The leapster 2 finally came in the mail yesterday. Said it was in working condition in the description but feel like that's the understatement of the year. It turns on only if it's plugged into the wall with the wall charger. When I got it out of the box couldn't get it to turn on at all. I cleaned the battery compartment thoroughly with 90% rubbing alcohol & also an eraser ironically. Like I said turns on if plugged into wall. Should I take it apart& clean the mother board with 90% rubbing alcohol as well. Wanted to use this on a 8 hour long car trip tomorrow but guessing I'm taking my 3ds instead for tomorrow. I like my 3ds but got the leapster 2 because different game system all together. I like variety lol. I'm already talking to the seller. Not sending it back for $20 not even worth it. I did manage to test the 30+ leapster games with the game system turning off at random. Would cleaning the motherboard help to get rid of dust or debree? My mind is racing with different ideas. Want to use it without having to have it plugged in all the time. 🤦♀️ Thank you for taking the time to read this. If anyone has any ideas let me know~ ✌️ Should I bother buying a car charger for it. I know it's not going to get here by tomorrow. Probably going to have to buy a car charger for it at some point anyways~ 🤦♀️
@Barbiegurl777
One thing to remember, Leapster was an old product since 2000's era and it was very niche gaming device so I'm afraid you will not find the answer as peoples here don't even play or care about Leapster. Only me that the first people heard about Leapster and unfortunately I didn't play that device either.
@Barbiegurl777 Unfortunately you probably won’t find many useful answers here. I would recommend Googling your problem instead; maybe there’s a YouTube video showing the problem
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@Barbiegurl777 sounds like the battery does not hold its charge. You can try replacing the internal battery or buying a battery pack. These can be found in eBay as well as third party batteries that work with leapster 2. If it’s for a car trip short term solution could be a travel adapter to have it plugged via 12v.
Good luck
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Hope you enjoy your trip. I’d say 1UP Mario is on the right path here. I’ve purchased several Leapfrog devices over the years, and every last one of them experienced battery failure in short order; except for the one device that runs on disposable batteries. When they die, they won’t take a charge at all, and they also don’t work on a pass through. When the batteries go, it seems like they go so thoroughly that they will not charge at all. Hope you can figure it out. Good luck and happy gaming.
Your a real ray of sunshine aren't you?~ 😉🤣 I'm aware of it being out in the early to mid 2000 era. I saw leapfrog, leapster commercials on TV back then but at the time especially between 2001 & 2003 I was moving from the game boy color to the original GBA. At the time it didn't dawn on me to get the leapster back then but it did have my curiousity at the time to wonder what it did exactly.
I did try googling it but it comes up with alot of different things to put mildly. I did look on YouTube as well. Found a few videos of people taking there leapster 2 apart for cleaning from the inside out. I did the same with my leapster 2 a few hours ago. Took everything apart meticulously used 91% rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) & quite a few qtips. Got the plastic parts in hot dawn soapy water & scrubbed at it with a hello kitty tooth brush. Cleaned the shell, button's, motherboard (rubbing / isopropyl alcohol). The game system is clean inside & out now. The only thing I don't have are the metal rods connected to a box to test different areas on the motherboard to pin point the exact problem with it. I'll probably get another one next month hopefully not the same issues if so I'll just chalk it up to it is what it is then. Going to read some reviews on Amazon to see if others had the same issues or if mine is just odd. 🤷♀️✌️
I know this will sound dumb but what does the internal battery look like. I'm assuming it's on the motherboard just not sure where. Will have to open it up & look closer again lol~ 🤦♀️🤣 Yeah I'm already going to get a car charger for it. Going to get it August. Tapped out this month with getting leapster games lol~ 🤣
Uhhh. Ok yeah I'm very new to leapster / leapfrog brand. I guess battery failure is a common issue then. Oh my. 🤦♀️ Thank you for the advice though~ 👍
Happy Gaming! (^_^)
The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12
Switch Friend Code: SW-4995-4179-4294 | Nintendo Network ID: Barbiegurl777
@Barbiegurl777 - My Leapfrog products have all been purchased in the last five years. I’ve heard older products, and especially the older Leapsters were pretty high quality. Friends of mine have one that’s close to 20 years old and still works fine. They’re pretty chunky, I’m guessing it’s not totally packed inside. It would probably be pretty easy to take it apart just to see if the battery is replaceable or soldered in. I’m guessing it would be close to the charge port. Good luck, I hope you get it working again.
That’s from a leapfrog 3.
Some have the battery pack where you can use normal or rechargeable battery’s.
Search for the model number and see if it’s compatible. Sorry if it’s not much help.
@Barbiegurl777 - Wow, cool pic, I didn’t see this last night. Love seeing the insides of things like this. It all fits in there perfectly. Crazy question, but are you positive there’s not a disposable battery bank on the backside? I was looking into them a bit, and it seems most of the Leapster 2s I saw ran on batteries in a bank under a spring loaded safety screw. Is there a large screw on the back, the kind you operate with a coin?
Yes. It has the battery bank / battery compartment door:
I tried getting the pictures a little bigger~ 🤣 What's really crazy. I took the battery pack off the leapster 2 that holds the double AA batteries & plugged in the leapster 2 with the wall charger. It works without needing the battery pack on while plugged in. I guess that means there's something wrong with the battery compartment itself. Guessing the internal battery works for the leapster 2 to working being plugged in. 🤔 it's a mystery to me~ 🤔✌️ When I get my other leapster in a few weeks. I'm thinking I'm going to customize my cars leapster. & use the other on the go. Either ordering the car charger the same time. Going to try & make it one big order. Going to get a few things for the leapster. Already ordered the pink stylus for my leapster 2 just got to waiton the mail. My favorite color in pink lol~ 🤣
Yes, and if that doesn’t work, I noticed a lot of loose battery banks for sale on eBay and maybe even Amazon. I’m guessing many of these were probably stored with the batteries still inside and experienced some level of leakage and corrosion. Sometimes the damage can occur beyond just the contact points.
Yes. Tried it with both rechargeable double AA batteries first time then regular double AA batteries second time. Cleaned the battery pack with 90% rubbing / isopropyl alcohol with qtips then rubbed it with an eraser as well from reading what other people tried with there leapster & supposedly it worked for them. It could simply need a new battery pack. Adding one to the cart for later. Will still try to tinker around with the old one. Not sure what to try next. With the batterypack in it it doesn't respond / turn on at all.
@Barbiegurl777 - I think you’re on the right track. Let us know when you get it working! You got a good deal on it if you can sort it out. They were still selling these NIB 4-5 years ago when I was looking into Leapfrog products. Happy gaming!
I'll defently let you know. Last night I tried going about with a different tactic got white distilled vinegar & qtips. Cleaned the battery compartment with that. Got a good bit of corrosion off the one spin. Didn't realize it was that bad until about 5 qtips later. Then used 90% rubbing alcohol to clean it again. Nothing yet. I did manage to order another leapster 2 in pink & a vtech vsmile car charger. I assume it will work with the leapster because alot of people have that car charger listed with the leapster 2 in different listing. Fingers crossed no issues second time around. 🤞
Happy Gaming! (^_^)
The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12
Switch Friend Code: SW-4995-4179-4294 | Nintendo Network ID: Barbiegurl777
I got a pink leapster 2 & green leapster 2 both working order. The one came with a nicer carrying case~ ✌️ As for the Cars leapster 2 I switched the mother board in it & can now use it lol~ 🤣
Happy Gaming! (^_^)
The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12
Switch Friend Code: SW-4995-4179-4294 | Nintendo Network ID: Barbiegurl777
@Barbiegurl777 - You have a Leapster Collection now! Glad the new hardware is in working order, and well done swapping the board on the Cars version. Glad you can enjoy them now, have fun.
Yep I took part's from both & totally customized the Car's Leapster 2. I'll post the pic's later. I still have the dpad / buttons coming tomorrow that are a smidge nicer. Thinking of doing custom resin dpad / buttons but got to look up how to use resin first lol~ 🤣
Happy Gaming! (^_^)
The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12
Switch Friend Code: SW-4995-4179-4294 | Nintendo Network ID: Barbiegurl777
@Barbiegurl777 - I’d love to see your finished products and custom buttons. I haven’t worked with resin yet, though I did buy a box of clear epoxy resin a few years ago to seal the top of a dresser I sanded and painted. I ended up just using clear coat in rattle cans and I’ve been saving it for something else, though I’m not sure what.
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Topic: Leapster 2 Issues
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