Ethan.Snyder98 wrote:
Very, very sad to hear something awful like that happening to you, especially after just giving me some great info on my virtual boy’s problem. This is a community I know is full of so many talented, honest, good-hearted, like-minded individuals all sharing an incredible amount of passion and dedication for this underappreciated console, so it’s incredibly disheartening to hear how selfish a couple individuals can be, and how stressful dealing with them can be.
To me it definitely sounds like a dishonest person, no one would refuse to believe a respected reputable member of the community, and start trying to lie if fedex actually screwed up. Someone would only attempt that with the malicious intent to screw the other person over. If fedex did indeed mess up, they might not necessarily work with the buyer, possibly for the fear they might be getting screwed over by a dishonest seller (dealt with a couple of those myself) but they would be as honest as possible, knowing they did nothing wrong. All evidence points to this person trying to scam you, no doubt.
I would try to call both ebay and paypal to talk to a human about this, since there’s a lot to unpack here (and reasoning with an automated service-robot won’t go well) I wish I knew more about this sort of thing, but that’s all I can suggest, really sorry this happened to you.
tbh the world is full of these type of people. i surprised this hasnt happened earlier. the VB community is usually fine (well accept for one that refused to pay me for something else i had found wrong with his console i had fixed) but ive avoided anything beyond ebay just cause there alot of flakes out there like facebook for example. amazingly ive never had an issue on ebay yet. the case is still being reviwed so no results yet. but if he wins i will apeal their decision with the black mail message he sent.
HollowedEmpire wrote:
That really sucks, also sorry you had to deal with such a sub-human. :\ Sadly I don’t have much more to add than that, but just wanted to share some sympathy.
Though, I’m also glad to hear it isn’t deterring you from continuing to repair systems. Definitely an amazing service to offer to the good members of the community. And good idea on limiting the number of consoles you’ll take at a time and sticking to a specific place to conduct business.
there will likely be some small changes i might not be accepting any more than 2 consoles per person after this cause i cant afford to lose 500 like that. i dont make a lot as is. im also going to record a video of packing the item back up with a special mark on the box and tape proofing i didn’t lose it just to be safe.
ive already done this with a game i sold recently for 600 dollars.
mellott124 wrote:
Sorry you’re having this experience. One thing to know is that PayPal and eBay will both screw you in a heartbeat. They almost always side with the buyer. I just had a guy pull something similar with a GPU. He even took it apart and I could show proof. I even had an email from the guy admitting fraud towards the end. Didn’t matter. He got his money back.
ive actually had good luck with ebay as a seller. but i rarely have issues on ebay. i crammed so much detail and proof in the case i ran out of characters and had to shorten it. a few lies looks bad on his end. im not going down with out a fight. wish me luck!
a single solid black line is 100% a dead led. its not fixable by soldering. now multiple lines across the scren is a bad cable/glue issue. that can be fixed by soldering.
if you all are having issues please fell free to contact me as i do a professional VB solder repairs. ive been doing it for 3 years with 100% satisfaction 😛
beersushi wrote:
I don’t suppose anyone has the low-down on anyone that does these repairs in Australia?
My VB unfortunately started having an issue with one display flickering but has now gone completely blank also 🙁 Sound/controller are fine.
Would love to know if there’s anyone in this part of the world fixing them up, I assume postage to the U.S.A. would be horrendous 🙁
lest wrote:
Another satisfied customer. Nesfreak fixed 8 lenses for me, all look spectacular. Clearly he’s a pro, and all 4 units work great (dare I say even better than before the glitching occurred)
Send him your lenses. Don’t second guess it. Just do it.
Thanks again Dave!
so you went wit hthe face down method 😛 nice looking foward to trying these out 😛 will the solder be pre on the pads? if so make sure its leaded and tin 60 40 sodler not lead free sodler. lead free solder can grow tin wiskers
Just an FYI im still fixing consoles and dont plan on stopping any time soon. i get that question alot. so just wanted to clear that up 😛 PM me if you want your console fixed!
foldor wrote:
I recently purchased a Virtual Boy with intent to repair, and have got it working again, however, I’m not too happy with it at the moment. The problems that it had was the entire bottom of the unit must have been sitting in some water at some point because all external connectors (luckily not the cartridge slot) are completely corroded.
When I got it, the corrosion was so bad I couldn’t power it on since the pins for the controller board were too corroded to make a connection. I finally managed to get it to work by desoldering the ports and scrubbing them clean. It was pretty flaky though, so I just jammed some thin stranded wire in the remaining ports I couldn’t get clean enough, and that seems to work for now. It’s not a great fix, and I but it at least proves the rest of the unit is working.
The other part of the system that is corroded is the audio board. It does output sound, but the headphone jack is unusable, and I can’t lower the volume of the speakers since the adjustment wheel isn’t working. The right speaker is also too quiet.
What I’m asking from people here, is what would you do to repair this unit? I’ve looked on eBay for replacement audio/controller boards, but to replace them both would end up costing me about $120 CAD, and that’s not in my price range.
I’ve considered just gutting the controller board and replacing it with something like ethernet which would be easy, but it wouldn’t look very clean. It also doesn’t solve my audio board problem.
Another idea I’ve had is to see if I can 3D print a new plastic replacement for the controller board and replace it entirely. The hard part for me would be doing the 3D modelling as I’ve never attempted that before, and don’t exactly have the skill set for it. It could make an interesting challenge though, and would be something worth sharing if it worked. I can see there’s already 3D models of the female controller port intended for use with extension cables, so that would maybe solve the actually hard part to model. Still doesn’t solve my audio board problem though. I might just need to try and clean that one up, and maybe replace parts?
Thoughts from the community before I do anything else though?
strip it down to the bare metal and scrub it with white vinegar and salt mix. that will remove the rust and corrosion. as for the audio board i might have one that i can sell you but im not sure. other wise id do the same to it with white vinagar and salt if yo ucan solder i would touch the solder up and oil the volume pot to see if yo ucan revive it.
VmprHntrD wrote:
Well I’m not sure if you were sourcing ebay for those parts, but they do come up cheaper. Problem is there’s this one disgusting piece of garbage on there that strips down units and charges exceedingly high prices per part just to stick it to repair people (lost$$found is the ebay name.)
The audio board if itself is fine but the wheel and the phones jack are fubar, you could just try and pop them off, do a thorough cleaning, and if that fails with fresh solder, see if you have a busted trace to bridge, or find another (not necessarily VB exactly) style wheel and phones jack and put them in as replacements. The left or right speakers on those are detachable with its own plugged in little cable and easily removed, again ebay would be best to just watch for a non-clown seller.
Given the few parts, broken units do turn up and they’ll sell for at/under $50 shipped (USD at least) and given what the audio wheel, audio jack, speaker and your bandaid fixed bits cost you could just gut the parts and get it going again with clean OEM pieces.
tell me about it. i have to buy from that seller… even going outside of ebay with her she still charges too much. i have to explain to every one i sell replacement screen to that i dont make up the prices and that is what i buy them for broken. ive thought about just ditching fixing VB consoles and start what shes doing but at a much more reasonable price including pre repaired displays. did you see how much shes wanting for the dang controller port XD its like 50 dollars….
