Hey there, fellow retro enthusiasts! In a world where everything's constantly getting upgraded, it's time to give some much-needed love to our old-school gadgets. Forget about tossing them in the trash—let's embrace the magic of repair and bring our nostalgic treasures back to life! Today, I'll take you on a wild ride as we revive a vintage SNES cartridge that's been gathering dust since 1990. Prepare for some serious RPW action!
So, picture this: I'm knee-deep in rapid prototyping and electronics, always tinkering with cool stuff. And guess what I found? A second-hand SNES game cartridge that probably hasn't seen the light of day in ages. Poor thing wasn't working, just giving me a blank screen on my console. Well, it was time to show this relic some serious TLC(tender loving care)!
Now, for this daring repair mission, we need some badass tools. Grab your soldering iron, multimeter, and that special Nintendo screwdriver bit. Don't forget your soldering wire, cutting blade, soft brush, and wires for this juicy repair. We're going all out, my friends!
Alright, the first step was to crack open the cartridge housing. And of course, we needed a special tool to unscrew those two pesky screws holding it together. Inside, we found a sweet little PCBA with some fancy THT components and a CR2032 3V battery. Time to play detective and find out what's causing this thing to misbehave!
Now, I put on my inspection goggles (not really, but let's pretend) and got down to business. Battery level? Check! It was sitting at a healthy 3.05V, so no worries there. But then, during my optical inspection, I stumbled upon a sneaky problem—a corroded through-hole on the board. That green-colored copper was giving me the evil eye, signaling some serious oxidation or leftover corrosive stuff from way back when. Aha! Found you, you troublemaker!
Alright, it was time to roll up those sleeves and get down to business. With a steady hand and a trusty blade, I carefully cleaned up that copper corrosion and exposed a bit of the green solder mask on the trace. Now, here's the fun part—I decided to be a little fancy and use a small metal pin/wire to create a brand spanking new connection between the through-hole and the trace. It's all about those creative repair solutions!
After my epic soldering skills were put to the test, it was time to give this resurrected cartridge a spin on my SNES console. And holy guacamole, it worked like a charm! Those classic Mario games came roaring back to life, and I couldn't stop grinning like a maniac. Repairing old stuff has its own special kind of magic, I tell ya!
Now, I gotta ask you—do you have a habit of chucking things after just a few years? Well, it's time to shift gears and embrace the joy of repair, my friends! Fixing up our beloved possessions not only saves us some cash but also sparks that warm fuzzy feeling of accomplishment. Plus, think about all the waste we'll be reducing. It's a win-win, baby!
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