Adventure Time's BMO: GBC Mod Replica

Step 14: Splitting off the power switch

Because Beemo's body is much wider than the Game Boy itself, I wanted to unsolder the power On/Off Switch from the board and have it extend slightly to the outside of Beemo. However, this proved to be a challenge because the power switch is so incredibly small and secondly, the areas where it's soldered to are very fragile after it's removal (this is actually how I broke one of my earlier test Game Boys).

What you'll need to do is using the Solder Pump again, remove all or at least most of the solder from the leads and then carefully remove the switch from the circuit board. Then, immediately solder down 6 3 1'2 inch wires and then hot glue them down, so even if the switch gets pulled, it won't damage the soldered areas.

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salvegames says: May 21, 2013. 8:10 AM

Hey there! I have a game boy color, and it's working 100%, except for one thing. The internal power switch (meaning the metal switch underneath the plastic one) isn't there anymore. The little metal box that houses it is still there, and all leads are still soldered and intact. I would replace it with another switch, but I noticed that there are MANY pins connected to it (not just two). What are all those pins for, and can I replace the Nintendo switch with some other generic one, or maybe get a mod kit from somewhere like kitsch that happens to fix the problem? Oh, and some other info: -I still have the plastic external power switch handy, but I welcome alternatives. -I am able to take the game boy apart. -I understand electronic parts and am pretty good at soldering. Thank you so much!

SHIFT! (author) in reply to salvegamesMay 21, 2013. 9:26 AM

Hey,

So I don't know that much about the actual pinout from the Gameboy Color switch but IIRC it was surface mounted to the board with about four or five different pins connected. If you have the original plastic power switch available, I would suggest trying to use it rather than replace it with a brand new one. I remember running into a similar issue with BMO and a standard 2 or 3 pin switch does not work as an alternative.

Hope this helps.