Oboist
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Hi everybody! I've been looking for pokemon gold for a while, and I finally found one that is in my price range. The only problem is that the internal battery is dead so the game won't save. I've seen tutorials on how to replace the battery and it doesn't look that bad, but I've never tried it before so idk.
So I have two questions:
Is it hard to put a new battery in?
and should I buy this one or keep looking? This one is 10 dollars which I think is pretty reasonable. Even if it doesn't save.
thanks!

Last edited by Oboist (Sep 6, 2012 2:56 am)

Telerophon
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Austin, Texas

The thing is that batteries in first generation DMG games are virtually all going dead now.

I have two copies of Tetris with what I think are dead batteries, but I took them apart to look and they don't have visible batteries, just a conspicuous epoxy blob on the PCB… maybe the save RAM in them is powered by a capacitor? hmm

My point is, a lot of those games have dead batteries now. Which is strange, my copy of Pokémon Red is fine in the battery department.

As for the actual procedure, it's fairly simple, yet it's not for beginners. If you overheat the battery, it will explode and spray acid. yikes

If you're not already competent at soldering, I'd ask a friend to help or to do it for you.

To actually do it, you need the 3.8mm security bit to open the game cartridge, as well as a replacement battery. Different games are sized for different batteries on the PCB, so check before you go looking for a battery. The batteries are stuck to the board with solder tabs, so you'll want a replacement with solder tabs as well. This same shop I'm linking to also offers a battery replacement mail-in service, but I don't know if the added cost is something you can justify.

Anyway, in short, if you already own soldering and desoldering tools and know how to use them, the battery change is as simple as finding the battery and making two quick solders. If you don't have tools or know how to use them, the procedure is as simple as finding the battery and a friend with tools who can help. wink

herr_prof
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pretty sure the og tetris didnt have sram.

Saskrotch
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Chicago IL

before i opened this i said to myself "what are the odds this is about pokemon"

Xuriik
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Puerto Rico

I asked months ago and was ignored. I just had my first .sav scare (just a corrupted .sng, which I had backed up). I was gonna make a thread but since this is about cart batteries I'll just ask here.

What's the average lifespan of t3h EMS batteries?

Also when I replaced my pokemanz silver battery, I didn't use heat because I was scared of the whole exploding battery acid thing. I just used an exacto knife to lift and pry the tabs off the battery. It was hard and probably dangerous. But it worked well enough!

eme7h
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México, DF.

Open, desolder, take battery off, replace with new battery, solder, close.

Telerophon
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Austin, Texas
herr_prof wrote:

pretty sure the og tetris didnt have sram.

It had a way of preserving the high scores. I'm curious how it did that now.

nitro2k01
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Sweeeeeeden
Telerophon wrote:
herr_prof wrote:

pretty sure the og tetris didnt have sram.

It had a way of preserving the high scores. I'm curious how it did that now.

No it didn't. Not when powering off the Gameboy.

Amity Level 2
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You don't even have to solder anything. You don't even need a special tool to open cart.
When my Zelda ran dead, I searched for a fitting pair of tongs, and got it open. Then I took a knife and slowly cut through the bolts on the batterie. After cutting them, I just removed the batterie, placed a fresh one between the two contactors and taped it tight (by simply wrapping sticky tape one time around the inside parts of the cartridge). Et voilà! Works perfectly!

I guess here is the part where i tell you not to blame me if you destroy something on the chip with the knife yikes

Telerophon
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Austin, Texas
nitro2k01 wrote:
Telerophon wrote:

It had a way of preserving the high scores. I'm curious how it did that now.

No it didn't. Not when powering off the Gameboy.

Oh. Weird. I've been wrong about that for 20 years! tongue

I was just messing with it for a second ago, it will preserve scores through a soft reset.

EDIT: That's cool, that means I can go back to leaving Tetris on my EMS page 2.

EDIT 2: This isn't even the dumbest thing I've done or said today, if you can believe it.

Last edited by Telerophon (Sep 6, 2012 7:39 am)

12ianma
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I have had to explain to countless people that tetris does not save. "collectors" especially hate to hear they are wrong as well as store owners.

If you do not have the bit to open games or the spare battery with tabs and soldering skills. I recommend just trying to find one with a working battery

Telerophon
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Austin, Texas

Well, thanks for correcting me dudes. It's good to know the truth.

12ianma
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Was not trying to correct you again, was just saying its a common misconception. it was basically like all nes games that had high scores. Only there until you stop playing

Telerophon
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Austin, Texas

Yeah, I think it's funny how a lot of strange game conventions carried over into new forms or got lost.

High Scores that go unrecorded in home video games to emulate the Arcade experience is one example.

Another example would be the convention of the "SELECT" button being used for menu functions, but these functions eventually being done by the directional input. Yet it's still called the "SELECT" button…

Saskrotch
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Chicago IL

why are you talking about this

Telerophon
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Austin, Texas

I drank a lot of coffee.