Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald only use the battery to power the onboard clock, the saves are on flash. If you look at the PCB you can see the flash chip on the left, it’s the one that’s not under the battery.
It’s safe to replace the battery, but since the RTC will be starting from 0 again you won’t see time based events happen until it catches up to the time stored in the save. If you’re not planning on starting a new game or fixing the save file using a cart reader and save editor (alternatively a DS with GBA slot and a flash cart) there’s no point in replacing the battery.
Your solder joints don’t actually look that bad. Ive seen much worse; and “works” is the gold standard anyway. You’re probably the only one that will see the board in person.
If you want advice, it looks like your iron was either too cold, or you didn’t work fast enough and your flux burned up before the joint set.
Mostly just visual in terms of shine vs matte. For the quality of the joint itself, lead-free has a higher melting point so you need more heat to keep it flowing nicely.
Your joints will do what they’re supposed so, so they’re fine. Chasing perfection is just a fun minigame.
Also it depends on the tip used for the soldering iron: those large surfaces have a lot more volume of metal that needs heating (plus you also need more volume of solder) so if one uses a conical tip it doesn’t transmit heat fast enough and you ended up with an irregular solder hill like that.
If you’re use to soldering smaller components, doing something like that is quite different and won’t come out as well until you get used to its peculiarities.
If you’re not at all used to soldering, that’s actually pretty good.
Totally agree on “works” being the gold standard, especially on a something like that which isn’t subject to significant mechanical forces (like, for example, a push switch would).
I’m blind (the device in back with the Freedom Scientific logo is an assistive magnifier). Both cooking and sewing are common skills taught in rehab centers for the newly blind, and soldering has aspects of both, being mindful of something very very hot near your hands, and having a certain amount of dexterity.
Here’s what I did to build up confidence. I bought a bunch of perf board and resistors and I just started soldering the resistors to the perf board, that’s it. No goal other than to practice soldering. I had tried one of those beginner’s first electronics kits off Amazon, the ones with just an LED and a switch or whatever. I got discouraged because I messed up. So I figured if I didn’t actually try to make something, I could relax and focus on soldering technique. I was eventually able to solder header pins onto a Raspberry pi zero and even terminate a coax cable, and now I can say I replaced a GB cart battery.
my dude you did this with major vision loss? i take back my earlier compliment. that’s not deserving of a smooch and a butt grabby. that’s deserving of a full on makeout and maybe a little hand down the pants butt grabby. make sure to ask yourself for consent first.
Fire isn’t a concern, really, the temperatures are low enough that it starts slow. Rest it on wood and you’ll have time to wonder why you smell wood smoke, then wonder why it’s inside, etc. before it burns down.
The real hazard is inhaling rosin fumes (says the guy who doesn’t properly ventilate his workstation). If you’re anxious about lead (I was) there is lead-free solder, though it requires higher temperatures to work with. As far as lead goes, the risk is from getting flecks of it on your fingertips and then touching your eyes or mouth. I imagine it’s less of a problem than it feels like in my head, but something something environmentally friendly.
Leaded solder is sooo much easier to work with. Wash your hands well after each soldering session, have a fan gently blowing over your work bench & a window cracked open & you should be (relatively) fine**. Unless you’re doing it very regularly for long periods in which case a proper extractor is worth the investment. Occasional hobby tinkering for 15-30 mins at a time over an iron is unlikely to be bad for you if you follow basic steps.
**Not medical advice!
P.S. Awesome work. I can remember the first time I modded Wii 1st gen, as my first non practice soldering, I was so nervous. But the mod still works to this day, many many years later. More people should learn to solider, it’s not overly hard if you have a decent enough soldering iron, a steady enough hand, & are willing to practice. It’s so satisfying when it works!!
dude your solder joints look professional compared to mine. I am proud of you too. give yourself a pat on the back and maybe a sloppy kiss with small butt grabby. you’ve earned it.
FYI on the next one - they make CR1616 battery holders (like this) which allow future you to swap in new batteries whenever you want without additional soldering
I figure if I’m gonna do it, may as well just do it once
I was talking to someone and they were saying that the solders on these adapters always suck and it creates more work. Is there any truth to that? I have 6 games I want to do this on.
The adapter I shared has no solder except that which you put into it. It solders into place just fine with a little flux, I’ve had 0 issues in ~20 games from this.
Be sure to clean your iron tip, I had a little bit of difficulty on the first one I did because I have had the same iron tip for like 10 years. A $2 replacement made life much easier. Probably also could have just hit it with sand paper. And double-check polarity on the connection points - watch a couple of YouTube videos to confirm you’ve got +/- right. I think it’s wonky on some carts.
The ones that are soldered and often suck are the ones OP posted. Be sure to check the battery voltage before you install those ones because they use cheap batteries and duds are common.
I’ve also seen people go the cave man approach and just un-solder/pry off only the battery (from the attached “arms” that connect to the board) on old carts and just tape a new battery in place but that’s an approach for monsters and psychopaths.
I’m a bit foggy on the details but I think Pokémon Silver / Gold were a little trickier because the RTC changes the PCB layout and the battery is actually mounted on top of a chip, so space gets a little tight and you have to build a bit of a solder bridge up to the connectors.
Yeah I came looking to see if anyone had mentioned this. 100% the way to go. Worst case you’ve added no work, best case you make your life so much easier the next time around.
Requiring 610 for your own repair of a game cartridge would be kinda ridiculous anyway.
Besides soldering battery taps can be a pain. There can be so much thermal capacity in the taps (technically the cell, but). Combine that with an ordinary 35μm PCB, perhaps with some old school phenol board, and this result is some a newbie can be quite proud of. Heck, even if you’ve trained a bit.
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Update: Now I’ve replaced the battery in Pokemon sapphire. Luckily since it uses flash memory my 25 year old save file is intact.
Wait… can you confirm that these things don’t use volatile memory for game saves?
The only thing I can tell you is my save survived the battery replacement, which tells me it’s flash and not SRAM.
Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald only use the battery to power the onboard clock, the saves are on flash. If you look at the PCB you can see the flash chip on the left, it’s the one that’s not under the battery.
It’s safe to replace the battery, but since the RTC will be starting from 0 again you won’t see time based events happen until it catches up to the time stored in the save. If you’re not planning on starting a new game or fixing the save file using a cart reader and save editor (alternatively a DS with GBA slot and a flash cart) there’s no point in replacing the battery.
Edit: Fixed typos
Thanks, that cleared things up.
Did the same on my Ruby half a year ago. Fun times.
update 2: I’ve now done the same to my copy of Gold. It requires a different battery compared to either yellow or sapphire.
Your solder joints don’t actually look that bad. Ive seen much worse; and “works” is the gold standard anyway. You’re probably the only one that will see the board in person.
If you want advice, it looks like your iron was either too cold, or you didn’t work fast enough and your flux burned up before the joint set.
It’s lead free solder. I think that affects how the joints look.
Mostly just visual in terms of shine vs matte. For the quality of the joint itself, lead-free has a higher melting point so you need more heat to keep it flowing nicely.
Your joints will do what they’re supposed so, so they’re fine. Chasing perfection is just a fun minigame.
Chasing perfection was my sanity back when I was a welder.
There are lots of LF alloys, some shiny some not. Your joints are fine, regardless of the alloy :)
Also it depends on the tip used for the soldering iron: those large surfaces have a lot more volume of metal that needs heating (plus you also need more volume of solder) so if one uses a conical tip it doesn’t transmit heat fast enough and you ended up with an irregular solder hill like that.
If you’re use to soldering smaller components, doing something like that is quite different and won’t come out as well until you get used to its peculiarities.
If you’re not at all used to soldering, that’s actually pretty good.
Totally agree on “works” being the gold standard, especially on a something like that which isn’t subject to significant mechanical forces (like, for example, a push switch would).
I’ve been so on the fence about attempting to solder, but it frightens me the idea of causing a little sparky fire.
So, good on you!
I’m blind (the device in back with the Freedom Scientific logo is an assistive magnifier). Both cooking and sewing are common skills taught in rehab centers for the newly blind, and soldering has aspects of both, being mindful of something very very hot near your hands, and having a certain amount of dexterity.
Here’s what I did to build up confidence. I bought a bunch of perf board and resistors and I just started soldering the resistors to the perf board, that’s it. No goal other than to practice soldering. I had tried one of those beginner’s first electronics kits off Amazon, the ones with just an LED and a switch or whatever. I got discouraged because I messed up. So I figured if I didn’t actually try to make something, I could relax and focus on soldering technique. I was eventually able to solder header pins onto a Raspberry pi zero and even terminate a coax cable, and now I can say I replaced a GB cart battery.
That’s impressive as hell, tbh. I’m glad rehab centers focus on such useful, otherwise seemingly inaccessible skills
my dude you did this with major vision loss? i take back my earlier compliment. that’s not deserving of a smooch and a butt grabby. that’s deserving of a full on makeout and maybe a little hand down the pants butt grabby. make sure to ask yourself for consent first.
It’s a useful skill to know, and it’s not super hard to learn. It just takes some practice.
As long as you have some common sense(eg: dont set the iron down on something flammable) you shouldn’t need to worry about fires.
Fire isn’t a concern, really, the temperatures are low enough that it starts slow. Rest it on wood and you’ll have time to wonder why you smell wood smoke, then wonder why it’s inside, etc. before it burns down.
The real hazard is inhaling rosin fumes (says the guy who doesn’t properly ventilate his workstation). If you’re anxious about lead (I was) there is lead-free solder, though it requires higher temperatures to work with. As far as lead goes, the risk is from getting flecks of it on your fingertips and then touching your eyes or mouth. I imagine it’s less of a problem than it feels like in my head, but something something environmentally friendly.
It’s a fruity note… inhales deeply … reminiscent of… fir with notes of cinnamon.
Babies love it too, if you have lead paint they will lick the walls and let you know
One theory for why there were so many serial killers in the 70s was because of lead paint.
I saw a chart based on America on violent crime rates and leaded fuel
Leaded solder is sooo much easier to work with. Wash your hands well after each soldering session, have a fan gently blowing over your work bench & a window cracked open & you should be (relatively) fine**. Unless you’re doing it very regularly for long periods in which case a proper extractor is worth the investment. Occasional hobby tinkering for 15-30 mins at a time over an iron is unlikely to be bad for you if you follow basic steps. **Not medical advice!
P.S. Awesome work. I can remember the first time I modded Wii 1st gen, as my first non practice soldering, I was so nervous. But the mod still works to this day, many many years later. More people should learn to solider, it’s not overly hard if you have a decent enough soldering iron, a steady enough hand, & are willing to practice. It’s so satisfying when it works!!
dude your solder joints look professional compared to mine. I am proud of you too. give yourself a pat on the back and maybe a sloppy kiss with small butt grabby. you’ve earned it.
Ummm I’ll have what OP is having. Thanks.
It’s mostly weed, but like, the cocktail is not for the faint of liver
deleted by creator
FYI on the next one - they make CR1616 battery holders (like this) which allow future you to swap in new batteries whenever you want without additional soldering
I figure if I’m gonna do it, may as well just do it once
Enjoy having your old games back!!
I was talking to someone and they were saying that the solders on these adapters always suck and it creates more work. Is there any truth to that? I have 6 games I want to do this on.
The adapter I shared has no solder except that which you put into it. It solders into place just fine with a little flux, I’ve had 0 issues in ~20 games from this.
Be sure to clean your iron tip, I had a little bit of difficulty on the first one I did because I have had the same iron tip for like 10 years. A $2 replacement made life much easier. Probably also could have just hit it with sand paper. And double-check polarity on the connection points - watch a couple of YouTube videos to confirm you’ve got +/- right. I think it’s wonky on some carts.
The ones that are soldered and often suck are the ones OP posted. Be sure to check the battery voltage before you install those ones because they use cheap batteries and duds are common.
I’ve also seen people go the cave man approach and just un-solder/pry off only the battery (from the attached “arms” that connect to the board) on old carts and just tape a new battery in place but that’s an approach for monsters and psychopaths.
I’m a bit foggy on the details but I think Pokémon Silver / Gold were a little trickier because the RTC changes the PCB layout and the battery is actually mounted on top of a chip, so space gets a little tight and you have to build a bit of a solder bridge up to the connectors.
Fun, I have to change the batteries for my Pokémon gold and silver. Thanks for the heads up, I will use fresh tips and borrow a multi-meter.
Oh hell yeah. Thanks For the link. Just what I needed.
Yeah I came looking to see if anyone had mentioned this. 100% the way to go. Worst case you’ve added no work, best case you make your life so much easier the next time around.
you probably just werent blowing on the cartridge in the right way
Yeah, you’re supposed to treat it like a popsicle, not a balloon.
If you did soldering for the first time - your joins are pristine. They are completely fine unless you want to fulfill IPC-A-610 standard.
Requiring 610 for your own repair of a game cartridge would be kinda ridiculous anyway.
Besides soldering battery taps can be a pain. There can be so much thermal capacity in the taps (technically the cell, but). Combine that with an ordinary 35μm PCB, perhaps with some old school phenol board, and this result is some a newbie can be quite proud of. Heck, even if you’ve trained a bit.
You should be proud of yourself indeed
I’m an IT guy and I get mad anxiety with anything soldering, welding, …
I am incompatible with anything less digital than a PC so I got mad respect for this sorta stuff.
Swap it for a 18650 and give Pikachu some VROOM
that’s awesome. I’m happy for you. Nowadays, it’s great to see ppl find some happiness in this shitty shitty world. 😌
hey at least it’s not the electrical tape method a lot of us did when we were kids.
I held it in place with captan tape and that seemed to work well.
If you ever saw any of my solder points you’d be round house high fiving yourself. Nice.
I have no soldering skills or interest in Pokemon. The only reason I’m giving you that background to emphasize that I’m proud of you, too!
Your soldering looks much cleaner than mine, great job! Keep at it. It’s a unique and fun skill.