Tag: Nintendo

Nintendo Gameboy Printer

What the listing stated:

Listing for a FAULTY Nintendo Gameboy printer unit.

The printer is FAULTY, it has a lot of battery leakage in the battery compartment, so doesn’t currently power up. Some of the terminals look like they should clean up pretty well, but i cannot guarantee. 

As it doesn’t power up, i haven’t been able to test it. So can’t guarantee thats the only issue.

The casing has some discolouration, marks and other imperfections here and there.

I haven’t attempted any repairs and cannot guarantee it is fixable. 

SOLD AS FAULTY/spares/repairs.

EBay

Here are the supplied pictures:

Serious yellowing, good candidate for Retrobrighting
Some serious battery leakage contamination

I think I’ve got my work cut out with this one. It’s another piece of unloved technology from 1998 looking for a new life. I’ve paid a total of £19:89GBP including postage for this item, probably at the higher end of what I’m comfortable with for an item in this condition. It has some serious corrosion issues that could go a lot deeper than just the battery contacts. There is a definite issue with discolouration, however I’m happy with that as it will be my guinea pig for my first attempt at retrobrighting, this process i discussed in this post a few days back: Retr0bright – What’s that then?

My plan of attack for this unit is to completely dismantle it, give it a thorough clean, retrobright the casing and then attend to the electrical / component issues.

Here’s some history about the printer unit:

The Game Boy Printer, known as the Pocket Printer in Japan, is a thermal printer accessory released by Nintendo in 1998 which ceased production in early 2003. The Game Boy Printer is compatible with all the Game Boy systems except the Game Boy Micro and is designed to be used in conjunction with the Game Boy Camera. It also prints images from compatible late-generation Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. It runs on six AA batteries and uses a proprietary 38mm wide thermal paper with adhesive backing, originally sold in white, red, yellow and blue colors. In Japan, a bright yellow Pokémon version of the Game Boy Printer was released, featuring a feed button in the style of a Poké Ball.

Wikipedia

If I manage to get this into a working state it will be added to my GameBoy collection.

I just need a suitable lead to connect between the console and the printer, and a small roll of 38mm wide thermal paper. I’m currently sourcing these.

Assessment:

Well it certainly has the yellowing issues and I will cover that in a separate post where I will have my first attempt at Retrobrighting the unit. With batteries in place, the unit is very dead and no matter how many times the switch is operated, it remains dead. Battery terminals are a mess and there is a lot of evidence of battery leakage and corrosion.

Serious yellowing over the years visible at all angles
Serious corrosion across battery terminals

The board inside hasn’t been that badly affected by the corrosion, however one track from the battery terminal was showing signs of decay and will need attention. There are parts of the board that will need reflowing as there are some dodgy looking solder joints.

The main board
Motor removed
Signs of corrosion by the battery terminal

I’m happy that all the issues have been identified and I do actually have the items to carry out the repair. I will focus on the external issues such as the yellowing before dealing with the contacts and main board issues. Stay with me now, the repair begins.

Repair:

The Retrobrighting process for the shell assembly can be found in a separate post here: First attempt at Retrobrighting.

Wow

Needless to say the results are fantastic and I shall look at incorporating this method into more of my future projects. I have since given the case a second treatment and it is pretty much perfect with no sign of discolouration.

As you can see in the pictures above, the battery compartment suffered from some severe acid contamination. Using a grinding pen and a lot of cleaning solution, three of the five contacts were saved but two were beyond repair and I had to replace these with new contacts.

Replaced contacts
Grinded and cleaned.
Battery contacts were so poor only three of the five could be saved with the other two requiring new replacements

I then loaded the battery compartment with new batteries and then checked the two terminal ends to assure continuity, this was confirmed and continuity exists throughout. As a result the battery issues and power supply have now been resolved.

I mentioned that one of the tracks on the main board was showing signs of corrosion. I filed this down, cleaned it, and then brushed the board down with IPA and checked the continuity and this was fine. All suspect solder joints have also been reflowed, they are all looking good and new.

Track issue in the top left area by the battery contact. All corrosion ground off and cleaned with IPA
Area of concern highlighted on the left side picture. All attended to and cleaned and recoated with some solder mask to prevent any further decay

I had previously removed the motor from the board to assist with cleaning, as i didn’t wish to damage any of the ribbon cables. I then reconnected the cleaned and freshly repaired board, to the restored battery compartment to see if anything lit up. It sure did.

We have a light

This was pleasing as it now showed that we had continuity from the battery compartment to the board. I then added the motor back in and we also had some movement.

Movement restored

This again was very pleasing as everything we have done so far seems to be working. However it proves nothing yet until I can get the correct cable and some correct sized thermal paper to see that it actually does print, or even advance the paper. Those items are being sourced, and I don’t want to jump ahead of myself just yet as there could still be a number of yet to be addressed issues that may arise. It’s very much a fingers crossed period until we can test the unit properly.

Let’s clean all the other plastics whilst we await all the other items to be attended to.

All washed and drying out

Now we will commence reassembly.

Before
After with light visible
All restored, working and looking pristine

Now all assembled the motor moves into position when turned on, the feed button also works. The paper rolls for these units are at the moment extortionate and selling for about £10GBP for the tiniest of rolls, and I’m not paying that. I have a thermal printer at home and I have cut some of this paper to size to test the transport, and this works just fine. Just awaiting the cable to connect the GameBoy to the printer. Fingers still firmly crossed.

Result:

I’ve just found out that if you hold the feed button whilst turning on the unit you get a test message. I’ve done this and I’m pleased to say the unit is fully working.

It’s working perfectly

I’ve also connected it to my game boy and the game – Pokemon pinball, and was able to print off the high scores. It truly works.

High scores

I’m just so pleased how this project has gone. It has been a complete refurbishment, clean, and I have even managed to reuse the original stickers. The unit looks pristine and really is a nice piece of kit. This goes into my GameBoy collection and has many more years of good use left in it.

Clean and tidy
Total refurbishment

And to think this would have probably ended up in landfill. Scandalous. The cost of repair to me has been less than £2GBP and the majority of that was for the peroxide solution to do the Retrobrighting.

Great result. Very happy with this.

I can now uncross those fingers. All is fine.

Thanks for passing by, as always most appreciated.

First attempt at Retrobrighting

I’m currently deep into a repair project that I will be posting about on here shortly. However the shell of this project has aged so badly it has earned the right to be my Guinea pig for my first attempt at Retrobrighting, it deserves a separate post of its own, so it’s getting one. I have explained what Retrobrighting is in a previous post: Retr0bright – What’s that then?

The unit is a recently purchased and damaged Nintendo Gameboy printer from around 1998, it isn’t working and looks right ugly. It needs some attention to its fascia and battery base, so let’s get on to it.

Top
Side
Rear
Side
The unit has not aged well and looks awful with this discolouration

I have taken the entire unit apart, separated the parts that need to be treated, removed all labels, and given the offending items a thorough wash in detergent before drying them off.

All stickers and other items removed. Shell thoroughly washed.

Next I’m just putting a 40 Volume 12% Peroxide cream solution into a small bowl, and I will then place the shells on a piece of cling film where I will liberally coat the offending items, using a brush, with the solution. When I’m happy with how this has gone, the treated surfaces will then be wrapped in cling film and placed in a sunny position for around 12hrs to allow the sun to do its thing. (UV lamps are sufficient if you have one available). I must reiterate it is important to wear protective gloves and eye protection when using this solution.

I’ve given a good coating of peroxide formula to all surfaces, but is it enough? I won’t know for at least a further 10-12 hrs, time will tell.

All wrapped and ready for some Sun ☀️

With the peroxide now applied, the fascia’s are now all wrapped in cling film and ready for 10-12 hrs or so of intense sunbathing. (Sounds just like me on one of our visits to Cyprus!). So let’s wait a while.

Patience

I’ve checked in and looked at the pieces outside, and after just 4hrs the results so far look amazing. I’m going to give it the full time though, so I’ll be back in around 6-8 hrs to check results. Hopefully we will have sufficient sunlight until then.

I’ve terminated the process at 9hrs as I have to go out and I’m impatient. Boy am I impressed at how it has turned out, it looks like a new shell.

Wow I’m impressed

Well I can honestly say that this treatment does work. I’m so impressed at the outcome, I just wish I’d attempted it earlier on some of my other products.

Before & After – Impressive improvement

Anything I’d do differently? I’d probably slap on a little more solution or maybe even reapply about half way through the process, the only reason for this is that there is the most minute tiny tinge of a yellowing on the side that had the heaviest contamination, possibly if I hadn’t been so impatient and left it for 3 more hours it would have been sorted, but then again it might not have! I do think a further application at the halfway point, especially when an item is so heavily stained as this unit was, would have done the job and made it look even more perfect.

Am I coming across as disappointed? Well I can assure you I am not. It’s my first attempt and I am so impressed. The total outlay for this process was £1:85GBP and that was just for the 75ml bottle of peroxide from a local supermarket, and I have enough left for another 3 applications, an absolute bargain. We only learn and improve from being persistent, and I’ve already learnt from what I have attempted today. And i am already a better, and more knowledgeable person than I was only a few hours earlier. You certainly can teach an old dog new tricks.

Edit: some 12hrs later I have decided to give a second treatment to see if this can improve on that slight yellowing I mentioned earlier. The results have greatly improved the look and there is now no visible sign of yellowing. I’d certainly recommend a second treatment for heavily stained items. It works, extremely well.

Watch out for my next post regarding the repair of this printer and its reconstruction: Nintendo Gameboy printer

Thanks for passing by. Always appreciated

Nintendo Light boy

What the listing stated:

Doesn’t light up when batteries inserted

EBay

Straight to the point. I think it doesn’t work. 🤷‍♂️

The original Light Boy

My original Light boy, for the Nintendo Game boy

Ive got a Game boy, I love it. However the biggest issue has always been as soon as it goes dark you’re stuffed. As the screen was never back lit you either had to tape a torch to your head or sit under a bright light. The Nintendo Light Boy went a little way to eliminating the need for the torch by incorporating a light and a magnifier within a unit that connected to the console.

This one doesn’t work though, which is good for this blog. I paid a good price of £14:95GBP considering original ones like this are selling between £40-£90GBP. There are cheaper alternatives, but hey, why?

Shouldn’t be the hardest fix I’ve ever attempted, but it will be a great addition to my Game Boy collection.

Assessment:

The unit has arrived and is in a very good cosmetic condition with only a few slight scuffs and marks that should polish out. Two AA batteries have been put in and switched on and true to the description in the sale, it doesn’t illuminate. Glass lens is in good condition and the screen folds as it should.

Looks tidy, just light not working
Some small marks. Nothing too bad or permanent

Repair:

This is a really simple circuit to be honest. Two batteries, two lights and a switch. That’s about it. The screen pivots and on here there are two teeth that make a contact with two small plates on the main unit when the screen is at 90 degrees to the console. When the switch is on, the lights should illuminate at this angle, and when closed contact will be lost and the lights extinguish.

Teeth on the screen hinge
Teeth connection with plate turning on lights.

When I put batteries in there was a very dim intermittent flicker, aha I thought, dirty contacts and they sure were.

I cleaned the switch and the contacts using some IPA and removed a fair amount of old dirt from the contacts. The switch was operated 30 or 40 times to really get to anything that was deep in the switch, and this worked.

A good clean with IPA was all that was needed.

Batteries back in and unit at the correct angle, switch to the on position, and hey presto we have a constant uninterrupted supply of light.

We have light. It’s working.

The little marks and scuffs on the shell were all removed with a little cleaning solution. This item is now in a perfect state of repair and looking right handsome!

Result:

This is undoubtedly the easiest repair I have had yet but I’m not complaining. It always amazes me about the sellers on these platforms. I purchased this as spares and repairs damaged, when there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, well at least it only required a tiny bit of maintenance. They could have done this themselves and easily have charged a price at least three times what I paid for this unit. Fools 😂

All assembled
Working as intended
All assembled, cleaned and working

Anyway their loss is my gain as they say, I now have a perfectly good item in perfect working order and now looking as good as new. And all it needed was a clean and some TLC.

Sometimes it all goes so well. Today is one of those days.

Thanks for passing by. It is always most appreciated.

Nintendo Game Boy Pokémon pinball game

What the listing stated:

You will receive what you see in the photos, please look at the photos as this is part of my description to show you what you would be receiving. Please note the game comes up with the main Game Boy & Nintendo screen & then won’t go any further, as you can see👀in the photo. 

Any questions please feel free to ask. 

EBay

No getting past this point
Original Nintendo pinball game – Non operational

Hopefully this will be a simple repair, but who knows it might just be a little more technical.

This game is built for the game boy colour console and is an original Nintendo product, it is the Pokémon pinball game. I’ve purchased something I never normally buy and usually detest buying, an item with the battery cover missing. Damn it, there is a fortune waiting to be made by anyone who owns a decent 3D printer, with the amount of missing battery covers that are waiting to be reproduced out there. Edit: ( Just looked on line and it seems the gaming community are already on the case, loads of options available, great to see) Anyway I’ve brought this unit as it can either be kept to await a suitable battery cover or passed straight on. Edit#2: I have, in anticipation of its arrival already ordered a suitable 3D replacement cover from a UK company. It was probably the best priced and best looking print to be honest, some of the others looked a little rough and postage was excessive to say the least. These guys at Cool spot gaming were the best in my opinion.

Released in Japan in 1999 this game made it to European shores in 2000.

These games came with a rumble pack at the top of the cartridge that simulates the vibrations of a normal pinball machine, and I believe this is what the single cell AAA battery is for. And as it is a black cartridge this indicates it can be used on the GameBoy colour and original versions. I have purchased this for about half the price that a good working one with battery cover sells for, now that I’ve had to pay for a 3D replacement battery cover I now move into the higher end price of the cartridge valuation, however I do have a few pounds worth of wriggle room should I decide to sell, considering most of the ones on sale at the moment are missing the battery cover and commanding horrendously high prices. I’m comfortable with that. That said it will go into my personal GameBoy collection anyway. Let’s get it working.

Here’s a link to the actual 3D print program for the battery cover on Thingiverse, if you should ever wish to print one yourself. I have absolutely no idea about 3D printing so this is just like brain surgery to me: 3D print program

Assessment

A nice tidy little package has arrived clean, battery cover missing as stated and exterior looks nice and clean. Original label is intact.

Repair:

New 3D battery cover has arrived and this fits perfectly, no issues here.

Missing battery cover
Clean and tidy
New 3D printed battery cover

I’ve placed the unit into my GameBoy to check what occurs, and just as posted it does not progress beyond the Nintendo start up screen. I’ve opened the cartridge to do some basic checks and cleaning, the cartridge contacts have been cleaned using an eraser and some IPA, but in all honesty they were already pretty clean. I’ve checked the onboard battery and this is healthy at 3v as it should be. Cleaning competed, I recheck the game and the results are the same.

Game stops at this point
Board level
Battery tested
Contacts cleaned

Next I’m going to reflow the joints on the ROM chip on the right hand side of the board, the one that has the letters MX on it. These pins or the ones on the RAM chip directly beside it are well known for having bad contacts and often need reflowing/tacking down. It’s something that seems to occur over a period of time on these game cartridges, just plain bad contacts.

ROM chip on the right with the RAM chip on the left, both are notorious for developing loose contacts

All items on the board have been reflowed using hot air, with extra attention being paid to the two chips described in the picture above. I removed the battery prior to doing this as the last thing you want is exploding batteries. With the battery back in place and the game now reassembled it’s now time to test.

And it works including the rumble pack feature.

Pokémon
Working

I can only presume the hot air reflow has fixed an issue with joint continuity on one of these chips as expected. Excellent, another item has been saved from the bin and can now be added to my collection.

Game working
Complete with new 3D printed battery cover

Another little project to put to bed, there always seems to be an issue with these games after a good number of years where the solder joints just become unstable. I don’t know if it was the solder quality they used all those years ago or the heavy use and abuse the games endured during their hey day. At least we can fix them and ensure they are still good to go and enjoy for a few more years yet.

Thanks for passing by.