Leapster 2… broken?

I am glad to say no.  But it had us a little upset earlier.  About 10 months ago we replaced our sons Leapster LMAX with a new Leapster 2 (see link: Leap Frog Site).  He plays with this learning toy non-stop.  The other day he told us it was broken… turns out he dropped it on the carpet and it just stopped working.  A kids toy should not break when dropped on the carpet… oh well.  Anyway, after calling the Leap Frog support number I found that not only was it out of warranty but it was also not covered because it was dropped.  So I took it apart… DOH!

Here is what I found… it would turn on if a jiggled it a little and held it still.  As soon as I moved it or squeezed it at all it would turn off.  Something loose right?  I looked at it and saw nothing loose… but then it hit me that when I pressed on the battery cover it would turn off.  I checked that the terminals were in contact with the battery and they weren’t…  I bent them towards the battery and voila! … it works perfect.  Happy son, happy pocketbook.  :)

Picture 1 – Take off the 5 screws on the back…

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Picture 2 – Bend the battery contacts away from the edge (towards center)…

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That’s it!  Just be careful with the ribbon cable that runs from the backing to the main board.

1 comments:

TJ said...

LOL at hacking a educational toy :)

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