No Power? Can we Fix a Junk eBay NES Game Boy Advance SP?

In this episode, we walk you through how we restored a Classic Nintendo Entertainment System-themed Game Boy Advance SP to functional status by replacing the power fuses.

Recently, friend of the channel Jay over at Square Pegs shared his favorite handheld of all time, that being the NES Classic Edition Game Boy Advance SP. He told a great story about how much he used to play it, what he used to play, and his love for the aesthetics. You can see that YouTube short here

https://youtu.be/djKVzYoedmM

That got me thinking, I had one of those back in the day but had to sell it to pay bills when I was going through a divorce. I always wanted one back in the collection, even though it had the worst of the two displays for the GBA SP. I had an AGS-101 already, so this wasn't a need, but I kind of wanted one back. I know going to different conventions and looking on eBay they were not necessarily inexpensive. But what if I could find a broken one and repair it? That sent me down a rabbit hole until eventually, I found one. I messaged the seller who did not have a best offer or buy it now listed on it, and ask them if they would consider ending the auction early. They let me know what it would take, I agreed on the price, and we were off to the races.

The way he described the system I was all but certain that the issue was either the battery, a power fuse, or perhaps both. I recently discovered the Handheld Legends website, and they are chock-full of great accessories, cases, parts, and pieces for everything from the original Game Boy to the PlayStation Vita and more. I saw that they had power fuses for just a few bucks, and picked up a few other items that will feature in future videos.

Before we dove into the circuit board I wanted to check the battery, and I'm glad that I did. Overtime lithium-based batteries can build up gas, the process is called puffing. Well, this lithium-ion battery was extremely puffed, telling me something very bad had happened along the way. I removed and replaced the battery to see if that was a simple solution, unfortunately, it was not. When I connected power and the new battery I did not get any life out of the system. We had to open it up.

To get inside the system, you need a Phillips head screwdriver and a tri-wing screwdriver. The most common fuse to go bad on the GBA SP is the F2 fuse. Thankfully, this is easily accessible without having to take the PCB out of the system. Located in the top right region of the board, I set my multitester to do a continuity check, and as expected the fuse did not have any continuity to it at all. It was definitely blown. I broke out my soldering iron and quickly replaced it, a bit more of a challenge since these fuses are so dang tiny!

While I was replacing the fuse, I also replaced the battery with one from Handheld Legends. I connected it to my octopus charging lead cable that I have, it connects to USB and then also gives me connections for the GBA SP, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS lite, Sony PSP, and even the new 3DS. After about half an hour I disconnected the power, just to see where we were at. The LCD flickered to life, I got that happy little Game Boy ding, and it was back to life.

With tax and parts and shipping, I was able to get my hands back on a GBA SP with the NES theming to it for under $75, that was a terrific deal. I do want to thank the original seller for working with me and handheld Legends for having all the awesome stuff to be able to repair this system.

#GBASP #Nintendo #GameBoy #gameboyadvance

The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)