GameBoy Advance SP battery / AC issue?

[LimeiBook86]

Hi everyone,

I just picked up a GameBoy Advance SP up from the thrift store for pretty cheap. However I noticed something odd, the battery compartment was bulging! :O So I removed the battery which was all puffed up and plugged in the AC adapter for the SP which I had. The system will turn on, but only for a second before shutting off again.

Is a battery required for using the GameBoy? I have my brother's SP around here somewhere. I guess somebody can test it with a normal working SP if they take out the battery and if it'll still power on through the AC adapter. If it's busted I guess it's $10 wasted but, I thought I'd give it a try.

Any help would be great, thanks!
-Steven

[jb143]

Was anything comming out of the battery? There's a reason it bulged out like that. Maybe a short or something.

Probally not, but I wonder if the power supply only functions as a battery charger? If that's the case, then somewhere down the line after Nintendo doesn't sell the batteries anymore then they won't be too playable without a replacement. (Even if you don't use a Lithium-Ion battery, it's max voltage will slowly drop over time making them all die some day)

[LimeiBook86]

The battery appeared fine despite it's bulging nature, I didn't see any leakage or discharge coming out of it. I have a spare DS battery, but I think they're different sizes and won't fit in the GBA SP...

Note: I just tried another AC adapter and it does the same thing, so at least I know it's not the adapter's fault.

[tpugmire]

You can get replacement batteries from a lot of video game stores that carry older used games. Play N Trade carries them for sure (if you have them in your area), but Gamestop and EB won't have them. They are also fairly plentiful on eBay as well.

[LimeiBook86]

Yeah I was looking and saw some batteries on eBay. I found my brother's GBA SP so I'll swap his working battery to my GameBoy to do a test. Then I'll see if it's the system itself or just the lack of battery that is causing issues.

Thanks!

Update: I put a new battery in the SP and it works great, yay!