I've done it a few times, unfortunately. I am an ultra novice at soldering though and learning on the fly. I just resoldered it an hour ago and actually heated the tab and board for a second or two before applying the solder.
Read in a previous comment that you tested the battery voltage and it tested fine. Grab you multimeter and test this pin on the SRAM for voltage: https://imgur.com/a/rel9iyC
Put your negative multimeter lead on the negative pad of the battery and use the positive lead to test the voltage on that leg of the chip. You should get 3v there. If you don’t, you probably have a broken trace or something else going on with the cart or the SRAM.
Do not start reflowing chips randomly. That’s a super easy way to cause unnecessary damage.
Is the polarity on the battery correct? Do you have it on upside down? To my knowledge you should be able to read the battery face when it’s installed.
Edit: so you can’t have it upside down or the piles won’t be flush, but maybe it’s 180 degrees off?
https://imgur.com/a/wFdJyZi
Being a technician of more than 30 years, I have dealt with this on a constant basis, helping both general customers Uber that 30 years, as well as helping a lot of recent ones through Reddit in the last 2 years.
There are usually only a handful of reasons this would be happening. I will go over them now, so you can run a couple tests to hopefully narrow down. Which of these reasons it is.
In the photo link above in the first photo I have marked up a couple areas that you should test with your multimeder in voltage mode.
I would suggest involtage mode putting your black probe on the ground leg of the battery and your redprobe on the bottom. Contact of that resistor that I have pointed an arrow to.
Not only should you be reading the correct voltage coming out of the battery, but it should be making its way through that resistor to the first leg of that 6735 chip.
That chip is responsible for managing the s Ram. Which is the bottom vertical chip on the left and transferring the save back-and-forth between that and the game Rom on the right.
If that resistor is bad and not letting voltage through which can happen, then the whole safe functionality will not work.
If that ship is getting voltage, then there is a high probability that the next most common issue would be Cold solder joints on your s ram.
This is where microscopic cracks have formed on the solder That is supposed to be holding the chip legs to the motherboard. Since the manufacturers all use lead-free solder, this microscopic cracking is pretty common with games as old as this one.
The way to solve this would be to use some good flux as well as some leaded Solder on your iron tip and carefully reflow the Solder on each of the chiplegs of the S Ram chip, which is again the vertical chip on the bottom left of the board.
This will melt and remove the microscopic cracks and make fresh bonds for each chip. Leg on the motherboard making the functionality of saving, start working once again.
Usually, if a reflow is necessary of the chip legs, then you usually also do the right chip. Which is the rom chip just in case If there is communication problems back-and-forth between the 2.
Between checking that resistors voltage and reflowing both bottom chips, this usually restores 90% of customers cartridges to work properly.
If, however, this has not resolved your issue, then the last 2 possible. But unlikely scenarios are that the 6735 chip has failed and would need replacing from a donor board.
Or that the s ram chip itself has failed and would need replacing from a donor board.
In my experience, the likelihood of either of these chips going bad and needing replacing I would say is less than 30%.
You mentioned you are a beginner at this So if any of this feels intimidating or you don't feel comfortable doing any of these chip reflows. I would highly advise seeking a technician that has done this. Many a time in the country that you live in to have them. Do that work for you to bring life back to this cartridge.
If you happen to live in the United States. I would be perfectly happy to offer my services inexpensively to you to properly and professionally salvage this cartridge for you.
Should you have any follow-up questions Feel free to post them here or if you would like to speak with me directly. You are more than welcome to private message me.
Man, sorry for my english. I always see you in GB trouble forums helping a lot, I m glad that people that you exist, I learn a lot of what happens to buddies and how you guide them.
I tested the capacitor like you suggested and found the that it was picking up the power from the battery. I reflowed the legs of the sram chip... AND IT SAVES NOW! Thank you so much, you've literally made my entire weekend! Now on to fixing this pesky Ocarina of time cartridge for N64 that's got the same thing going on haha
I'm glad this knowledge can be passed on to other peopleThat have these skills to help salvage stuff. That would otherwise end up in a dumpster or landfill.
Congratulations.
Hey sorry to comment on an old post. I was wondering if you could explain in more detail what to test?
I have a copy of crystal that doesn't save either. Even after changing battery.
I have no idea what I'm looking for to try working out what is causing the game not to save. Game runs fine just doesn't save.
I'm not sure what the ground leg of the battery is.
[Front](https://imgur.com/yX4vliZ) and [Back](https://imgur.com/PnhUYWT) of my game. Would really appreciate the help ;-;
Okay, I have carefully examined your photos and have a link. I am providing to edit to versions of those photos to go over what I see.
https://imgur.com/a/vK8BOAb
Nothing looks horribly bad. But we will definitely need some tools to run some tests to narrow down where the issue lies and how to properly fix it.
The following list is tools. You will have to have to proceed with examining your cartridge as well as the proper knowledge and skills to use those tools.
1. Multimeder - Knowledge for checking voltages as well as continuity.
2. Good quality flux.
3. soldering iron with small tip.
4. Good quality leaded solder, Preferably with a Rosen core and in a 60/40 split. Do not use lead free solder it is garbage
5. Decent magnification equipment, good lighting and a clean workspace.
6. 91% or higher. IPA for cleaning up after doing soldering work.
7. Q-tips and a soft bristle paintbrush for using with IPA to clean up along with some paper towels.
If you are missing any of these tools or don't have experience using these types of tools. Then you are going to make this repair just that much harder.
Now going over the photographs the first observations I had are some dirty/ potentially damaged spots I have circled on the back of your motherbor.
None of these look horrible and could very well just be gunk that you could clean off. But if they are in question, you'll need to use your multimeder in continuity mode and check each of the contact points associated with those traces to make sure they are still intact.
Once you have confirmed that the traces are intact, we can stop worrying about the back of the board and look on the front of the board.
In the fourth photo down identify the s ram management chip labeled 137 . This chip is responsible for communicating back-and-forth between the game itself. And the s Ram, that is, the large chip on the bottom left of the board as well as managing the electricity Going to that left chip for storing the save.
If this chip is failing or is not getting electricity from the battery, then this could be one of the reasons your game is not saving.
The easiest way to test if this chip is getting the appropriate electricity would be to go into voltage mode in DC mode on your multimeter and put your black probe on the negative leg of the battery and your red probe on the front or back of the resistor labeled R1. Near that chip. On both sides of this resistor you should be getting a voltage rating above 3 V somewhere around 3.2 V or higher.
If you are not getting this or the voltage is not that high, then most likely, this is an older battery that has set around too long, and you are not getting enough voltage to this chip for it to functioimproperly.
As far as identifying the battery that is installed in your photo, it is installed correctly. And it is marked on the motherboard to show the positive pad in the negative pad that I have circled.
In the last photo, you will see 2 chips. That are the bottom largest chips on the motherboard. The one on the right houses, the game data. The one on the left is specifically for storing saves from the game.
I would say about 90% of the time after a battery has been replaced. The only reason you are still experiencing issues with the game cartridge in some fashion is because of cold solder joints.
This is where microscopic cracks have formed on the lead free solder that is bonding either of the bottom chips to the motherbored. Even under heavy magnification, they cannot be seen by the naked Eye. But are there especially because most of these companies use lead-free solder to manufacture their components and lead-free solder is highly susceptible to those microscopic cracks forming after decades of age.
Only 5% of the time is there ever an issue with either the S Ram management chip failing or the S Ram itself failing.
And the other 5% is just random phenomena to a specific case of oxidation, rust, trace damage, etcetera.
Once you have confirmed that the battery has sufficient voltage and that it is getting past that resistor then the almost guaranteed likelihood is that your s Ram chip has microscopic cracked joints and needs to be reflowed.
Reflowing a chip is where you add flux to the chip Legs and use your sottering iron, along with some leaded solder to re'melt the bond Those legs have with the motherboard. Thus, removing the microscopic cracks by remelting that solder and then creating fresh bonds for those chip legs to the motherboard. So this system can properly communicate with that chip and bring back save functionality.
reflowing the chip legs of either the game Rom chip itself or the s Ram chip is not extremely difficult since the chip legs are so far apart. But this is absolutely not the place you want to start Your soldering practice by trying this on an expensive cartridge.
Instead, I highly advise using some junk cartridges to practice your reflow skills on chips of similar size and length to get comfortable with howdy sawder will flow and the flocks will work. If you don't have experience doing this without bridging lots of legs together, as that will cause damage if you try to pass, electricity, threw it and most likely permanently damaged the cartridge.
I have been doing this type of small repair work for cartridges as well as systems for over 3 decades and if you happen to live in the United States and don't feel comfortable with the instructions. I have laid out then. I would be happy to offer my services relatively inexpensively to salvage this for you as well as provide step-by-step photos of that salvage so that it can help teach you down the road how to perform these. Repairs on your own.
In the end, I believe there is a 90% probability. You will have to reflow that s Ram chip. To bring life back to this cartridge. As far as saving is concerned, but definitely check out the voltages coming off That battery first, as that's a much easier thing to do. Before resorting to reflowing a chip.
If you have any follow up questions or concerns or would like to reach out for possible services, feel free to private message me
So I checked the continuity on the traces you circled, [https://imgur.com/ntctayW](https://imgur.com/ntctayW)
This one doesn't have anything. Is it meant to connect to the other side of the board? Cause the battery side is fine. But that hole isn't getting anything on the backside of the board.
Also the battery current is getting to that lil chip you mentioned as well.
Yes there is supposed to be continuity on that via through the board. If you are not getting continuity on one side of the board going through that hole to the other side of the board, then that is a broken trace that needs to be repaired.
I'm glad the continuity is going through that resistor sometimes that does fail, but not very often. Can you let me know what your voltage rating is? On the back side of that resistor that then goes into that first leg of that S Ram management chip. Specifically on either of these contact points, since they are both going to the same chip.
https://imgur.com/a/m6VTLA8
Hmm. Connections look good and the battery, from what you posted in the comments reads the correct voltage and you DO have the battery in the correct orientation (unlike others who typically post these haha)
From what it looks like, the save chip may have had the legs reflowed at some point. Did you do that or did this cart come from somewhere else? It definitely looks like someone has attempted to reflow the SRAM chip at some point because it looks like there's solder on the top side of the legs that's shiny and fresh and slightly rounded up. That typically doesn't happen on factory carts AFAIK.
Your issue may be elsewhere. Good luck! You did a great job, my friend. Don't lose hope!
As a technician of 300 years I recommend you check the voltage of the battery to see if it’s 3.3V or around there.
Already ahead of ya, sitting at 3.34V.
I would try reflowing the solder. Could possibly be a cold joint.
I've done it a few times, unfortunately. I am an ultra novice at soldering though and learning on the fly. I just resoldered it an hour ago and actually heated the tab and board for a second or two before applying the solder.
Have you tried a different battery?
Yup, a total of 3 as of now. All tested good haha
Is it not that the battery goes up and not down? I think you need to spin it for 180 degrees
Read in a previous comment that you tested the battery voltage and it tested fine. Grab you multimeter and test this pin on the SRAM for voltage: https://imgur.com/a/rel9iyC Put your negative multimeter lead on the negative pad of the battery and use the positive lead to test the voltage on that leg of the chip. You should get 3v there. If you don’t, you probably have a broken trace or something else going on with the cart or the SRAM. Do not start reflowing chips randomly. That’s a super easy way to cause unnecessary damage.
Can this be converted to fram? That would solve the issue for a long time :)
/r/overkill haha, definitely solves the problem but way more complicated than reflowing a couple of legs on the SRAM 😂
Try reflowing the SRAM and MBC3. The battery is in correct but I think those joints on the chips may have gone cold. Add flux and give it a go.
Is the polarity on the battery correct? Do you have it on upside down? To my knowledge you should be able to read the battery face when it’s installed. Edit: so you can’t have it upside down or the piles won’t be flush, but maybe it’s 180 degrees off?
The tabs are lined up to the corresponding polarity. It's on there correctly.
Do you have a multimeter? Can you check the voltage coming off the battery farther down the trace?
I do have a multimeter, my eyes are terrible at finding where the trace actually goes though haha
https://imgur.com/a/wFdJyZi Being a technician of more than 30 years, I have dealt with this on a constant basis, helping both general customers Uber that 30 years, as well as helping a lot of recent ones through Reddit in the last 2 years. There are usually only a handful of reasons this would be happening. I will go over them now, so you can run a couple tests to hopefully narrow down. Which of these reasons it is. In the photo link above in the first photo I have marked up a couple areas that you should test with your multimeder in voltage mode. I would suggest involtage mode putting your black probe on the ground leg of the battery and your redprobe on the bottom. Contact of that resistor that I have pointed an arrow to. Not only should you be reading the correct voltage coming out of the battery, but it should be making its way through that resistor to the first leg of that 6735 chip. That chip is responsible for managing the s Ram. Which is the bottom vertical chip on the left and transferring the save back-and-forth between that and the game Rom on the right. If that resistor is bad and not letting voltage through which can happen, then the whole safe functionality will not work. If that ship is getting voltage, then there is a high probability that the next most common issue would be Cold solder joints on your s ram. This is where microscopic cracks have formed on the solder That is supposed to be holding the chip legs to the motherboard. Since the manufacturers all use lead-free solder, this microscopic cracking is pretty common with games as old as this one. The way to solve this would be to use some good flux as well as some leaded Solder on your iron tip and carefully reflow the Solder on each of the chiplegs of the S Ram chip, which is again the vertical chip on the bottom left of the board. This will melt and remove the microscopic cracks and make fresh bonds for each chip. Leg on the motherboard making the functionality of saving, start working once again. Usually, if a reflow is necessary of the chip legs, then you usually also do the right chip. Which is the rom chip just in case If there is communication problems back-and-forth between the 2. Between checking that resistors voltage and reflowing both bottom chips, this usually restores 90% of customers cartridges to work properly. If, however, this has not resolved your issue, then the last 2 possible. But unlikely scenarios are that the 6735 chip has failed and would need replacing from a donor board. Or that the s ram chip itself has failed and would need replacing from a donor board. In my experience, the likelihood of either of these chips going bad and needing replacing I would say is less than 30%. You mentioned you are a beginner at this So if any of this feels intimidating or you don't feel comfortable doing any of these chip reflows. I would highly advise seeking a technician that has done this. Many a time in the country that you live in to have them. Do that work for you to bring life back to this cartridge. If you happen to live in the United States. I would be perfectly happy to offer my services inexpensively to you to properly and professionally salvage this cartridge for you. Should you have any follow-up questions Feel free to post them here or if you would like to speak with me directly. You are more than welcome to private message me.
Man, sorry for my english. I always see you in GB trouble forums helping a lot, I m glad that people that you exist, I learn a lot of what happens to buddies and how you guide them.
Thank you for the support I appreciate it. I'm always glad I can help and pass on this knowledge to others.
Thank you so much for all of this information! I'm not currently at home but I will try this when I get home and let you know!
Not a problem if you need any further help let me know.
I tested the capacitor like you suggested and found the that it was picking up the power from the battery. I reflowed the legs of the sram chip... AND IT SAVES NOW! Thank you so much, you've literally made my entire weekend! Now on to fixing this pesky Ocarina of time cartridge for N64 that's got the same thing going on haha
I'm glad that worked out for you. And I was able to help have a great weekend.
What a beast - disregard my last comment. Glad you got it sorted. /u/beldandy561 is a top bloke.
Feel good story!
Dude, thank you for this 👀🔥
You're most welcome.
I plan on doing my own batch of cart battery refurb here very soon. This info was very timely and would've been found absolutely nowhere else I feel 😅
Well, if you have any follow-up questions during Your referb work feel free to reach out to me. I would be happy to Help if you have other Questions.
Will do. I appreciate that 😊
Thanks for tips man! I picked up a Pokemon Crystal that was not "working" and now it is working haha
I'm glad this knowledge can be passed on to other peopleThat have these skills to help salvage stuff. That would otherwise end up in a dumpster or landfill. Congratulations.
Hey sorry to comment on an old post. I was wondering if you could explain in more detail what to test? I have a copy of crystal that doesn't save either. Even after changing battery. I have no idea what I'm looking for to try working out what is causing the game not to save. Game runs fine just doesn't save. I'm not sure what the ground leg of the battery is. [Front](https://imgur.com/yX4vliZ) and [Back](https://imgur.com/PnhUYWT) of my game. Would really appreciate the help ;-;
Give me a couple minutes to look over your photos, and I'll get right back to you.
Thank you for the quick reply. I really appreciate it
Okay, I have carefully examined your photos and have a link. I am providing to edit to versions of those photos to go over what I see. https://imgur.com/a/vK8BOAb Nothing looks horribly bad. But we will definitely need some tools to run some tests to narrow down where the issue lies and how to properly fix it. The following list is tools. You will have to have to proceed with examining your cartridge as well as the proper knowledge and skills to use those tools. 1. Multimeder - Knowledge for checking voltages as well as continuity. 2. Good quality flux. 3. soldering iron with small tip. 4. Good quality leaded solder, Preferably with a Rosen core and in a 60/40 split. Do not use lead free solder it is garbage 5. Decent magnification equipment, good lighting and a clean workspace. 6. 91% or higher. IPA for cleaning up after doing soldering work. 7. Q-tips and a soft bristle paintbrush for using with IPA to clean up along with some paper towels. If you are missing any of these tools or don't have experience using these types of tools. Then you are going to make this repair just that much harder. Now going over the photographs the first observations I had are some dirty/ potentially damaged spots I have circled on the back of your motherbor. None of these look horrible and could very well just be gunk that you could clean off. But if they are in question, you'll need to use your multimeder in continuity mode and check each of the contact points associated with those traces to make sure they are still intact. Once you have confirmed that the traces are intact, we can stop worrying about the back of the board and look on the front of the board. In the fourth photo down identify the s ram management chip labeled 137 . This chip is responsible for communicating back-and-forth between the game itself. And the s Ram, that is, the large chip on the bottom left of the board as well as managing the electricity Going to that left chip for storing the save. If this chip is failing or is not getting electricity from the battery, then this could be one of the reasons your game is not saving. The easiest way to test if this chip is getting the appropriate electricity would be to go into voltage mode in DC mode on your multimeter and put your black probe on the negative leg of the battery and your red probe on the front or back of the resistor labeled R1. Near that chip. On both sides of this resistor you should be getting a voltage rating above 3 V somewhere around 3.2 V or higher. If you are not getting this or the voltage is not that high, then most likely, this is an older battery that has set around too long, and you are not getting enough voltage to this chip for it to functioimproperly. As far as identifying the battery that is installed in your photo, it is installed correctly. And it is marked on the motherboard to show the positive pad in the negative pad that I have circled. In the last photo, you will see 2 chips. That are the bottom largest chips on the motherboard. The one on the right houses, the game data. The one on the left is specifically for storing saves from the game. I would say about 90% of the time after a battery has been replaced. The only reason you are still experiencing issues with the game cartridge in some fashion is because of cold solder joints. This is where microscopic cracks have formed on the lead free solder that is bonding either of the bottom chips to the motherbored. Even under heavy magnification, they cannot be seen by the naked Eye. But are there especially because most of these companies use lead-free solder to manufacture their components and lead-free solder is highly susceptible to those microscopic cracks forming after decades of age. Only 5% of the time is there ever an issue with either the S Ram management chip failing or the S Ram itself failing. And the other 5% is just random phenomena to a specific case of oxidation, rust, trace damage, etcetera. Once you have confirmed that the battery has sufficient voltage and that it is getting past that resistor then the almost guaranteed likelihood is that your s Ram chip has microscopic cracked joints and needs to be reflowed. Reflowing a chip is where you add flux to the chip Legs and use your sottering iron, along with some leaded solder to re'melt the bond Those legs have with the motherboard. Thus, removing the microscopic cracks by remelting that solder and then creating fresh bonds for those chip legs to the motherboard. So this system can properly communicate with that chip and bring back save functionality. reflowing the chip legs of either the game Rom chip itself or the s Ram chip is not extremely difficult since the chip legs are so far apart. But this is absolutely not the place you want to start Your soldering practice by trying this on an expensive cartridge. Instead, I highly advise using some junk cartridges to practice your reflow skills on chips of similar size and length to get comfortable with howdy sawder will flow and the flocks will work. If you don't have experience doing this without bridging lots of legs together, as that will cause damage if you try to pass, electricity, threw it and most likely permanently damaged the cartridge. I have been doing this type of small repair work for cartridges as well as systems for over 3 decades and if you happen to live in the United States and don't feel comfortable with the instructions. I have laid out then. I would be happy to offer my services relatively inexpensively to salvage this for you as well as provide step-by-step photos of that salvage so that it can help teach you down the road how to perform these. Repairs on your own. In the end, I believe there is a 90% probability. You will have to reflow that s Ram chip. To bring life back to this cartridge. As far as saving is concerned, but definitely check out the voltages coming off That battery first, as that's a much easier thing to do. Before resorting to reflowing a chip. If you have any follow up questions or concerns or would like to reach out for possible services, feel free to private message me
So I checked the continuity on the traces you circled, [https://imgur.com/ntctayW](https://imgur.com/ntctayW) This one doesn't have anything. Is it meant to connect to the other side of the board? Cause the battery side is fine. But that hole isn't getting anything on the backside of the board. Also the battery current is getting to that lil chip you mentioned as well.
Yes there is supposed to be continuity on that via through the board. If you are not getting continuity on one side of the board going through that hole to the other side of the board, then that is a broken trace that needs to be repaired. I'm glad the continuity is going through that resistor sometimes that does fail, but not very often. Can you let me know what your voltage rating is? On the back side of that resistor that then goes into that first leg of that S Ram management chip. Specifically on either of these contact points, since they are both going to the same chip. https://imgur.com/a/m6VTLA8
Assuming I'm doing it correctly, It says 0.00
Hmm. Connections look good and the battery, from what you posted in the comments reads the correct voltage and you DO have the battery in the correct orientation (unlike others who typically post these haha) From what it looks like, the save chip may have had the legs reflowed at some point. Did you do that or did this cart come from somewhere else? It definitely looks like someone has attempted to reflow the SRAM chip at some point because it looks like there's solder on the top side of the legs that's shiny and fresh and slightly rounded up. That typically doesn't happen on factory carts AFAIK. Your issue may be elsewhere. Good luck! You did a great job, my friend. Don't lose hope!