These are Worth $400 - IF I Can Fix Them!
Summary
TLDRThe video follows a repairman fixing two broken Nintendo 3DS XL consoles. The first 3DS wouldn't read game cards, so he replaces the damaged game card slot. The second 3DS had an unresponsive 'A' button that required hard pressing to work, so he takes it apart to clean and realign the button. After reassembling both consoles and testing them, the repairs are successful, transforming the broken 3DS systems into functional consoles worth around $200 each.
Takeaways
- 😀 The video is about fixing two broken Nintendo 3DS XL consoles.
- 👾 One 3DS XL won't read game cards, the other has an unresponsive A button.
- 🛠️ The first 3DS XL's game card slot is damaged and needs to be replaced.
- 🔧 The system board needs to be removed to replace the game card slot.
- 👍 The new game card slot is soldered in and the system works again.
- 🎮 The second 3DS XL's A button is dirty and intermittently unresponsive.
- 🧹 Cleaning the button contacts fixes the unresponsive A button.
- 💡 Removing and reattaching the button sticker helps improve contact.
- 💰 The fixed consoles can sell for around $200 each.
- 🤝 The video demonstrates fixer skills like soldering and cleaning.
Q & A
What were the issues with the two Zelda 3DS XLs?
-One 3DS XL had a damaged game card slot that wasn't reading games. The other had an unresponsive A button that needed to be pressed very hard to work.
What tools and supplies did the person use to fix the 3DS XLs?
-They used a ph00 screwdriver, soldering iron, solder wick, tweezers, isopropyl alcohol and a hot air soldering station.
How did they fix the damaged game card slot?
-They desoldered the damaged slot from the motherboard and replaced it with a new one by soldering it into place.
What was likely causing the unresponsive A button?
-Built up finger grease/debris inside the button mechanism was likely preventing proper contact.
How did they fix the A button?
-They disassembled the 3DS, cleaned the button mechanisms, removed and reapplied the button pad to allow the buttons to make better contact.
Were there any indications of liquid damage inside the 3DS XLs?
-No, both system boards looked clean with no signs of liquid damage visible.
What challenge did the person encounter when reassembling the 3DS XL?
-Getting the delicate ribbon cables reconnected properly without damaging them.
How much are the repaired special edition Zelda 3DS XLs worth?
-They said each one should bring about $200 if they are able to successfully fix them.
What precautions did they take when removing the button pad sticker?
-They slowly peeled it off while applying heat to minimize any damage to the sticker so it could be reapplied.
Why did they remove and reapply the button pad sticker?
-So the buttons would make contact at slightly different spots which could help resolve unresponsive buttons.
Outlines
😀 Taking Apart a Broken 3DS to Fix the Game Slot Pins
The first 3DS XL has a broken game card slot from bent and damaged pins. The repairer takes the device apart, removing screws and ribbons to detach the motherboard. They use solder wick to remove solder and replace the entire game slot which has been destroyed. After cleaning up solder points, they solder on a new game slot and reassemble the device.
😀 Cleaning and Testing 3DS Buttons to Fix Unresponsive A Button
The second 3DS XL has an unresponsive A button requiring hard presses to work. The repairer opens the device and cleans debris from buttons, using isopropyl alcohol. They carefully remove the button membrane sticker, clean the contacts, and precisely reattach the sticker. After reassembly, the A button works normally with light presses, likely due to cleaned contacts.
😀 Reassembling the 3DS systems and Testing the Repairs
After reassembling both 3DS devices, the repairer tests them. The first 3DS successfully reads game cards, indicating the new game slot works. The A button on the second 3DS responds normally to light presses, showing the cleaning fixed the issue. Both should sell for good prices since they are special editions in great condition.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡repair
💡game slot
💡ribbon cable
💡solder
💡button pad
💡adhesive
💡debris
💡finger cheese
💡hot air station
💡resale value
Highlights
The Zelda 3DS XLs are worth about $200 each but they're broken, so only if I can fix them
One 3DS has a bad A button, the other won't read games. Let's take them apart to see what's wrong
The game slot is badly damaged with bent and broken pins. We'll need to replace the whole slot
I'll remove the game board to replace the slot cleanly without melting nearby components
With the old game slot removed, I'll install a new one and solder it into place
The ribbon cable connections are tricky - that's the hardest part of reassembly
The A button on the second 3DS needs to be pressed very hard to work. Let's open it up
There's some sticky residue around the A button. I'll clean the buttons thoroughly
I decided to remove the button sticker gently to inspect underneath - risky but necessary
After cleaning and precise reapplication of the sticker, the button works great again
The fixed 3DS systems could bring over $200 each. Handheld repairs are worthwhile
Replacing game slots and cleaning buttons revived these broken Nintendo 3DS XLs
Ribbon cable connections are the trickiest part of 3DS reassembly
Thorough cleaning and repositioning the button sticker fixed the unresponsive A button
These rare Zelda editions in good condition could sell for even more than $200 each
Transcripts
these two special edition Zelda 3DS XLs
are worth about $200 each but they're
both broken so that's only if I can fix
them this one has a bad a button this
one won't read games let's get them
apart and see if we can figure out
what's wrong and we can immediately see
what the problem is here there is a
bunch of these pins inside that are bent
and broken so we need to either replace
the slot or those pins to do that we
have to get it apart so we'll take off
the battery cover by removing oh that is
really tight need to make sure I have a
bit that fits perfectly in there there
we go I'm using a ph0 the double zero I
thought was going to work better but the
zero actually fits in there better
so okay and Battery trying to tell if
somebody has taken this apart before I
feel like they must have but oh yeah
these screws are almost stripped out so
somebody has definitely been into this
before hopefully they didn't mess
anything up worse than it needs to be so
putting a lot of pressure down as we
turn to hopefully not strip them out any
more than they already are this is going
to be a hard
one all right got
it one more come
on it's spinning a little bit come on oh
man just slipped come on there we go I
got to see if I have some better screws
for this these things are not in good
condition all right
now we should be able to get the bottom
casing off but don't pull too hard we've
got two ribbon cables attached right
here one
there and one there wow this game slot
has been
distroyed so when I was first looking at
this I was hoping I could just replace
these pins that were bad in here but
unfortunately it looks like pretty much
every single pin is bad the whole game
slot is bent there it's been cut away
way here so I think probably the best
move here is going to be to replace this
entire game slot and one of the
advantages of just replacing the pins is
you don't have to remove the entire
board you can just do that all right
here but enable to do this in a way that
I'm not going to be melting like this
post right here and this post because we
got to get all the solder off I think
the best thing to do is going to be to
remove this board so I'm going to get
that done and then we'll see what it's
going to take to replace this thing
these ribbon cables are kind of a pain
to hook back
up but it's going to be worth it just to
have this board out so I am going to do
it anyway and with all the screws out we
can remove the
board and flip it up to get this last
ribbon cable on the bottom
side there we go and now we have the
board removed so these are mounted down
by four main mounting pins this one this
one this one and this one there's a
bunch of solder on each of these so what
I'm going to do is come through with
some solder Wick and suck some of that
up and then probably what I'll do is use
my pick to kind of pry up on the board
gently but enough to pull it away while
I heat up the mounting pin and that
should make it so I can gently pull up
on this game slot and start getting it
pulled away from the board once that's
done we just need to remove all of these
pins I might remove them manually but I
also might flip the board over and heat
it from the bottom side with my hot air
soldering station that will allow all of
these pins to heat up at once and the
game slot to just drop away but let's
start by removing the solder from these
pins so we can start to get this game
slot lifted
[Music]
up
[Music]
okay and that worked pretty well that
took a little bit longer than I'd like
but really not too bad and I'm going to
smooth out some of these solder pads
here there we
go now all we need to do is install the
new game slot so I'm going to line up
these
pads and then I'm going to solder on
each one of these mounting pads and I'm
going to push down on it while I'm doing
that that'll make sure that everything
is right down on the board where it
needs to be there is two locating pins
one right there and one right there so
we need to make sure those stay where
they're supposed to and then we can get
this soldered
on
[Music]
and here we go how do these joints look
the mounting pin looks great oh yeah
those are soldered on really well those
are nice and solid no worries there
let's get this thing installed and see
if it works now now the first thing we
have to do is probably the most
difficult part of this whole
assembly we have to to get this ribbon
cable into this connector I use a pair
of metal tweezers which I don't
recommend that's just how I'm used to
doing it and I flip it up that way push
it in push the Locking tab down and
there we go now we can flip the board
down make sure and get this ribbon cable
out right here come here there we
go okay all right so I flip it around
like this this
now using my same pair of tweezers kind
of pull this down like
that just like that and I push it into
the
connector almost had it it's been a
while since I've done one of
these okay try this
again and
to the
connector there we go locking tab down
and then this one is a little easier
just push it in with your fingers
locking tab down okay that's the hardest
part now I'll probably speed up this
part and get the rest done but I'll
speed it up so you don't have to watch
it all in slow
motion
[Music]
there we go did we forget
anything hopefully not we'll find out
once it's all back together I guess and
there's one other thing that I used to
always forget on
these tell me if you see it in the
comments these
guys can't even tell you how many times
I've forgotten to put these in and
having to take it all back apart just to
slide those in all right now back H how
does this thing go together front goes
down then the back then it snaps in
there we go all looks
good okay just the bottom case screws
then the
battery then the bottom plastic and we
can test it I'm not going to show all of
that before we test it let's move on to
number two and see if we can get this a
button working and let me show you
what's wrong first and here we are with
3DS number two if I press the a button
it doesn't do anything unless I press it
really hard all the other buttons you
just have to kind of press like normal
this one you have to press super hard so
I think I know probably what's wrong but
we got to take it all apart and have a
look at the board to figure it out for
sure I'm taking this thing apart I keep
thinking that there could be some liquid
damage or something in here I mean so
far it looks great I don't see any any
indications that there is liquid damage
but let's
see okay actually not bad get this
ribbon cable released and then we can
have a look at this board okay so that's
the a button there was a little piece of
debris there but I don't know it didn't
look too bad so that would also be the a
button right
there the board looks pretty good I
don't know it doesn't look too bad at
all let's have a look at the button
itself
and H there's a little bit of debris
there it's certainly not
sticky oh we got a little bit of got a
little bit of stickiness around here
some finger cheese so we need to clean
that out might as well just clean all
those buttons while we're here now
sometimes because of how these buttons
work there's a little bit of copper here
that can erode away so it is possible
that that's going on I can't tell but I
don't see any indication that that is
what's going on so I hesitate to remove
this sticker you can get more of these
and I think I have some around somewhere
but I don't know where they are right at
the moment so I hesitate to remove this
one because once a lot of times once you
remove it then you can't get it back on
correctly so I'm not sure that I want to
go there the other thing is that the a
button definitely has some finger cheese
on it the pad is a little bit dirty so
it is possible that that's the only
thing going on I don't know let's get
this thing cleaned off and think about
what we need to do next just trying to
decide if I need to remove that that
button pad not the button Pad but the I
don't even know what it's called plastic
piece that has the buttons on
it just going to use my pick to clean
this up and then of course some
isopropyl
alcohol there we
go and that is doing pretty good let's
check some of these other ones that
one's
good that one's good okay these actually
are pretty clean other than oh the b
button's a little dirty it's not too bad
but might as well clean it while we're
here now the button
pad okay now I think honestly to feel
good about this I think I do just need
to remove this sticker right here I just
need to do it in a way that is not going
to cause a problem I need to try and
lift it very gently and
slowly and not bend it I feel like if I
put this back together and it doesn't
work I'm going to be kicking myself for
not just removing that okay here we
go I might need to heat this a little
bit not a lot I don't want to melt it
hopefully enough to get it to get the
adhesive to loosen a little bit
oh there we
go we got it coming up
now okay just need to carefully go
around
it there we
go this gives me a little bit of hope we
can do it without causing too much
damage there we go come
on these look really clean so
far okay
and really not too much going on under
here there's a little bit of Mark there
there's some marks up here but not too
bad um I'm going to go ahead and just
clean this all really well get any
residue off of these things and hope for
the
best let's clean the actual buttons off
without getting too much on the
adhesive okay I think that's
good now how was it it was about right
there
[Music]
so got to line this up just
perfect how it
was how's that look
almost it's not quite right though oh
that is pretty close right there a
little bit over that way it's a lot more
difficult than it looks I'll tell you
that
much okay that's pretty good there okay
I think we got it okay now I'm going to
start up my hot air station again we're
going to heat this all
up and push down on it and hopefully
it'll be like we never even took it
off okay that looks pretty good it's
stuck on there nicely buttons feel good
the other advantage of removing this is
when I put it back on it's not going to
be exactly in the same place so these
little buttons are going to hit on the
copper pad on the board in a slightly
different place so I'm hopeful that
that's going to take care of this
problem I'm going to get this thing back
together and then I'll come back once
it's done and we'll test it all right
let's go back to number one and test the
game slot first we've got a game right
there ready to go let's push it in and
see what
happens and there we go let's just press
on it make sure it starts up all right
and the game is starting up let's go to
number two and see how this a button
works now I'm going to just barely press
it oh yeah that works great that feels
so nice like I barely pressed that so I
was able to fix these two Nintendo 3DS's
pretty easily and these should bring at
least $200 each these are in great
condition so they might even bring in
more than that if you like this type of
video where I'm fixing broken handhelds
you'll probably like the video where I
bought 44 broken handhelds I'll leave
that video right up on your screen now
so you can come hang out with me over
there and see how many of those 44 I was
able to fix thanks so much for watching
today and I hope you have a good
[Music]
one
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