Fixing a cracked screw post | Game Boy | Page 1

pallid blade Dec 12, 2022, 7:06 AM

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I have an issue with my GBA shell (aftermarket). One of the screws is not fully tightening rather than freely spinning at a certain torque. The symptom is that the shell doesn't close snugly and the side panel ever-so-slightly wiggles.

What is the most practical way of fixing this? First I was thinking superglue and then drill a small hole, but I'm not convinced that it would hold. Should I just skip to epoxy? Thanks!

pallid blade Dec 13, 2022, 4:22 AM

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Update: Tried superglue, as expected it did not harden nearly enough for this purpose. In the process I noticed that the post is not stripped rather than cracked. I’ve updated the title to match this finding.

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Fixing a cracked screw post

reef flame Dec 13, 2022, 10:49 AM

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Might not be what you want to hear but you should just buy a new shell if this one isn't all too pricy. They cost like ~$10 from FP and beats hotglueing your GBA together. Plastics are notoriously hard to glue/fuse back together so I wouldn't bother trying

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You can look into ABS slurry (or use epoxy as you mentioned yourself) but again, just give up and buy a new shell, it's not going to be worth rigging this one back together imo

Warning with anything related to acetone, it can (and will) almost completely eat away and melt your plastic

static oak Dec 13, 2022, 3:51 PM

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I second buying a new shell. In fact, I'd plan for this regardless of how any repairs work out because it ain't just the screw post that's going to be brittle.

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That being said, I've fixed stuff like this in the past by creating a dam with tape and then just filling what's left of the screwpost with epoxy and then drilling out a new screw hole

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it works well enough but it's time consuming and not as strong as an intact screwpost

pallid blade Dec 13, 2022, 6:36 PM

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Thanks for the advice, I think I’ll take heed and scrap the current one. Thankfully I have some extra shells.

slate hatch Dec 13, 2022, 10:22 PM

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if you have an IPS screen adhered in the shell, you may want to buy a replacement screen along with the new shell.

Removing the screen is difficult and if you mess up, you could ruin it. But ignore this advice if you don't have an IPS in there or if someone has a good way of getting the screen out that they don't mind sharing.

reef flame Dec 13, 2022, 10:25 PM

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I have had luck removing glued-on (double sided taped (if thats a word?)) screens (both ips and tft) with a hot air gun and extreme care. You can buy replacement double sided tape for TFTat HHS or something/also 3d printed brackets for IPS. But it's extremely hard to remove the screens, I agree

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I've done it twice but I'm not a fan of doing it

pallid blade Dec 14, 2022, 1:12 PM

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Thanks for the heads-up, I in fact do have an IPS screen on there but decided it’ll be a problem for Future Me (and screw that guy) once I actually get around to fixing it.

#Fixing a cracked screw post