Hardware GBA SP Battery Going Bad?

[Thunder Hawk]

This has happened a few times before, but my AGS-001 sometimes doesn't turn on when I flick the power switch. After I plug in the charger, turn it on, and remove it, then it retains its ability to turn on without it being connected to the charger for x amount of time.

Today I decided to remove and reinsert the battery to see if it would help. At first it turned off right away after turning on, but then after a few times it stopped and everything works fine.

If I let my GBA SP charge until the charging light turns off, I can plug it in again and the changing light comes back on. (Pretty sure this is normal.)

Are these signs that the battery is going bad?

 

[FAST6191]

Most likely is the battery. Either way something is less than ideal.

What I would be thinking is inrush current.
General idea is for devices with inductance or capacitance (or heat based resistance even) the first turn on may see a lot of current drawn, more than in normal operation, as it wants to charge things up. If the, now slightly older/on its way out, battery sees this then the voltage will drop or the internal resistance will limit the current flow and the device fails to boot within the time it normally allows and it will shut off again (possibly to protect the battery from being over discharged). That little bit of time on the charger or indeed extra power source could be enough to offset that. Likewise taking the battery out may have seen things discharge and then the newly inserted battery has to charge it all up again.

If it is not the battery then dodgy contacts in either the battery compartment or the power switch.

As for the charging light it is pretty normal. I will spare you a discussion/lecture on battery charging and rechargeable battery chemistry as it is tedious at the best of times. You can use charge behaviours to diagnose faults but I will want more than that to call anything here and the other stuff covers things.

Good luck finding a good replacement. Apparently they exist but you also have a market full of junk to deal with, especially as the last good replacements I heard about where from aliexpress. If you do get one then please share sellers/pictures/numbers with the class.

There are ways to recondition batteries but it is not likely to gain you much here -- I tend to save such things for "get me through until the replacement arrives", "get me through until payday" and "we are way down deep in the middle of the congo, ain't no postal service here" type scenarios. Even here I would say you would be better off buying a cheapo USB power bank and buying/making a USB charger for your GBA if you need the portability.

 

[BvanBart]

Why all the hassle for a battery? Just order a new one. This will likely cost you 5 dollars.

 

[migles]

This has happened a few times before, but my AGS-001 sometimes doesn't turn on when I flick the power switch.

my ags 101 does a similair thing, but i think it's the switch going bad, very rarely and only happens when i am not paying attention, if i turn it off and then on again it works

btw my gba the switch must be turned in a certain way or else it will show the red low battery in boot and stay like that even if the battery is at 70%, if i turn it off and on again in the "right way" it shows the green light

 

[r0ni]

my ags 101 does a similair thing, but i think it's the switch going bad, very rarely and only happens when i am not paying attention, if i turn it off and then on again it works

btw my gba the switch must be turned in a certain way or else it will show the red low battery in boot and stay like that even if the battery is at 70%, if i turn it off and on again in the "right way" it shows the green light

Remove the battery from the shell and disassemble the shell from the board and remove the plastic switch cover. Spray a bit of wd-40 into the power switch and move it back and forth a few times, cleaning off any excess wd-40 afterwards. Then reassemble. The switch should operate normally after this “cleaning”. Those issues arise from dust and grime buildup over time.


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[Cartoni]

Remove the battery from the shell and disassemble the shell from the board and remove the plastic switch cover. Spray a bit of wd-40 into the power switch and move it back and forth a few times, cleaning off any excess wd-40 afterwards. Then reassemble. The switch should operate normally after this “cleaning”. Those issues arise from dust and grime buildup over time.


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Ah wow, I have the same problem some times, but Im trying this when I get home.

 

[Thunder Hawk]

Remove the battery from the shell and disassemble the shell from the board and remove the plastic switch cover. Spray a bit of wd-40 into the power switch and move it back and forth a few times, cleaning off any excess wd-40 afterwards. Then reassemble. The switch should operate normally after this “cleaning”. Those issues arise from dust and grime buildup over time.


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Ah wow, I have the same problem some times, but Im trying this when I get home.

Someone said not to use regular WD-40, but to instead to use the WD-40 Electrical Contact Cleaner Spray. I don't really remember who said it or where I saw it.

 

[r0ni]

Someone said not to use regular WD-40, but to instead to use the WD-40 Electrical Contact Cleaner Spray. I don't really remember who said it or where I saw it.

Wd-40 will evaporate either way. It won’t do anything damaging to the system in moderation. I wouldn’t advise soaking it in it overnight but a little in a switch is exactly what it’s designed for!


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[zfreeman]