Game Boy Color Breakdown
I finally broke down my (new to me) Gameboy Color for a cleaning and it went surprisingly well! \o/ To be completely honest: I was so nervous to pop it open. I was dead convinced I would break this bad boy and be out $40 somehow. I cracked it open and as it turns out… it’s super easy. Ridiclously easy. Anyone can do it. You reading this, right now: go tear down your old Gameboy and clean it!
It looks SO much better inside & out now. Unfortunately however, now I’ve got The Bug. I want to break down more electronics to clean up (given I have that huge iFixit kit to work with!) and get working. It’s also reinforced that I want to pick up a soldering kit so I can begin doing more intense repair/mods to things… once I have a plan on where to do my soldering. The biggest struggle I’m having is that our house doesn’t really have a space with good ventilation + no animal access for their safety. Unfortunately, I think the best (current) solution will be to deep clean my room (to minimize pet hair, etc), bar animal access during repair/mod hours, and choose warm days where I can solder with the window open. I’m hoping that with open window, fans, and restricting animal access (in particular not allowing animals in 1-2hrs after completing a project), I can solder relatively safely since I’ll only be doing it periodically for now. I’ll also ask a few friends who mod and have animals for advice.
In the interim however… I’m not too humble to admit that I am very proud of my (modest) accomplishment! Every time I get to pry open an electronic to repair it, I feel so accomplished lol.
(Tangentially related: I think the most amusing part of ADHD is doing something once, receiving good feedback and my brain immediately going “I am going to become an expert in this. This is a career now.” I clean a Gameboy Color once and my brain goes “show up at your local IBEW chapter and demand a job NOW!” Although maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see if local repair shops are hiring…)
Anyways! I have no idea what the above says since I wrote it before my errands, but I hope it’s good. To wrap things up: here’s a picture of the singular save on my secondhand Link’s Awakening DX cartridge, aptly named “FART”:
Until next time!