Game Boy Cartridge Battery Replacement

Written By: Zane Hogue
  • Comments: 9
Game Boy Cartridge Battery Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

6

Time Required

5 - 30 minutes

Introduction

I will show you how to properly replace a battery in a gameboy cartridge game using a soldering iron

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    • The first step is to locate the problem. The Game Boy will give you a message such as this.

    • The battery you will need for this cartridge (an original game Boy game) is a CR2025 3V battery.

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    • Get your soldering iron heated, gather your tools, tweezers, and a Steel 3.8mm Screwdriver Security Bit

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    • On the back side of the cartridge is a priority security bit and you will have to remove it.

    Is the screwdriver head part of any of the iFixit kits?

    damien.doury -

    Hi damien.doury! This is a Gamebit, you can find it in the Mako (64 bit kit), the Pro Tech, and the Manta kit. You can also buy the bit individually.

    Sam Goldheart -

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    • Next you will need to slide the front face of the cartridge down to expose the motherboard

    • Remove the board from the plastic housing and clamp it in a vice with alligator clips for stability

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    • Use the soldering iron to gently heat the top tab while at the same time using the tweezers to pull the top tab away from the board

    • Then do the same to the bottom tab until the battery is free, be sure no to heat the board too much and only where it is soldered

    • Install the new battery in reverse order heating the solder first then setting the tabs on the hot solder, a little more solder may be needed to hold it in place, once it is cool check that the battery is secure

    If possible, use some flux when removing the original battery. Try to remove any excess solder that may be there. Then use flux again before attaching the new battery.

    Jake Allen -

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    • The final step is to set the board back into the plastic housing slide the cover shut and tighten the screw

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Zane Hogue

Member since: 14/07/14

732 Reputation

6 comments

Do you know what battery type is needed for older games like Pokémon Green?

There are no telling marks and it's notably smaller than the battery used for others I've fixed like Crystal or Red. I want to be sure I'm using the right replacement.

jackson3jonathan -

The older cartridges should use the CR2025 the gameboy advanced cartridges sometimes use the CR1616, I buy my batteries off of amazon with the soldering tabs on them

Zane Hogue -

When you change a Gameboy Cartridge battery, do you lose the currunt game save , THX

Ken Stock -

Yes, anytime power is lost to the volatile memory the save is wiped.

Austin Fischer -

The purpose of the battery in the cartridge is to retain stored memory such as saved games so if you remove the battery for replacement or the battery dies it will delete the saved game. Sucks really hope this helps

Zane Hogue -

Can the 1616 battery carts always just be updated to 2025?

M Beck -