How to replace the battery in a pokemon gold/silver gameboy cart

This instructable shows you how to replace a battery in a pokemon gold/silver cart.
If yours deletes your save and won't let you save anymore then chances are you will need to replace the battery.

This may work with other gameboy games but pokemon gold/silver are the only ones I know about.

Please Note: I take no responsibility for any damage to you, your gameboy, your game or anything else. My game and gameboy are fine and this shouldn't damage them, Just covering myself.

Please note: if you have ANY type of save that loads up then this will wreck that, otherwise lets get started

EDIT: quadcam24 has suggested in the comments that instead of using a screwdriver you could use fine tipped pliers to turn the security screw, this method would be easier and quicker than using a screwdriver if you could find pliers with thin enough tips

Step 1 You Will Need

You will need:
A small straight head precision screwdriver,
A CR2025 battery, I'm sure other similar batteries e.g. CR2032 etc. will work but on the pcb it says CR2025 so thats what I used.
And
Some sticky tape,

You can also buy special batteries from the internet, which have tabs to solder directly to the pcb which will created the most secure connection possible, however if you tape the battery firmly then it should be just as good.

Comments

[tyelr]

I can't open it up eather

[paigefer]

i heated up the end (non-blade side) of a plastic knife and melted it into head of the screw thingy, then let it dry and opened it with that. worked like a charm.

[Raz0rDot]

I tried doing that, and all i got was the print of the screw in my knife. Did i do something wrong?

[josh92176]

Have you tried the advice which I gave to other people? -josh

[Najmyman100]

Your instructable guide worked!!! Now my pokemon gold and sliver game packs work

[craazyy1]

Awesome guide. I had used it once already to fix pokemon silver, and then some time later got my sisters copy of pokemon gold. The first time I got help from my dad, and we struggled a bit with getting the screw out, but ended up just trying to drill it loose from the cover. The drill was right next to the screw and ended up spinning it, finally making the screw loose :P
Just picked the metal bits off the battery with a flat head screwdriver and taped the new 2032 battery in with insulation tape. The 2032 battery along with the tape ended up making it a bit tight, so we ended up not having to put in a new screw afterwards. Both copies now work perfectly. Thanks! It's now as good as new (except for a dent on the back from the drill, which I don't mind at all)

[latinlover]

hey one of my tabs broke off now wat am i suppose 2 do ??? it wont work any ideas?

[josh92176]

you need to solder it back on :( . You MIGHT get away with gluing it however the only difficulty is you need to maintain an electrical connection. i.e not block off the current with a thick layer of glue. -josh

[calisigner]

I had the same problem. So if i solder it back on then it will be ok?

[Jorgomli]

Yes it will, just make sure not to damage the circuit board when you're soldering it, though.

[danmc91]

fwiw, I recently replaced the battery on a pokemon sapphire. In that the battery was also soldered down. It was fairly easy to desolder and I bought a replacement CR1616 at Batteries Plus and they were able to spot weld some solder tabs onto the new battery for me. And before anyone worries too much about the price, don't. It was cheap. I don't recall the exact amount but we are talking $3-5 range for the battery with the tabs spot welded onto it. Of course I still had to solder it down, but I am confident that my repair will last as long as the battery. It was dumb luck that I realized Batteries Plus would provide that service.

Yes, frustrating that Nintendo didn't use a holder that was meant for user servicing, but at least it wasn't that bad of a fix! If you don't solder and feel like taking a chance, you may be able to get someone in a local high school electronics class to do it for you.....

[bryan3141]

Plan B: there's a conductive electronics cement that seems to work just dandy. I found my tube at gateway electronics ( www.gatewayelex.com ) but I'm sure it's available in many electronics stores. Gateway is just the electronics/electronics surplus that's closest to me.

[KillerMonster5]

Worked like a champ thanks Josh!!

[deth_zeppelin]

im struggling to open the cartridge, is there any other easy eays to open it?

[dsalkowski]

Just get a plastic pen like a bic and remove the ink section. Jam the smaller end into the screw and it should be able to be unscrewed.

[thearm]

This worked for me. I had to dig around the hole with a screwdriver to get the pen to fit in, and after that, the pen tip worked much like a screwdriver. The screw was loosened first just by scraping at it with a screwdriver. I took the ink tube out of the pen and used the short casing.

[ryboodle]

all you have to do is get a 3.5(it may be 3.8) mm gamebit screwdriver from amazon and then your set the cart i have tested it on and work are n64 games and the expansion pack for it and gbc games

[wafflecore]

Thanks for posting this! I'm excited to have my copy of Silver up and running again! Gotta catch 'em all!

[nightwing99]

Just did this earlier this afternoon! Worked absolutely awesomely :D Used tweezers to unscrew it (it took a few tries but the whole process was only about 15 minutes) then used a flat-head screwdriver to break the tabs off of the old battery. Getting the one underneath off took a little bit more work because of the angle but it popped off eventually. (For those of you having trouble, kind of slide the edge of the screwdriver underneath and push down as you move it forward. You don't have to worry about scratching the battery so dig into it as much as you can and the solder should scrape off. I also did a little bit of rocking back and forth as well as side to side in order to jimmy it under further.) Then I placed the new battery in, folded the tabs back into place, and layered it with a ton of electrical tape.

I'm pretty sure I got ripped off on the battery (it was 7.50 :/) but I wasn't in the mood to go hunting for a better deal or order one online. It still ended up cheaper than ordering a new game on ebay and now I have my childhood memories back <3 Thank you so much for writing how to do this, Josh! I've played every Pokemon Game ever made and classic Silver is still my favorite :D I've had it since I was eight and I'm NEVER giving it up so now I don't have to :D

[travvy]

I'm a little stuck - I unscrewed the game and got most of the tab off but it seems to be attached really firmly in 2 small points, which I can't for the life of me get off! Is there some special technique to this, I've tried using tweezers a screwdriver and a razorblade and nothing is making it budge even slightly :(

[KyraKyra]

It's spot welded. You have to break through the metal around the spots. There's really no other way.

[josh92176]

Hi, i cant remember perfectly (because it has been a fair while since i actually did this) but i do seem to remember there being a tough bit as you describe.

I was able to get the tabs off by firmly pushing the screwdriver underneath the tab (possibly twisting the screwdriver as well).

If you are still having real trouble with this, it might be possible (depending on how far up the tab the hard bit is) to actually cut the tab off the battery, and simply tape the remainder of the tab onto the new battery?

[KyraKyra]

Thank you so much! My old Silver game now works like a dream. I couldn't find anything small enough to remove the screw, though. I had to improvise with a specialized plier.

[fueledbyFOBx3]

i honestly just made an account so i could comment on this to thank you. it wasn't as easy as i expected to do this, but if a 17-year-old girl can do it sitting in her pajamas then anyone can. thank you sooooo much!! :D i can't wait to start playing! n_n

[MortiiMati]

Whoever you are, I love you. I was beyond upset when I dug up my Gameboy a few days ago and realized the game wouldn't save... I'm going to try this sometime today or tomorrow and post afterwards whether it worked or not (which, based on the comments so far, I'm sure it will). Thank you!

[frobles3]

could this work for pokemon yellow? and should i use the same battery that you used for your gold replacement

[tamaness]

Pokemon Yellow doesn't use a battery, as it doesn't track real time. It uses non-volatile memory to store your saved game, unlike Gold, Silver, and Crystal, which use volatile memory, which requires constant power. If your Yellow cart stops saving games, you may need to simply replace the cart (there are quite a few of these available from secondhand retailers).

[john henry]

tamaness where are you getting your facts from?

Pokemon yelloew does in FACT use a battery (im looking at it now)
Pokemon yellow uses a CR1616 battery for the constant power needed to store the memory.

[rbliss]

It is a battery problem. my red version got erased and stopped saving. my friend told me the coin battery died he replaced it for me and it works just as

[PuddleOfMudd25]

Thank you so much! After I turned on my Gold game for the first time in nearly 7 years, I was heartbroken to find my save was deleted. I thought my childhood was ruined! Luckily I came across this and it's good as new! Looks like I can finally be a kid again.

[mjohn4]

I just replaced the battery in pokemon silver with a cr2032 and turned the game on and it froze the load screen, all the came up was the gameboy and the ding. So I took it apart again and added a piece of electrical tape underneath where the battery sits and this solved the problem. This happened because I used the feet off the original battery and it was not touching the positive side of the battery. Just a heads up for anyone else you might have that happen.

[gamesurf]

I've tried this on both Pokemon Blue and Donkey Kong, and neither of them work. I'm beginning to think that it's not a problem with the battery after all. Pokemon Blue: Intro works well, but when I select "NEW GAME", the professor shows up with a comment box, but no words pop up, and I just hear this screechy sound. Donkey Kong: The Game Boy title screen shows up, then it's blank for about 15 seconds, and the Donkey Kong title screen pops up, I press start, and the three save files show up, and then the game freezes. I've changed the batteries in both of them, and I still have this problem. Any help?

[sillyzombie666]

sounds like you either don't have it connected right, wrong battery, something is crossed or it could just be because this istructible does not show you the right way to do this

[Grimakis]

This instructable is fine... Since Nintendo never released any catridge repair manual to the consumer there is no RIGHT way...

[sillyzombie666]

you can also go 100 an hour in you, just because you can do it doesn't mean its the best thing to do. also, nintendo thought it was the best idea to solder the batteries in so it must be the best way, if it wasn't they would have done this ghetto fix method. i can also attach a tire to my car using duct tape.... just because you can do it doesn't mean you should

[ben360]

Dude, just get off it. Your point has been made, soldering is better than taping, OK. This is Instructables, I go here for duct-tape fixes, not expensive and/or complicated procedures that the game isn't worth expending the effort of on. If I wanted to completely waste a weekend on something, I might pay attention to your views, but they are clearly invalid for people who don't care quite that much about their old Pokémon game. Now please stop wasting space with your worthless comments; I'd like to read the ones that are at least somewhat relevant.

Also, please work on your grammar & spelling, they are simply atrocious.

"you can also go 100 an hour in you"

No. No, you cannot.

[bweems]

Soldering is not rocket science. It's just an option, though I definitely wouldn't suggest it unless you already have a soldering iron. Dropping $30 on equipment that you don't even know how to use for a cartridge that doesn't even cost $20 including shipping to replace is not economical.

Also, play nice guys. Forums like these are supposed to be helpful. :-) Not a pain in the ass to sift through personal blows.

[sillyzombie666]

if you look i posted this more than 8 months ago so right now your just restarting the issue.

also the fix takes just as long as this tape fix

also try not to insult peoples short falls i have aspergers syndrome, do you feel better when you insult people with disabilities?

[agoins-1]

Yes, I know you comment is a bit old but I figure who cares. I too have Aspergers. It's not much of a handy cap online if you ask me and a bit irrelevant. Anyways, It may take the same amount of time to solder it, but for the people out there that either don't know how to solder or can't due to lack of cash, Tape is a good alternative.

[sillyzombie666]

the online handy cap is the spelling wich was what i was insulted for, plus i thought it was a good way to shut him up

ya my entire argument was just they kept saying my meathod was so hard and so overly expensive when its just as quick and cheaper since the gameboy batteries online are like $6 for 2 and the batteries they are using for fo like $3 - $5 at radio shack

you can get into soldering with minimal suppllys for about $10s including solder and iron at radio shack then for $20 - $30 with a stand some tools and flux