Virtual Boy Solder Fix

[Tanooki | 4,930]

If you saw the Oct 9th post I did I got a 2nd Virtual Boy today dumb luck of it all.  Bought it knowing it had problems, left eye was out, after trying it out found the right eye was patchy starting to show signs of death (horizontal lines.)  I mulled over fixing it as spare cables were hard to get 3 years ago, now impossible, but I decided to.

Attached are just 2 images, the BEFORE of each still screwed into the unit.  The final is a little mp4 (under 500kb) showing the result.

The fix isn't that complicated, just, very risky.   The ribbon cable in the image is super thin and has a low melting point.  Nintendo rare for making really bad design choices put their worst ever (PiiU aside on the whole) into the VB.  Those dolts used *GLUE* not solder on the ribbon cable attached to the LED PCB seen in the images.  Most VBs now are partly out or dead as the glue dies off it detaches and kills the image.  Solder fixes this.

You get the helping hands out, clip it in place along the bottom firmly.  Apply a lowest heat I can use (200F) on my cheap kit, and slowly brush downward the last 1/4" of the ribbon and melt the glue and outer layer of the ribbon off.  Next apply flux paste, gel, whatever, generously.  At this rate the needle heated, apply a very small ball of solder to the tip, and you start painting it on gently.  One wrong move you can go just deep enough to rip the hair thin copper wires (there's 32 to set in) right off.  Once painted on, clean with a bit of alcohol, reattach the ribbon cable to the clip inside, pop it against the mount (screwing back in not necessary to test) and fire it up.  If all goes well, solid image is returned, if you missed a line or didn't get enough you can get the lines, splotches, something just out/irregular.  Wash-rinse-repeat on the other side.  Had my best job yet, did it in a single pass both sides, start to end (open system to close up) about an hour vs  close to 2.

And proof, the video, that was after running letting it warm up for 30min just in case.  I gave each solder job a little few pushes just to be safe before buttoning it up and it held.

 

If you look at the images closely, you'll notice the discoloration of the lines in the ribbon at the glue area.  The left one look uniformly dull, that was 100% OUT, the right one is splotchy from a little dull to looking I guess shinier?  That one worked but would get lines as it was going the way of the left one.

 

The finished result:

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Tanooki

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Good job getting this fixed!

With that said, is there some reason that you would have to use the original ribbon cable (or OEM replacement part) in order to achieve the same results?  I'm not saying it would be as easy as the repair you've done, but if that roughly 90 degree bend is all the stress that the cable takes, and there isn't anything else that comes down to push it around once it's buttoned back up, I would imagine that someone could do a potentially less fragile repair by soldering small jumper wires from one board to the other.  If it wasn't already, it's something to consider for the future, should you need to do this sort of repair (again) on either of your existing units or any that you might come across.

[Tanooki | 4,930]

@darkchylde28 Yes as that sits is how it has been in there its entire existence and that is all the pressure it receives which really is light, it's just the bad glue.  Nothing inside ever makes contact with it.  Had they soldered it in the first place or not cut corners and had a slot for it like up top, it would be rock solid.

There is no really good OEM option, wasn't one until about 2 to 2 1/2 years ago and they come and go fast in limited supply.  Segasonicfan(persons online name) made this kit which has a ribbon, mount, pcb with LED, the works all disassembled.  Just like the OG ribbon you still need to heat and drag solder his new ribbon to the new contacts of his board as a replacement so strangely no improvement in design decades later.  Again I would have slotted it both sides, then anyone with a screwdriver could fix it (and a security bit too.)

Before that some attempts were made, failed designs that didn't work, and earlier than that and some fools yet still try and roast them on lowest settings in a kitchen oven, re-heating the glue without melting the cable, and then using a roller to mash the glue hard into the wiring on the PCB again to stick it back.  It will work, depending how far gone the glue is for weeks or years, but it re-fails 100%.

And you are right about jumper wiring, it works.  The online friend who taught me to fix this stuff in 2019 had a few ribbons people failed to oven heat or drag where it made the ribbon spread, curl, crack like overdone bacon.  He would replace it with some super thin insulated red wires doing each point (32) on both sides.  Its harder, far more time consuming, but it works.

Personally I wish that one guy with the current ribbon replacement would just charge a bit more, have 2 clamps, and NO solder, that would be the best solution.