2017 Classic Tama Not Turning On

FrogsIntTheSnow · May 14, 2022

Hello, I have a 2017 Classic Tama that isn't turning on. I had forgotten about it for about a year, and it was dead. So I changed the battery on it and I think it was working as the battery was getting hot.. quickly. I have been letting it sit for over 3 hours and the screen hasn't turned on, nor has it made any sounds? The contact for the battery was clean and the tamagotchi hardware seemed to be intact. I'm not sure where the issue is as everything individually seems to work?

Thank you for any help--

Update: Fully took apart my tamagotchi to check the circuit board on the other side. Everything looked fine though the glue that kept the screen connected to the board had stopped working and the screen fell apart. I put the screen back where it fits in the window so it should (hopefully) be fine. I replaced the battery.. again to see if that was the issue and it took started to heat super quickly then stopped? I'm not certain how old they are but they were untouched and had the watch battery seal still on it. I'm using CR2023 Energizer batteries.

Could the board drain the batteries within an hour?

Penguin-keeper · May 14, 2022

I know that this is a really stupid question, but it's one that's worth ruling out just in case, due to your description of rapid heating: Was the new battery put in the correct way around? The heat could be due to a short circuit, as hardware like this is so low-powered that it would never heat up at all under normal circumstances, and it certainly shouldn't be possible for it to drain a battery so quickly.

FrogsIntTheSnow · May 14, 2022

Penguin-keeper said:
I know that this is a really stupid question, but it's one that's worth ruling out just in case, due to your description of rapid heating: Was the new battery put in the correct way around? The heat could be due to a short circuit, as hardware like this is so low-powered that it would never heat up at all under normal circumstances, and it certainly shouldn't be possible for it to drain a battery so quickly.

Uhm, I dont know which way is the right way, though I can try turning the bat over to see if that works. The name and label are the side visible w/ the way it is in now.

The battery is 3.2v so it could be too strong?

Penguin-keeper · May 15, 2022

FrogsIntTheSnow said:
Uhm, I dont know which way is the right way, though I can try turning the bat over to see if that works. The name and label are the side visible w/ the way it is in now.

There's a little diagram to the left of the battery-slot which shows the correct orientation - the flat side of the battery should be facing upwards. I just took a quick picture of one of mine, which still has its original battery in it;

If yours is correctly oriented, then my next question would be: Are the batteries you're using expired or still in-date? And, if the latter, do you know if they're genuine, and do they work in other devices?

FrogsIntTheSnow said:
The battery is 3.2v so it could be too strong?

Nah, that should be fine - CR2032 batteries are meant to be in the 3v range, and a teeny tiny bit over that (which happens with stuff like this) won't do any harm.

FrogsIntTheSnow · May 15, 2022

The battery is in the correct way, and looks the same as yours, (I'll upload a photo tomorrow). As for them being genuine they are name brand batteries. As for them being old, I assume they are new enough as they were untouched & sealed, though they could be several years old, Ill go out and buy some new batteries. As testing them to see if they work, I don't own anything that happens to use them besides the tamagatchi.

When I changed the battery, after the first new one I put in started to heat quickly, the battery did not overheat as well. I'm worried that the battery could have fried the board somehow?

Thank you for the help--- it means a lot---