Recap guide

Recap the Game Boy family

The original, Pocket, Light and Color each have their own board list. The ConsoleMods page points to the list for each board number.

Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.

Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Which board do I have?

Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.

• DMG-001 with DMG-CPU-01 to DMG-CPU-06 (1989-1999) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Board number is visible through the hole for the battery cover clip, so you can read it without opening the case. Capacitors: ConsoleMods lists the DMG as through-hole; a K-Retro DMG kit lists 2x 10uF 16V, 1x 10uF 25V, 2x 10uF 50V, 1x 22uF 10V, 1x 33uF 25V, 7x 100uF 10V and 4x 1uF 50V and does not say which CPU revision it targets. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
• DMG-CPU-07 and DMG-CPU-08 (late DMG) (Low confidence). How to tell: Cost-reduced boards whose chips are covered in epoxy (glop top); same battery clip hole check. Capacitors: No capacitor difference is stated for these two; ConsoleMods only says the first six revisions are largely identical. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
• Game Boy Pocket MGB-001 (1996-2000; MGB-CPU-01, MGB-ECPU-01, MGB-LCPU-01/02) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Revision can be read under the left battery spring; LCPU boards add the power LED. Capacitors: ConsoleMods lists the Pocket as using SMD capacitors; no per-revision list was found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
• Game Boy Light MGB-101 (1998, Japan) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Single hardware version, no board revisions documented. Capacitors: ConsoleMods lists the Light as using SMD capacitors. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
• Game Boy Color CGB-001 (CGB-CPU-01 to CGB-CPU-06, 1998-2003) (Low confidence). How to tell: Board number is under the left battery spring, and CGB-CPU-01 carries no marking. Capacitors: ConsoleMods lists the Color as SMD; a board map for CGB-CPU-02 shows 3 mapped caps, C32 100uF 6V, C35 22uF 16V and C38 100uF 4V, and calls -02 a minor cost and layout tweak over -01. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source

Where to start

Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.

• Quiet or crackly sound (Low confidence). iFixit answerers say a Game Boy with a quiet speaker should get a new speaker first. Check the headphone jack and the cartridge pins before you order capacitors. Source
• Which capacitors? (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods has capacitor kit lists for the DMG, Pocket, Light and Color, and says the Color and Pocket use surface-mount parts. It does not rank which fail first. Source

Tips, tales and maybes

Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.

• Tip: DMG kit list as one poster gave it (Low confidence). A chipmusic forum post says the DMG-01 board takes 17 leaded electrolytics: four 100uF 10V, two 100uF 6.3V, one 33uF 25V, seven 1uF 50V, one 10uF 25V and two 10uF 16V, and that the negative stripe settles polarity even if the legs are already trimmed. This is one forum post only, so check your board. Source
• Watch out: No picture or blotchy backlight after a kit (Low confidence). In a chipmusic thread about Game Boy recap and backlight kits, the first suspect for a picture that vanished or a blotchy backlight was a cap fitted backwards. Crossed ribbon pins and damaged traces came next. Source
• Story: Game Boy Color with no speaker sound (Low confidence). In an iFixit thread on a Pikachu-edition Color that played through headphones but not the speaker, replies listed C14, C27 and C38 as audio-path caps to test, along with the amp IC, volume wheel contacts and a ground at a test point. One person fixed it by bridging a broken ground connection with wire. Source
• Watch out: Bigger audio-grade caps may not fit (Low confidence). A DMG audio-quality project swapped the CPU-board caps for audio-grade parts and found some of the larger caps it ordered did not fit the intended spots. It is a mod writeup, not a repair guide, but it is a reminder to check height before ordering. Source
• Story: Color with no image after a screen swap (Low confidence). An iFixit answer on a Color with no image after a screen replacement pointed at a damaged or missing cap on the U5 power regulator board, which supplies the display rails; the asker had lost the cap while soldering. It suggested measuring a matching cap (reportedly 0.1uF) or buying a replacement board, and warned that IPS kits need different voltages. Source
• Tip: Static when turning the volume, weak channel (Low confidence). In a chipmusic thread, static on volume changes was put down to a dirty volume pot, cleaned with isopropyl on a swab, and a weak channel was sent to a solder-joint check on the pot before any cap kit. One poster said a background hum with no music playing is normal. Source

Before you start

• Find your board number (DMG-CPU, MGB, CGB) and use that list. They are not the same.

Manuals and technical documents

Service manuals, schematics and datasheets for this machine, kept in our own library. Check your own board and part numbers against them.

• Game Boy Technical Manual - Rev. 11-91 (Service manual)
• NOA Independent Servicer Technical Training Workbook Rev. 11-90 (Service manual)

All 2 documents for Game Boy family in the library

Circuits 1

Circuits we redrew in one plain style, with the parts listed. Our own drawing from the source diagram, so check it against the original before you build anything.

Guides we used

This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.

• Game Boy: Capacitor Kit (List) by ConsoleMods wiki, CC BY. Links to the capacitor specs for the DMG, Pocket, Light and Color.
• Recapping various Game Boy players (Write-up) by HitmanMcC. A hands-on account across several models.

The ConsoleMods Game Boy capacitor page, content under Creative Commons Attribution unless noted.

DMG LCD-06 board

Some of these sit under the LCD module. Console5 advises against removing the module: cut the old leads close to the body and solder the new part to the stubs. Its 2023 kits use ceramic replacements for some of these.

DMG-CPU-06 main board

Six capacitors on the main board.

DMG power jack board

Two capacitors on the jack board.

DMG DC converter, early gray models

One capacitor. Console5 lists it with no reference number.

DMG DC converter 2, later models (including Play It Loud)

Three capacitors, listed with no reference numbers.

Game Boy Pocket MGB-LCPU-02

Four capacitors. Console5 gives 6 V for the 100 and 330 uF parts.

Game Boy Color CGB-CPU

Only three capacitors. C38 is a low 4 V part, so a 6.3 V one is the usual replacement.

Shopping list

27 capacitors in all, grouped by value. Buy a few spares.

• 7 x 1 µF, 50 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 5 x 100 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 3 x 33 µF, 25 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 3 x 100 µF, 6 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 2 x 10 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 2 x 100 µF, 6.3 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 10 µF, 25 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 22 µF, 10 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 22 µF, 16 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 100 µF, 4 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay
• 1 x 330 µF, 6 V (check your board): Amazon · eBay

Console5 capacitor kits for this machine

Console5 sells ready-made capacitor kits. Kits come in different versions, so match the board number in the kit name to yours and check the listing before you buy.

• Game Boy DMG 01 Cap Kit
• Game Boy Color Cap Kit

Skip the sourcing

• Ready-made kit: Amazon · eBay
• Already recapped: Amazon · eBay

While you are in there

• Need the machine itself?: Amazon · eBay
• Games for it: Amazon · eBay
• While it is open: Amazon · eBay

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links only search by name. Disclosure

Step by step

1. Photograph both sides of the board before you touch anything. Zoom in on every capacitor. The photo is your map when you are three hours in.
2. Unplug it, take out the batteries and let it sit. Old power supplies and CRT parts can hold a charge. If your machine has a tube, leave the tube and its board to a professional.
3. Open it up and keep the screws sorted. A muffin tin or an egg carton works. Different screws go in different holes, and the holes never forgive you.
4. Look for leaks. Clean any sticky residue off with isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush. A leaked capacitor leaves brown crust and can eat copper traces. Look at the traces under it, not only the part itself.
5. Mark the polarity of every capacitor on the photo before it comes off. On an electrolytic, the stripe marks the negative leg. The board usually shows a half-shaded circle or a bar for the same spot.
6. Remove the old capacitors one at a time. Surface mount: add fresh solder to both ends and rock the part off, or use flux and a low-melt alloy. Through-hole: heat one leg at a time and clear the hole with wick or a pump.
7. Clean the pads and check for lifted pads or damaged traces. Clean flux off with isopropyl. A bad pad needs a jumper wire, not hope.
8. Fit and solder the new capacitor, matching polarity. Same capacity, same or higher voltage, and it has to physically fit. Work from the smallest parts up.
9. Clean the flux off and look at every joint. A good joint is shiny and shaped like a tiny volcano. A dull blob or a ball is a cold joint: reflow it.
10. With a multimeter, check for shorts across the power rails before you power it on. Use the continuity or resistance setting. A reading near zero means stop and look for a solder bridge.
11. Power it up and test everything: video, sound, controls, the lot. If something is wrong, check polarity first. It is the most common mistake and the easiest fix.

Tools

• Temperature-controlled soldering station. Steady heat so you do not cook pads. Most recaps are done between 320 and 350 C. Top: Hakko FX-951 · Mid: Hakko FX-888D · Budget: Pinecil
• Good solder. Rosin-core 63/37 flows and looks right. It is cheap and it matters. Kester 44 63/37
• Flux. Flux is what makes old joints let go and new joints flow. MG Chemicals flux pen · Chip Quik flux syringe
• Low-melt alloy (for surface mount). Melts old solder on both ends of a surface mount part at once, so it lifts off cleanly. Chip Quik SMD1
• Desoldering tool. Clears the old solder out of through-hole pads. Top: Hakko FR-301 · Mid: Engineer SS-02 pump · Budget: Solder wick
• Fine tweezers. For holding small surface mount parts exactly where you want them. ESD-safe tweezers
• Board holder. A third hand for the board, so both of yours are free. PanaVise circuit board holder
• Magnification. You cannot fix what you cannot see. Surface mount parts are tiny. Top: Stereo microscope · Mid: Head visor · Budget: Lighted magnifier
• Multimeter. Continuity, shorts and rail voltages. The one test that saves boards. Top: Fluke 117 · Mid: Fluke 101 · Budget: AstroAI
• ESR and capacitor tester. Checks old capacitors and your new ones before they go in. Top: Peak Atlas ESR70 · Budget: LCR-T7
• Isopropyl alcohol (99%) and a brush. For cleaning leaked goo and flux. Use the high-percentage kind. MG Chemicals 99.9% isopropyl
• Brass tip cleaner. A clean tip transfers heat. A dirty one does not. Hakko 599B
• Fume extractor. Pulls the smoke away from your face. Hakko FA-400 · Budget: Small bench fan
• Precision screwdrivers. Most old gear uses a mix of Phillips, Torx and security bits. iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit
• Kapton tape. Heat-proof tape to protect parts that sit close to the one you are changing. Kapton tape

Safety

• Good airflow, or a fume fan. Solder smoke is not for breathing.
• Safety glasses on. Solder spits and clipped legs fly.
• Iron in its stand when you are not holding it. Know where the cord is.
• Touch bare metal first, or use a wrist strap. Static kills old chips.
• No tube, no mains power supply. Leave those to a professional.
• Wash your hands after, especially if you used leaded solder.

Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.

More

• All recap guides
• The interactive Recap Bench
• Fix a dead vintage computer
• Game Boy (Japan) on the timeline
• Game Boy (Europe) on the timeline
• Game Boy Light on the timeline
• Game Boy Color on the timeline