Gaming GBA Micro won't charge

[shyguy82]

Hi, i own a GBA Micro 20th anniversary Famicom Edion from about 3 years. I do not use it very much, also because i have SP and DS Lite too. Yesterday i had the idea of picking it up for a ride, it was nearly discharged because the light stayed red while turned on, but when i plugged to the Ac adapter to recharge it, didn't worked. Lights goes blue for 2 second when inserting the plug, but then turn off while the ac adapter is completely plugged.

It's not an original Nintendo Ac Adapter, but it worked in the last 3 years for that i remember. I went in a shop and had the chance to try an ac adapter from an used GBA Micro, exactly the same, and it did the same thing.

What's the problem with my console? The ac adaptor, the battery, or what? The console is still working great, because the battery is still charged a bit and i can run games with no problem. Many thanks for the help

 

[shyguy82]

Sorry i posted in the wrong section maybe. I Ask to a moderator to put in the hardware section. Thanks

 

[VinvinMario]

Did you try inserting the charger halfway and not completely inside. If not, try it and report back.


Edit: Also, what's the current status of the battery, is it totally discharged right now? The Micro won't turn on with or without the power charger plugged in?

 

[shyguy82]

Yes I tried, and the lights turn on just when the plug is not completeley inside the inserted ( i can see a little spark while plugging). Then turn off and stay so.

The battery is still a bit charged, and i can still run games without any issue at the moment, so if there is a short circuit it doesn't affect the console.

 

[VinvinMario]

Yes I tried, and the lights turn on just when the plug is not completeley inside the inserted ( i can see a little spark while plugging). Then turn off and stay so.

The battery is still a bit charged, and i can still run games without any issue at the moment, so if there is a short circuit it doesn't affect the console.

The battery is still charged, you say. When you turn on the Micro, it has the Red leds ON, indicating a low/reserve battery?

What I am getting at is, by any chance you have done a full recharge on the Micro, or someone else did it.

What you explained is mostly a symptom of a fully charged battery.

Edit: Again, the blue LEDs not turning on while charging happens when the Micro's battery goes to a total discharged state. But, from what you have explained, it doesn't seem like the case. It's really weird. Do you think you could open the side-panel for the battery and have a look at the wire? There could be is a loose connection.

 

[shyguy82]

When i turn on the console, the led flash red light and then stay red, without turning off.

Here is what the instruction manual says:

When you turn the power ON, the LEDs may blink blue for about 3 seconds.
This indicates adequate charge in the battery pack.
• When you turn the power ON, the LED may blink red for about 3 seconds.
This indicates that the battery pack should be recharged.
• During game play, the LED may light red and stay on. This indicates that the battery
pack should be recharged. Save your game progress and recharge the battery pack
as soon as possible.
• During the recharge process, the LED will light blue and stay on until the battery pack is
fully charged.


So my console should be blinking blue light while turning on, and not red. So i tink it's not fully charged.

I opened the battery case, and the battery is correctly plugged. I did not open the entire case to access the motherboard thogh.

 

[VinvinMario]

This seems very complicated. Still, I don't want to say that the battery or the motherboard is bad yet. The final thing that I could recommend is leaving the charger on the Micro for a while, even though the Blue LEDs are not turning on and indicating charging.

 

[shyguy82]

Yeah I don't think it's the charger to be broken, cause as I said i tried an other charger (not official though) and I had the same behaviour. I did not leave the console charging because I fear a charger malfunction. I will try now. At least I'll see if the charger heats up.

 

[VinvinMario]

I just pulled out the battery from the board. There are two prongs attached to the board, it's hard to tell but when you pull the wire gently, the prongs come out.

So, when I plugged the charger on the Micro without the battery in it, the Blue LEDs turned on for a second and turned off. 800ms to 1000ms to be precise. I cannot time it more precisely lol.

Do you think we could charge the battery from an external source? There are Universal Chargers and such. This will help deduce if the battery is bad.

 

[The Riolu]

Most likely, the prongs in the charging port are broken or the prongs might be burned out from too much use (not that common but I have seen it happen).

 

[shyguy82]

Most likely, the prongs in the charging port are broken or the prongs might be burned out from too much use (not that common but I have seen it happen).

It seems very strange, because this GBA Micro was used very few times, and the rest of the time I saved it in a drawer, inside his box...I recharged the console 3-4 times in three years!

 

[The Riolu]

It seems very strange, because this GBA Micro was used very few times, and the rest of the time I saved it in a drawer, inside his box...I recharged the console 3-4 times in three years!

Hmm.. That's odd. Did you try blowing in the port on the micro and the actual charger? It seems stupid but it can help.

 

[shyguy82]

Uptade: After about 1 hour of charging plagget at the wall, the ac adapter is warm, not cold as I expected, but the led on the GBA remain turned off. I Did not try to blow in the port. I will leave it plugget another hour and see what happened

 

[shyguy82]

Update2: After 4 hours of charging, now when i turn the console On, it does thre blue blinks, not red like before, even if they stay steady red instead of turning off while playing. That means the battery charged? Very strange that the led don't stay blue while in charge though

 

[The Riolu]

It could be possible that the led is broken or defective. If the charger is becoming warm, the device should be charging. If you can play more after the charge, it is just the led not functioning.

 

[shyguy82]

mmmh..the led is working because it become both blue and red, maybe you mean that doesn't work properly. Anyway i will leave the console charging all night, to see if i can reach a full charge. (the led shoud turn off after the three blue blink when turning on the console)

 

[shyguy82]

Update 3: after another hour of charging, now turning on the console it does the three blue flashes and then the led turn off, that should mean the battery is properly charged.

So maybe there is a bug of the led when in charge(they should stay blue when in charging, and then shut off when charged), because they stay always turned off.

Thanks to alla for the support . I'm so glad my collector's edition GBA micro is still working!

 

[wiggatron]

1st, the micro will NOT work without a battery connected whether it's plugged in or not.

2nd, your battery is toast. Buy a new one.

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

I'm with Wiggatron here, Sounds like the cell is bad or there is a intermittent short on the board maybe a loose bit of some thing conductive got in there... stranger things have happened, but maybe try getting a cheap chinese battery and testing that before splashing out on a proper Nintendo brand battery... If they still sell em that is

 

[wiggatron]

Cheap-o batteries are the only option now