ByteRot :: Nintendo Gameboy Pocket Shell-Side Battery Terminal Corrosion Removal

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Nintendo Gameboy Pocket Shell-Side Battery Terminal Corrosion Removal

Device	Game Boy Pocket
Difficulty	Easy
Time	20 - 30 minutes
Steps	8

This guide is by Sarah Travers on iFixit and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. ByteRot mirrors it for non-commercial preservation: formatting changed and photos resized for old browsers; full-size photos and the text are on the FTP in /DOCS/REPAIR. Original guide >>

If your Gameboy Pocket is not powering on properly, there are a number of things you can try. One of the easiest methods is to clean out any corrosion there may be in the battery terminals, which could be interfering with the battery connection.

This guide will walk you through the removal and cleaning of the shell-side battery terminal (the one not attached to the motherboard) to get your Gameboy powering on without a hitch.

Before beginning this guide, make sure your Gameboy is powered off.

Tools: Paper Towels; Tweezers; 2.5 mm Flathead Screwdriver; Steel Wool; Anti-Static Brush; Isopropyl Alcohol 70%; Y1 Tri-point Screwdriver

Step 1

• Remove the battery cover and batteries.

Step 2

• Remove the six 8mm screws using a Y1 Tri-point screwdriver.
• NOTE: Place your screws in a small container to keep them safe.

Step 3

• Separate the front and back side of the Gameboy by gently pulling them apart.

Step 4

• Using a flathead screwdriver (or flat piece of plastic), nudge in the clip holding the shell-side battery terminal in place to release it from the shell.

Step 5

• Using a pair of tweezers (https://www.ifixit.com/en-ca/products/tweezers), remove the battery terminal from the shell.

Step 6

• Add isopropyl alcohol to a toothbrush.
• NOTE: Spread a paper towel down to keep your workspace clean.
• Scrub the terminal where the corrosion is to remove as much as possible. If most of the corrosion is removed, skip to step 10.

Step 7

• Use the steel wool to remove as much corrosion as possible.

Step 8

• Add metal polish to a paper towel.
• Polish the battery terminal to remove the remainder of the corrosion.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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