Table of Contents
How to properly disassemble the Game Boy Advance SP?
In this article, we will figure out how to properly disassemble the Game Boy Advance SP without breaking anything. Even though anyone can unscrew the screws, there are a few important points to pay special attention to.
What do we need?
We need two screwdrivers:
- Small Phillips screwdriver -
- Small tri-wing screwdriver -
You can find out which tools are needed and where to buy them in our article: Catalog of tools for console repair.
Tips
When you unscrew the screws, arrange them in separate piles. In fact, all the screws in the original Game Boy Advance SP are different, but in the new case, there are identical screws (for two different places). To avoid confusion, it's better to arrange the original screws in advance to understand where to insert them.
Be extremely careful with the screen ribbon cable! If you damage it, it's irreparable.
You can remove the plastic screen cover and replace it with a new one, but be careful, dust will definitely get in.
Video
First stage
We reach the motherboard and disconnect it from the screen.
Let's start disassembling:
Step 1:
Unscrew the screw from the battery compartment cover. Remove the cover and take out the battery.
Step 2:
Unscrew 6 screws and arrange them in two piles.
Step 3:
Remove the top cover.
Step 4:
Unscrew three screws. The third screw might be under a sticker.
Step 5:
Carefully lift the board from the bottom side.
Step 6:
Lift the board perpendicularly and remove all buttons and the speaker. Don't worry about mixing up the buttons, they are all different and have the right slots, so you won't get confused.
Step 7:
Lower the latches and disconnect the ribbon cable.
Second stage
Disassemble the screen compartment.
Step 8:
There is a screw under the ribbon cable that needs to be unscrewed if we want to fully disassemble the Game Boy Advance SP.
Step 9:
Five screws that hold the top part of the Game Boy Advance SP are behind rubber pads. The pads are glued and need to be pried off with something sharp.
Step 10:
Unscrew 5 screws, and the bottom part remains on the table, while the top part is set aside.
Step 11:
Remove the screen from the bottom part. I strongly recommend cleaning it, as it will definitely be dirty.
Third stage
Properly remove the hinges.
This step is important because the hinges are not included with the new case. So you need to use the old ones. But to do that, you need to remove them correctly.
Step 12:
To remove the hinges, you will need any screwdriver that fits into the gap. The most important thing is not to remove the hinges from the closed position of the Game Boy Advance SP.
From the closed position of the GBA SP, the hinges need to be slightly pushed out. They will easily come out to the distance of the plugs and rest against special protrusions inside.
Step 13:
Remove the plastic covers from the hinges.
Overview
That's it, we've disassembled the Game Boy Advance SP:
