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I finally dug out my old Game Boy Color from 1999
Tried to play Pokemon Crystal last night and the screen has like a weird yellow tint now. The cartridges still work but the contrast wheel is completely stuck. Honestly I learned that leaving lithium batteries in for 25 years is a bad move, leaked all over the inside. Has anyone else had luck cleaning that green goop off without ruining the board?
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aaron74014d ago
Feel your pain man, the Game Boy Color was my whole childhood too. I had the same exact thing happen with my Pokemon Silver cart, that yellow tint drove me crazy for a week before I tried the isopropyl method charles mentioned. That green goop is nasty stuff, got it all over my fingers once and it smelled like rotten pennies for hours. I would try the contact cleaner first on the contrast wheel, but if it's really stuck from the leak you might be looking at a board swap or a replacement unit. Sucks because those old carts still play fine but the hardware just gives up on you.
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Wait, are you sure the yellow tint is from the battery leak and not just the screen getting old? I've seen a ton of Game Boy Colors that look yellowed but it's usually the LCD itself aging over time, not the battery. For the green goop, isopropyl alcohol at 91% or higher works pretty well if you're careful with a q-tip, but you gotta be gentle or you'll strip the traces. If the contrast wheel is stuck, sometimes it's just gunked up from 20+ years of dust and grime, not necessarily leaking battery juice. Might be worth trying to work it free with some contact cleaner before you assume it's dead.
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