Pokemon Gold Oscillator

[rubasznymike]

Hello Everyone, I recently bought a Pokemon Gold cart for my collection. The battery was dead so I've replaced it. When I played the game I found out that the game does not keep track of the time. The battery is brand new. I've tried replacing it and checking the soldering but it looks fine. I've also checked the soldering on the clock oscillator but it also looks fine. I think I need to replace the clock oscillator, but I do no know what type I am looking for. I would be grateful for help in identifying the component

 

[Sono]

By "looks fine" you mean that you checked continuity? Also checked if it's the correct polarity?

As for the oscillator, almost all of these in this size are just a 32768Hz (alternatively 32.768kHz or 32kiHz, same thing) crystal. In this case it's the one needed too.

Edit: pretty sure the clock should still tick without a battery. Set the time in-game, wait a few minutes, save the game, and soft-reset with START+SELECT+A+B, and if it shows the current time then the crystal is good.

 

[rubasznymike]

Edit: pretty sure the clock should still tick without a battery. Set the time in-game, wait a few minutes, save the game, and soft-reset with START+SELECT+A+B, and if it shows the current time then the crystal is good.

Did that the time is still frozen. But the game measures the playtime. So only the clock is frozen. Thank you for the oscillator specs. I will search for It online

 

[tech3475]

Have you tried if possible actually measuring the crystal for the correct output and checking voltages/continuity between components?

One option to consider is that the RTC IC is faulty.

 

[Sono]

Have you tried if possible actually measuring the crystal for the correct output and checking voltages/continuity between components?

One option to consider is that the RTC IC is faulty.

Pretty sure that the RTC feature is built into the MBC itself, and so if the game boots then it should be still functional.

While I have never heard of a partially blown MBC, I wonder if connecting the battery in reverse polarity would cause this type of issue.

 

[rubasznymike]

Pretty sure that the RTC feature is built into the MBC itself, and so if the game boots then it should be still functional.

While I have never heard of a partially blown MBC, I wonder if connecting the battery in reverse polarity would cause this type of issue.

I'm pretty sure it's connected as it should

 

[Sono]

I'm pretty sure it's connected as it should

The image makes it look like the Vcc pin doesn't even exist on the board, but it clearly exists in the first image you posted, so this is a strong indication that you sould try cleaning the cartridge pins first.

Though not sure there is anything else that could be done without a multimeter at this point, I haven't heard of this issue happening.

 

[master801]

Try reflowing all solder joints for the chips. The board looks thin and may have cracked solder joints.

 

[Elru]

I had a similar problem with the same game, I changed the oscillator and it was fixed, I bought it on AliExpress randomly