The rise of the Virtual Boy repair popularity starting last year into 2026 has been really something else. It has to be the potentially renewed interest from Switch 2 ‘Nintendo Classics’ addition as I had rarely seen one in my shop before then and now I’m seeing them regularly.
Either way, this one came in for the all-too-common lens issue, though in this case just the left eye as the right appeared mostly ok. Left eye displayed a garbled mess of lines and pixels which at least always tells me the lens itself is likely ok and confirms a new ribbon should resolve. Customer also wanted it fully recapped as well!
Started with the problematic left eye, the usual process of carefully slicing the old glue/epoxy and peeling the OEM ribbon off. Then with my knife tip I introduced new solder to not only burn the leftover residue off but also tin all the pads for an easy install of the new ribbons.
I use a piece of Kapton tape for alignment via the center then solder on both outsides of the ribbon, upon one more spot check if it looks good, I then drag up and down the ribbon with the K tip to distribute solder evenly and secure all the plated vias on the Cardosi Eyepatch
Once done and flux all cleaned, rinsed and repeated for the right eye!
I quickly re-attached the new ribbons to the VUE board and confirmed full operation of both eyes with the new ribbons before proceeding with the rest and the good news is that unlike the last VB with missing pixels… this one looked perfect!
Since they didn’t want a Full Service Cleaning I didn’t have to tear the unit down to the IPD/focus knobs, just enough to separate the 3 boards from their respective cables and each other for easy recapping though this still requires lifting the primary chassis out to get the SERVO board out (which is screwed on in two places).
Made quick work of all 3 boards as they are TH caps and not too many in total. While recapping the AMP board I also fluxed and reflowed the speaker connector joints as well as those almost always develop cold joints and can lead to crackling or no audio down the line. My goal is for their console to not require ANY further maintenance for many years which is ideal, so I always do this while in there
Once all 3 boards were recapped and cleaned and I was ready to begin reassembly in reverse order but first I just added a few dabs of grease to the IPD/Focus rails as they often develop really annoying squeaks. If not yet, probably in the future! With some fresh Shin-Etsu that should hopefully avoid that problem!
Got all the boards re-attached and connected and ready for shell closure but gave it a quick test first so I could sign off on the JRG sticker and only have the staging shot and burn-in testing on the bench left!
With the console fully reassembled I wanted to get an after shot so I typically leave the visor off, no stand, and prop it up on the bench about 45 degrees towards me with all overhead and shop lights off and a towel draped over my head and phone camera (underneath the towel).
It’s a PITA to get a decent shot of these lenses in action because of any glare, reflectiveness of the eyes and also the challenge of it focusing on the moving image properly. I found about 1 inch from eye cover at 2X zoom and in burst mode seems to get the best results with my iPhone! The results are pretty staggering, went from unplayable to looking like it did from day 1 at the factory!
Another Virtual Boy saved and another order closed!