.

[@gofer123guy]

removing that glob of solder was impressive to watch. I have some boards I keep as soldering/desoldering practice and I no matter what cannot get the globs off yet you did that so easily and even expected the process to work like clockwork!!!!!

[@Spartan122S]

Another great experiment Steve! Happy weekend! 🍻

[@Tronicsfix]

Thanks, you too!

[@nicholasfiala6205]

Aww man, I was hoping for a before/after side-by-side.

[@James_D.]

Great job, as always!

[@imranakhtarsyed798]

Brilliant stuff Steve!!

[@Enjoymentboy]

That's some impressive work you did there. Big respect sir

[@evanfields6478]

It’s wild that less than five years ago, I paid $22 for a working copy of Pokémon Emerald with just a bit of cosmetic damage to the label. Prices have really shot up. Glad you could fix this one!

[@___Zack___]

He got ripped off, I can find the gamne easily for under $30 in perfect working condition.

[@revengenerd1]

Around 2011 I paid £18 for a purple GBC and Pokemon red, blue, yellow, gold, silver all shipped (unboxed though) now I am like wow.

[@flyingsquadron]

@@___Zack___ No you cant

[@Dacamster101]

oh my i have always wondered how to repair these cartridges, its so cool seeing one open

[@SbassLaser]

You said at the end that the resistor you replaced was meant to be a capacitor. The component location is labeled R10, which would mean Resistor 10. Capacitors are labeled with a C, meaning it wouldve said C10 for a capacitor. With that said, when you measured the resistance of the resistor at .8 ohms, I would assume that resistor was damaged to the point of an internal short, as .8 ohms is basically a dead short. It's interesting to hear that it worked after putting a capacitor in the resistors place. Nice work on this one!

[@1kreature]

The resistor was externally shorted by solder you clearly see it on the side of the chip as he measures it.

[@SbassLaser]

@@1kreature its hard to see for sure if there is a solder bridge there, but youre right it definitely looks like there could be. Im surprised he didnt clean off some of that excess solder before measuring the resistance.

[@jacobserperior]

This past week I did my first soldering job ever on my copy of Pokémon Emerald. I replaced the clock battery as it finally died this year. It's crazy how pricey they've become, I got mine for $28 around 2017.

[@revengenerd1]

I bought a sealed one around 2004 for £20 but by then grew out of the series and sold it before completing it for about £15 a few months later. Hindsight makes me cringe.

[@seguramlk]

Nice. You're an Electronic Magician, Steve. Keep it up 👍

[@jody19027]

You know it’s going to be an amazing Friday because a new video dropped!

[@bringingbackthegore]

Bravo! You never disappoint!

[@jeffreycooper2967]

wow!!!! just wow. never cease to impress and educate my man

[@j4ck3t]

you should buy one of those kits with SMD resistors of all sizes and values. They are not overly expensive but very handy !

[@dhurt8955]

Dude! He’s fixed thousands of electronic items,you think he hasn’t ever considered that?

[@gazehound]

@@dhurt8955 Well, judging by the way he replaced a capacitor with a resistor... lol

[@j4ck3t]

@@dhurt8955 who knows? I have never seen him talk about it. He usually talks about using a donor board, using whatever he has lying around. Which is also a very smart thing to do, but the more options, the better right?

[@UpintheAir1395]

Things like this is why if I DO buy something from Facebook marketplace or something, if available, I go for pickup. Like you have to physically give it to me. I did that with a 3DS game I tried to buy once and it didn't with. I had brought my DS with me and saw that it didn't save

[@Tronicsfix]

Yep, you have to be super careful.

[@ChristopherBurtraw]

What temp do you run your irons at particularly when resoldering pads before replacing the ICs with the hot air?

[@Odysseus1999]

Dude is a surgeon. Very impressive Steve.

[@alexisgarza1223]

Excellent job!!😎 I didn't know it cost that much, I bought mine for 2 dollars but the only problem is that the battery is dead.😅

[@mtshark7]

Amazing job Steve!👏

[@emannova2407]

that repair was insanely impressive!

[@kawaii8330]

Damn loved the video, I would’ve loved to have as much skill as you in these kind of things, amazing video! ❤️

[@rrobroy]

Best video I've seen today. Thank you. Cheers! 🍺

[@vezokpiraka]

One of the best videos on the channel. I was sure the game was dead, but somehow you managed to fix all the problems and make it work. Absolutely stellar.

[@PluckyInc]

one thing i thought of, i wonder if its possible to transfer the ROM chips from a copy of emerald to another games' board. though with generation 3's features (mostly the RTC), i can't imagine that there'd be that many games that utilizes it. other than maaaaaybe the Boktai games, but even then, they have their own build, mostly to account for the solar sensor. if the Battery type is the same, is it possible to salvage donor boards from Sennen Kazoku? though if people were getting obscure games from auction sites then that raises the risks of getting counterfeits. could probably be a thing someone could possibly pull off in japan. assuming the ROM/save types match across boards. assuming that stuff like Boktai and Rockman EXE 4.5 are too pricy to do that.

[@yourdad8228]

That was a tough one. Great work!

[@LeroysHangout]

Omg man.. you are done all :D Very Very good job!

[@TheTaskurapu]

Absolutely inspirational! Fantastic job, sir!

[@Stoneyke]

I was fixing myself a joint when I heard you say you needed to fix this joints, this joint, .... 😂😂 Made me LOL

[@itsjustme6403]

When I saw the state of that board, I thought "no way is that salvageable". Great work

[@gavinmaurice4]

the soldering on the battery at the end was was kinda crazy. seeing it harden was wild.

[@RedFaceeee]

You’re amazing at what you do. Very impressed

[@j.lietka9406]

Watching you point out the condition if certain solder jounts, a thought occurred to me, and that is why cant PCBs be made clear? But when BLR is done, heat would discolor it.

[@Tronicsfix]

That would be so cool to have clear PCB's!

[@j.lietka9406]

@@Tronicsfix it might be possible but with the way PCBs heat up from normal use, they may discolor rather quickly! If I remember correctly, some vinyl records were clear