Hardware GBA capacitor lifespan

[blueagent004]

how long do GBA SP capacitors typically last before they need to be replaced?

i'm trying to find out what type of capacitor the gba sp has; electrolytic, ceramic, tantalum....etc

i'm curious to know how much longer my gba sp will last before it becomes necessary to replace capacitor inside the gba.

thanks for the help!

 

[FAST6191]

They are likely ceramic (Tantalum tends to be reserved for things which need more power, especially during the GBA era, and while you can get polarised mini surface mount ones I see no markings to indicate it for capacitors (there are polarity markings for other devices) on the motherboards and no markings on the caps themselves, though it was a quick scan -- https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.p...-cpu-03_top_with_parts_pcb_scan_atv-jpg.1148/ and http://gbatemp.net/threads/gba-sp-ags-001-lcd-replacement.330687/#post-4710101 ), never exposed to mains voltages, tend not to have to smooth large pulses and don't get terribly hot.
I have never heard of anybody replacing them, however nobody really does component level checks other than fuses, connectors and switches as boards themselves are so cheap (prices are going back up again now but for years I have been picking them up for £5 or so in car boot sales, flea markets and such).
I could try to estimate a lifetime but it will probably be in the decades.

 

[blueagent004]

thank you so much for the detailed response and for sharing this knowledge with me FAST6191! thank you so much!

i was scratching my head over whether or not the gba sp had used any of those defective electrolytic capacitors from back when the capacitor plague was still a thing. i thought if that were the case, now might be a good time to have those defective caps replaced before they pop or leak inside the motherboard of the gba. though i'm very relieved to hear that the gba mobo had used ceramic caps instead, so i guess that there's no immediate need to replace them for now, which is great!


thank you sooooo much for helping me FAST6191!

 

[Crunchry-Boy]

I need some caps because I lost them. C48 and c67. Does anyone have any info on their specs?

 

[Urbanshadow]

I need some caps because I lost them. C48 and c67. Does anyone have any info on their specs?

In the service schematics C48 is noted with "B475K/16V" which is AFAIK (please recheck) a 4.7 Farad 16V Surface mounted Tantalum Capacitor.

I am not able to find C67 right now, any hints?

 

[Crunchry-Boy]

In the service schematics C48 is noted with "B475K/16V" which is AFAIK (please recheck) a 4.7 Farad 16V Surface mounted Tantalum Capacitor.

I am not able to find C67 right now, any hints?

It may be the same thing they’re the same size

 

[Urbanshadow]

It may be the same thing they’re the same size

I have a C61 out of the Reset line of the AGB CPU, noted as "F105Z/10V(1608)" which looks like a multilayer ceramic 0.1 uFarad 10V capacitor, same as C30.

For reference, C61 is the one to the right of the screen flicker potientiometer.

May you crossed that 7 with a 1?

 

[Crunchry-Boy]

I have a C61 out of the Reset line of the AGB CPU, noted as "F105Z/10V(1608)" which looks like a multilayer ceramic 0.1 uFarad 10V capacitor, same as C30.

For reference, C61 is the one to the right of the screen flicker potientiometer.

May you crossed that 7 with a 1?

its the cap directly bellow c48 this is just a photo from google but you can still see.

 

[Urbanshadow]

its the cap directly bellow c48 this is just a photo from google but you can still see.

My fault, the references were for standard GBA, not GBA SP. I cannot help you with those.

 

[Crunchry-Boy]

Could you send me the service schematic?

My fault, the references were for standard GBA, not GBA SP. I cannot help you with those.

no problem. Man this has been a real scavenger hunt. I can’t even find someone with a schematic.

 

[FAST6191]

Heh I was wrong it seems. I honestly did not expect Nintendo to plump for Tantalum back in the GBA era (it is a cheapo low tolerance consumer device that does not have to deal with mains, even today when they are not exactly a cheap hobby if you have to build millions https://www.mouser.co.uk/Passive-Co...g7r?P=1z0z7ymZ1y95kbtZ1y95jjqZ1y95jjpZ1y95kco ).
Either way unless you knock one off with a soldering iron/screwdriver I would expect lifetimes in the decades.

Anyway I am curious about service stuff as well. I was completely unaware that such a thing had made it outside of Nintendo's stuff or was this a part of the gigaleak CAD and design docs part?

Afraid I don't have an ESR meter right now and I don't love people enough to desolder things to measure with my equally useless multimeter.

 

[Urbanshadow]

Anyway I am curious about service stuff as well. I was completely unaware that such a thing had made it outside of Nintendo's stuff or was this a part of the gigaleak CAD and design docs part?

Afraid I don't have an ESR meter right now and I don't love people enough to desolder things to measure with my equally useless multimeter.

We've had DMG-001, CGB and AGS-001 full schematics for a while now. Not part of the gigaleak. Obviously I cannot link that here but it is not that hard to find on the net.

And GBA motherboards are only two sided, you should be able to test without desoldering.

 

[FAST6191]

We've had DMG-001, CGB and AGS-001 full schematics for a while now. Not part of the gigaleak. Obviously I cannot link that here but it is not that hard to find on the net.

I missed that entirely when I was putting together https://gbatemp.net/threads/thinkin...gba-hardware-fixes-compilation-thread.485501/ the other year, and was delighted to find some PCB shots, desoldered and mask sanded ones later on. I did not even see reference to such a thing when doing the rounds.

 

[Crunchry-Boy]

We've had DMG-001, CGB and AGS-001 full schematics for a while now. Not part of the gigaleak. Obviously I cannot link that here but it is not that hard to find on the net.

And GBA motherboards are only two sided, you should be able to test without desoldering.

You’re saying that there are schematics for the gba sp ags 001 online? I’ve been looking for the past three days and haven’t found anything. What might I type into a google search to turn up results.

 

[Urbanshadow]

You’re saying that there are schematics for the gba sp ags 001 online? I’ve been looking for the past three days and haven’t found anything. What might I type into a google search to turn up results.

No, the SP model is the AGS-101. I haven't seen one of those yet.

 

[Crunchry-Boy]

No, the SP model is the AGS-101. I haven't seen one of those yet.

Lol you’re right I’ve been bothering people on an electronics forum to see if they can help me identify the capacitor specs with using a multimeter.