Hardware Help with battery mod on game boys

Robika

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I have been modding game boys for a while now. And the IPS screens are good and look awesome bue many of my customers ask me for battery mod and I can't find a supplier here in spain for the boards.
I found these boards on aliexpress, could these be used for Game Boy: pocket, color, GBA? I am not an electronics expert I know how to solder and I can fix a console but, voltage and those things are a bit confusing to me.
Thanks in advance!
 

FAST6191

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A curious set of skills there (generally find most that can resolder a resistor or capacitor will know this sort of thing) but OK.

I hate buying batteries from China. It is a bit like buying SD cards, however things can also set on fire (though usually it is just it is returned for not working and you get to eat it as you are not returning anything).
Anyway that is a charge management controller for lithium batteries (apparently li-po but you will be hard pressed to find older stuff these days) and some parts mention a boost converter as well (though I don't think it comes).

The general principle is fairly basic -- voltage is voltage in case (see Thevenin equivalent circuits if you want some textbook type headings to search) so if you have a suitable voltage output you wire the positive end of the controller output to the positive end of the battery compartment and the negative to the negative (both will be going into the board, the little jumpers to make you have 2-4 batteries in series are bits of metal and not much else).

AA batteries are typically rated at 1.5V each so if you have 4 you need 6V out and if you have two then 3V is more like it (stuffing 5V in probably being bad news). That said batteries don't stay the same voltage throughout their use and thus 5V in the case of 4 AA batteries might do something but you might also have to test that (this is why we have bench power supplies).
https://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E91.pdf

In some systems they will step the voltage down after the batteries to do their own thing with it and in those cases you might be able to remove the voltage dropper and go after that with whatever you have. For now I would probably just stick with replacing cells.

Boost converters are slightly newer devices in the electronics hobby space (technically been around for a long time but prices, output currents and more have only more recently become good enough for things like this).
They take a DC voltage (as in what you get from most batteries) and boost it to a higher level for things that need it. They are not 100% efficient (though quite good) so if you can get a battery within range then it is best to otherwise you are wasting power (and so play time) just getting it powered. With one of these you might then not have to put two batteries in series (which could well require two controllers) to make it reach higher voltages.

Lithium batteries are what most rechargeable batteries are now -- for their size and cost they store the most energy and have the nicest abilities. However you don't just apply a voltage and wait a bit like on some more basic setups, you have to do all sorts of fun things if you want said lithium battery to last for many charges and that is where the charge management device you linked comes in. Some batteries will have onboard options but others will want management.


Short version.
You need to find what voltage the devices you want to make battery kits for operate at.
You need then to buy batteries and a suitable charge controller.
If stepping up voltage then a boost converter that puts out a suitable voltage. If stepping down (can be done with things as simple as a diode)

Solder the outputs of the battery (or maybe in the case of the thing above the charge management chip) to where the normal AA batteries or wall adapter will go in.
Fit all this inside the battery slot of whatever device you have, something you put on the back, part of the empty shell or cut a section out and use that. Also find some way of taking power in so the person can plug it in and charge it without having to take it apart.

Here is a project someone did for the original GBA
https://gbatemp.net/threads/integrated-rechargable-gba-mod.465889/
I don't know if any of the people doing screen replacement kits, speaker mods and whatnot will do a premade battery replacement but I would have a look as it is a reasonably common thing for people to want.
 

Robika

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A curious set of skills there (generally find most that can resolder a resistor or capacitor will know this sort of thing) but OK.

I hate buying batteries from China. It is a bit like buying SD cards, however things can also set on fire (though usually it is just it is returned for not working and you get to eat it as you are not returning anything).
Anyway that is a charge management controller for lithium batteries (apparently li-po but you will be hard pressed to find older stuff these days) and some parts mention a boost converter as well (though I don't think it comes).

The general principle is fairly basic -- voltage is voltage in case (see Thevenin equivalent circuits if you want some textbook type headings to search) so if you have a suitable voltage output you wire the positive end of the controller output to the positive end of the battery compartment and the negative to the negative (both will be going into the board, the little jumpers to make you have 2-4 batteries in series are bits of metal and not much else).

AA batteries are typically rated at 1.5V each so if you have 4 you need 6V out and if you have two then 3V is more like it (stuffing 5V in probably being bad news). That said batteries don't stay the same voltage throughout their use and thus 5V in the case of 4 AA batteries might do something but you might also have to test that (this is why we have bench power supplies).
https://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E91.pdf

In some systems they will step the voltage down after the batteries to do their own thing with it and in those cases you might be able to remove the voltage dropper and go after that with whatever you have. For now I would probably just stick with replacing cells.

Boost converters are slightly newer devices in the electronics hobby space (technically been around for a long time but prices, output currents and more have only more recently become good enough for things like this).
They take a DC voltage (as in what you get from most batteries) and boost it to a higher level for things that need it. They are not 100% efficient (though quite good) so if you can get a battery within range then it is best to otherwise you are wasting power (and so play time) just getting it powered. With one of these you might then not have to put two batteries in series (which could well require two controllers) to make it reach higher voltages.

Lithium batteries are what most rechargeable batteries are now -- for their size and cost they store the most energy and have the nicest abilities. However you don't just apply a voltage and wait a bit like on some more basic setups, you have to do all sorts of fun things if you want said lithium battery to last for many charges and that is where the charge management device you linked comes in. Some batteries will have onboard options but others will want management.


Short version.
You need to find what voltage the devices you want to make battery kits for operate at.
You need then to buy batteries and a suitable charge controller.
If stepping up voltage then a boost converter that puts out a suitable voltage. If stepping down (can be done with things as simple as a diode)

Solder the outputs of the battery (or maybe in the case of the thing above the charge management chip) to where the normal AA batteries or wall adapter will go in.
Fit all this inside the battery slot of whatever device you have, something you put on the back, part of the empty shell or cut a section out and use that. Also find some way of taking power in so the person can plug it in and charge it without having to take it apart.

Here is a project someone did for the original GBA
https://gbatemp.net/threads/integrated-rechargable-gba-mod.465889/
I don't know if any of the people doing screen replacement kits, speaker mods and whatnot will do a premade battery replacement but I would have a look as it is a reasonably common thing for people to want.
I understand, I know some of these, but I was not really sure, because you can see so many tutorials to put baterries in Game Boys, It just gets confusing. I will get the dedicated GBP board from the US with a friend and try that. Thanks for the explanation.
 

xinchao22

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It’s important to note that these boards are very basic, they should not be used to charge and play at the same time even if it does work. You also shouldn’t let the battery drain completely or it will affect the overall life of the battery.
 

jacobc436

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It’s important to note that these boards are very basic, they should not be used to charge and play at the same time even if it does work. You also shouldn’t let the battery drain completely or it will affect the overall life of the battery.
Not really true in this instance, the GBA does not pull nearly enough power for that to be a concern, and these are rated for 1A (accounting for untrusted ratings, let's say 500ma) still far more than enough to power a GBA.
 

slaphappygamer

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This is by far the best battery mod I've found for the GBA... You should be able to find a supplier that ships to Spain.
this may be the next mod i add to my gba. i was looking at this one and the retrogaming one. this one is more appealing to me, because you can replace the battery without soldering
 
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Jayro

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this may be the next mod i add to my gba. i was looking at this one and the retrogaming one. this one is more appealing to me, because you can replace the battery without soldering
Yeah, it's what sold me on it.
 
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vastneon

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I feel like the aftermarket GBA SP batteries do not last as long as my original used to out of the box way back when.
 

Liriel

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You could use Batteries from China.
To see if its real you should test the capacity.
I use in the Gba, GBC and DMG 103048 and all i got was above the printet capacity.

I use to Charge in Every Device the tp4056 board with the 4 contacts because it hat low voltage protection.

On a GBA there is a Diode (I think a 1n4001 was the Correct) to use to set down the Voltage below the Voltage where the GBA are not start.
With full charge 4.2 it refuse to power on.

On a DMG i use a Switch that shut down the Power from the TP4056 to a Voltage booster.
Why a Booster and not only the Voltage from the 3.7Lipo?
With only the Lipo i had the experience that the Batterie was drained fast and it was near the shut down area.
With the Booster set to 4x AA it runs better and longer.

Like i said all mods charge and run with a TP4056 Board.
In GBA and DMG i had enough space for a Wireless Charge Coil as a extra.


To build it self is cheaper then buying a named mod.
They all use batteries like a 103048.

The dmg has a Backlight mod and the GBC and GBA a ips screen (these fp take not less power) and all have Sound mods.
b68026ba9c1c593e9244422cf19cd699.jpg
f25791bac86bdca7780b18ccfa97ae14.jpg
6585314d628c05dbf92b6f6eb687cf1b.jpg


Gesendet von meinem ELE-L29 mit Tapatalk
 
Last edited by Liriel,
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