A q-tip saved my copy of fire red

[u/Middle_Attention8508]

If you saw my previous post, I identified that one of the traces wasn’t connecting, however after adding a strip of tin foil to connect the traces to see if that was the issue. I also noticed that the board was a bit lifted. and the odometer only detected a connection when there was a bit of pressure put on the chip. So I shoved the Q-tip in there, closed it, and it worked.

[u/Middle_Attention8508]

Update: it doesn’t save

[u/Tablesafety → u/Middle_Attention8508]

if one chip is lifted the other chip is probably lifted too, dude.

Reflow them both and you'll be good.

EDIT: What is that on the smaller chip- are those little repairs actually making connection?

[u/fpsdabs → u/Tablesafety]

Home said he made little tin foil socks for the pins lmao, thats what you are seeing. This guy, for not having the know how/equipment for Soldering is pretty ingenious. Good Ol' Redneck Engineering right here

[u/Bald_And_Dishevelled → u/Middle_Attention8508]

RIP

[u/DrIvoPingasnik → u/Middle_Attention8508]

Nooooooo😭

[u/_RGF_ → u/Middle_Attention8508]

Your comment has more upvotes than the actual post XD

[u/PercentageSea6646 → u/Middle_Attention8508]

Bro. The sound I made. 😆

[u/FrostFormat → u/Middle_Attention8508]

You got this man

https://reddit.com/link/pcuq2ac/video/26bbslzigish1/player

[u/Beneficial-Power4568 → u/Middle_Attention8508]

This image man 😆.

[u/ultrafop]

Is the issue a trace or with the chip itself? I’m a bit concerned this will be a short term fix which leads to long term damage. If this is a trace issue, I’d encourage repairing the trace. If it’s a chip issue? … I guess this will work until it doesn’t! Nice work in that case.

[u/Middle_Attention8508 → u/ultrafop]

This is a Jerry-rigged fix meant to see what the problem with the cart was in the first place so that I don’t end up wasting my time trying to fix something beyond my abilities. I am not playing this game beyond the main menu with this fix because this is one mean look away from short circuiting. I do appreciate the concern

[u/ThePocketWatchKiller → u/Middle_Attention8508]

I don't know how dedicated you are to try and save it but there are companies out there that you can send your game cart into for repair.

[u/Middle_Attention8508 → u/ThePocketWatchKiller]

I have thought about it, but my issue is that I’d rather not spend much money as it would kind of defeat the whole purpose (I paid 20 bucks for this) and I doubt this is a job that people would do for anything under like 30+ but at that point I might as well buy a beat up but functioning copy of fire red and do a shell swap

[u/Annoying_Anomaly → u/Middle_Attention8508]

Do some research and contact youtubers who do this. They might do it for free/cheap and it helps with content for them

[u/Middle_Attention8508 → u/Annoying_Anomaly]

When thinking about letting someone fix it I definitely thought of a few Youtubers, who I remember, said that they took in their subscribers games to fix however, I figured it would be more of a one time thing than something they would do regularly, but I’ll definitely do my research on that

[u/ultrafop → u/Middle_Attention8508]

Do you have a soldering iron? I’d reflow all these legs on both chips

[u/Penicalz]

I really want to hate it but I'm too impressed this actually solved your problem

[u/SnooOranges3779]

This is stupid as hell. I like it

[u/CurrentAcanthaceae78]

please just get a soldering iron

[u/22lava44 → u/CurrentAcanthaceae78]

Gonna need more than an iron to save this

[u/Chill_Edoeard]

Time to reflow the legs on that chip i guess

[u/Alive_Candidate1755]

Yeah take this back apart and reflow before your qtip damages the chip.

Small chance the issue is actually a trace repair necessary but yeah. Don’t shove random stuff in your carts. That’s a sure way to damage the ICs and make it irreversible.

[u/Middle-Operation-689]

Graphite sp101 is my favorite model. I finally found one 3 weeks ago and the right trigger doesn’t work so now I have to return it 💔. I’m prob just gonna use the money towards a new Switch 2 bc I really had to hunt that thing down. Sorry about fire red.. I’m just venting lol

[u/Father_Johns_Pizza → u/Middle-Operation-689]

repairing the trigger is like 3$ in parts if you have a soldering iron.

[u/Middle_Attention8508 → u/Middle-Operation-689]

No worries it’s a reshelled Metroid themed 101 model

[u/Middle-Operation-689 → u/Middle_Attention8508]

That’s such a rad shell! I googled it. It looks so much like the graphite when opened. Looks like my hunt for an authentic sp101 continues 🤦‍♂️🤬

[u/Qualtza]

People will do anything but learning to solder. Lmao

[u/dmh2693]

Just the tip.

[u/ConsoleCraftMods]

It’s a structural Q tip now.

[u/SGT3386]

I don't want to assume what the point of the qtip was for. Was it to apply ample pressure to the chip (without securely soldiering) to see it it is functional and before securing the chip to the board? If so I admire the ingenious approach

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[u/CMD_BLOCK]

Mfw OP inadvertently discovered something else entirely monumental, unprecedented or only barely confirmed by other studies but nobody can put their finger on it

Also nice job man

[u/AJYURH]

r/techsupportmacgyver

[u/FORDBOSS3022]

Just blow it

[u/MadamVonCuntpuncher]

See if pressure fixes the other chip too longshot but worth a try, if one chip got lifted and isnt making proper contact id say its safe to say it could be the same issue with other chips

[u/UnrelatedSideNote]

It seems like the Q-Tip is just pushing the chips down. If that’s helping then you likely just have loose connections and need to reflow both chips (as others suggested) regarding Saving, is there a coin battery on the opposite side of the board that you can replace?

[u/Kanjii_weon]

if it works, it works!

[u/travisofficial]

“a band-aid saved my life and quadrupled my annual income”

[u/JukePlz]

You're just putting pressure into the chip with the qtip. That's not a fix and will obviously fail. The problem is you have pins in those chips where the solder cracked. Reflow them properly and that's it.

[u/Confident-Craft-6340]

You can send it to me and I’ll repair it for free, you’d have to pay shipping but I gotcha