GB Pocket no power after capacitor replacement

[rough sentinel]

After replacing the 4 electrolytic capacitors on my pocket today, it no longer shows any signs of life when it's powered on. Attached photos of how the installation looks
Testing the voltages on the stock power regulator:
VCC is 2.6v (running on rechargeable triple a's)
VDD and VEE starts at ~2.5v and slowly drops to ~2.35v

I've tested continuity of the new capacitors following Gekkio's schematics and confirmed they are all connected to the expected locations:
C29 + has continuity with C30 -, C29 - has continuity with VEE
C30 + continuity with VDD, C30 - continuity with C29 +
C31 is sound, so shouldn't have impact on the system powering on
C32 + continuity with VCC, C32 - continuity with ground

Checked D3 and F1 fuses. both have continuity through them

I've not checked the capacitors prior to installing them as I don't really have the tools to do so. If there is a way to diagnose them on the board I'd love to know

I'm lost on what the problem could be, but it's strange how the system does get supplied half of the required 5v. Perhaps that's a clue for someone more knowledgeable? Any help is appreciated 🙏

[fiery perch]

Please remember to provide as much information as possible including all troubleshooting steps you have already taken. If this is a hardware issue, please provide clear in-focus images of the issue, PCB (circuit board), installation, and any soldering you have done. Help us help you, posts with insufficient information will be deleted

Because this post has the "Game Boy Pocket" tag, we recommend checking out this wiki page https://gbwiki.org/en/consoles/pocket

[scenic otter]

have you tried removing the other regulator there?

[silk dew]

C29 is also bridged with itself which might explain the slow drain.

[rough sentinel]

played with the regulator throughout last week and it was working before doing the recap, so I didn't think it could be the issue

[scenic otter]

if I'm looking at these photos correctly, you have two 5v regulators running in parallel to each other, which is a huge red flag

[rough sentinel]

the VDD pin of the original regulator is removed, so only the new regulator is supplying power to the system

the og regulator is now powering the LED backlight panel

[scenic otter]

are you reading those voltages with the backlight panel connected or disconnected?

[rough sentinel]

yes, all testing is done with it connected

[scenic otter]

see if the voltages are correct with it removed

the idea here is to isolate where the issue is specifically, whether it's the stock regulator, the mod, the other regulator, or the main board

[rough sentinel]

what about the capacitor bridged with itself? Is that the 2nd pic where solder from the positive pad is touching the body of the cap?

voltage reading are exactly the same with the backlight panel removed

[silk dew]

Yeh

[rough sentinel]

no change in voltage with both backlight and regulator out, so I guess that leaves the main board. I did not realize how ugly the cap install was, these photos sure can be zoomed in a lot more than my vaseline vision LOL. Is shorting pads to the body of a capacitor known to cause issues? I dont seem to get continuity between any of the pads and caps themselves

[viral wolf]

https://github.com/Gekkio/gb-schematics/blob/main/MGB-xCPU/schematic/MGB-xCPU.pdf follow the power

[silk dew]

You said yourself it was working fine before the recap, idk

[solid saffron]

with the VDD pin removed plus the add-on regulator removed your system has no VDD5 to power on. the stock regulator can be removed and tested outside the system.

that would determine a regulator or main board fault

[rough sentinel]

yoo I touched up all the capacitor legs and now the VDD pad now reads 5V. Yeah now I gotta put the regulator back in to see if it will power on lol

[silk dew]

Nice, fingers crossed

[scenic otter]

It was probably acting as a resistor with that solder

[rough sentinel]

thanks yall 😭 I really apprecaite the help