Worklog GBA Upgrades

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My girlfriend's away on a trip, so got a good chunk of a mini-project done this afternoon.

Ingredients:
- Used "not working" GBA
- Backlit screen
- Glass lens
- New case
- Li-poly battery
- USB charging circuit

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The GBA was sold as not working, but it was only the screen and buttons that weren't working, and I fixed it all only by some basic cleaning.
(I think the previous owner spilled something on it and assumed it died.)

So I installed the charging circuit under the power switch, there is plenty of space in the back area, just had to relocate one cap.
I just took apart one of those cheap "mobile battery bank" things, so no play-and-charge, but I'm fine with that.

The IC only had 5v coming out (as it's meant to charge USB stuff, not replace two AA's) so I stuck one of those cheap "mini 360" regulators in the battery bay and set it as close as I could get it to 3v.

It was balls trying to make a cutout for the micro USB that wasn't hideous, I spent ages, it came out not great.
Even more annoyingly I melted a little part on the back of the case with the soldering iron while installing the battery.

I could have finished it today, but wanted to test it before wrapping it up.

It's not perfect, but it's mine.

Left to do:
- Couple of things to fix permanently in place inside
- Install glass lens
- Aesthetic touches?

I'm tempted to paint the buttons and side-bar-things all white. Any thoughts?
 

Noah

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I'm tempted to paint the buttons and side-bar-things all white. Any thoughts?
Handheld mods are my favorite, everything looks great so far!

I'd say go for it but make sure you use 4-5 coats of clear coat in order to ensure that the paint won't rub off onto your fingers whilst playing.
 
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I'd say go for it but make sure you use 4-5 coats of clear coat in order to ensure that the paint won't rub off onto your fingers whilst playing.
Yeah, I'll do it right. The start and select buttons are rubber, so I'll have to leave them grey.

Looks super cool, never thought of fixing up a broken gameboy
Thanks, I'm slightly regretting not getting the translucent blue case. I had wanted white, but I couldn't find it amongst all the replacement cases available.

I've previously only repaired DMG's, which are pretty much always repairable in my experience.
 
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Nice! That's great info!

I have decided against painting the buttons, replacements in various colours are available really cheap, so I don't think it's worth it.

I'm gonna leave her as is for now, and if I place another order from the Chinese seller I'll pick up a set of black buttons and go the hair dye route on start/select.

I have since found the right method to do the cutout for the USB port. I have no idea why I assumed doing it with a craft/stanley knife was the way to go. IT ISN'T.
I can now make perfect cutouts by drilling a few small holes and finishing with small hand files. Next time I guess!

This project is just for personal use so I will live with the imperfections.

Through the week I finished her up for now. It looks just like before only with the screen glass on.
 
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