Worklog Nontendo Woi - My first portable

kennsj

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First off, I'd like to express my gratitude to the good people on here whose work makes it possible for us newbies to get our projects off the ground.

Secondly, here's my WIP portable, which I'm naming the "Nontendo Woi".



Features:
  • uncut Wii MB
  • 7" screen
  • 3300mAh Li-Ion battery
  • custom see-through case
  • Access to 2 NGC controller ports
Planned Features:
  • In-built NGC controller mounted in/on lower front
  • Case sleeve to make it look like a GameBoy? Maybe?
  • Carabineers in the back of the case, for mounting on a car headrest
Current Issues:
  • Cooling fan obstructed & not able to spin (hot glue in the wrong spot?)
  • Limited battery life (1hr approx. play time)
  • Case not closing flush (nothing some PCB nuts and bolts won't fix)

I started out with a 9" screen, but it was too heavy, and I was going to have to split the controls, which I didn't feel confident in doing effectively. With this build, it should be comfortably playable with a standard NGC controller mounted straight into/onto it. The only splitting I'll have to do will be of the trigger buttons.




 
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First to answer your questions
1)You might want to double check your wiring for the fan to see if that is the issue or try removing the hot glue with rubbing alcohol. Also a major issue with this is you don’t have a heatsink. Your Wii will definitely overheat with that setup because you only have a fan and don’t have the stock Wii heat sink or a custom metal heatsink. You can choose either one but the stock Wii heatsink is pretty thick and most likely won’t fit in the case.

2)The limited battery life is because the stock Wii regulators draw a lot more current which is a benefit to trimming the Wii because you get to use custom regulators. I would recommend checking out the trimming guide:https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-definitive-wii-trimming-guide.198/ if you want longer battery life.

3) I’m guessing the reason your case won’t close is because of the ports still on the Wii. You could either trim the Wii (I would highly recommend doing so) or just remove the ports if you aren’t comfortanle trimming the Wii.

Anyways good luck with your portable everything else looks pretty good so far and I can’t wait to see more progress!
 

kennsj

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First to answer your questions
1)You might want to double check your wiring for the fan to see if that is the issue or try removing the hot glue with rubbing alcohol.
The fan was running fine before mounting, so I'm reasonably confident that it's not a wiring issue, but I'll definitely check on it if I can't find a physical obstruction. Thanks for the rubbing alcohol tip!

Also a major issue with this is you don’t have a heatsink.
Oh, I do! It's one of these little beauties.

2)The limited battery life is because the stock Wii regulators draw a lot more current which is a benefit to trimming the Wii because you get to use custom regulators.
Ahh, I see! Does "custom regulators" mean adding your own?

I'm a little reluctant to trim the MB for fear of messing something up and killing the unit altogether, and because I'm hoping to keep as much functionality as possible.

Trimming will be something I'll probably try next time around. I feel that I've gotta build up to it... :blush:
 

Stitches

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The fan was running fine before mounting, so I'm reasonably confident that it's not a wiring issue, but I'll definitely check on it if I can't find a physical obstruction. Thanks for the rubbing alcohol tip!


Oh, I do! It's one of these little beauties.


Ahh, I see! Does "custom regulators" mean adding your own?

I'm a little reluctant to trim the MB for fear of messing something up and killing the unit altogether, and because I'm hoping to keep as much functionality as possible.

Trimming will be something I'll probably try next time around. I feel that I've gotta build up to it... :blush:
You need a sink EACH on the CPU and GPU, and it needs to be a bit better than those.
 

kennsj

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You need a sink EACH on the CPU and GPU, and it needs to be a bit better than those.
I did get two of those, one for the CPU and for the GPU, but the one for the GPU just wouldn't stay stuck.
You sure these aren't going to do the job? The thermal resistance seems high enough (5.9 deg C/W). I forget the math I did to make sure they'd be good enough, but when I did do the math they seemed more than up to the task? If not, I might need to look at trimming down the stock heatsink.

Also, as a little build update, discovered that the fan was unable to spin due to being pressed up against the heatsink (duh). Made extra clearance for it by mounting the fan grill on the outside of the case instead of the inside. Oh, and some bolts to hold the case shut did the job in terms of keeping it flush. Seems like the blobs of hot glue are taking up more space than anticipated, but it still squeezes shut. Might need to trim the glue blobs a bit...
 
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Based upon your questions and plans, I'm going to recommend to you that you read through everything on this forum relevant to your project.

Now I say this because not trimming a Wii will be rather disappointing due to the aforementioned poor battery life, and the simple fact that your portable will be absolutely ginormous. The other thing is that my knowledge of portablizing in general when I came to this form grew exponentially. I've gone from three shitty portables to a current WIP that actually looks like time and care was put into it. Learn from me, If you don't read this forum before you build (when I started I didn't know BitBuilt was a thing :( ) you will not like your finished product. Sure, it will work, but it just won't compare to other builds at all. You can save yourself money in redoing the same thing over and over if you just take some time to read. Be on BitBuilt whenever you can, and you will probably learn more about all of this than you could from a textbook.

That being said, you might also want to take on something easier first just to hone in your skills. Pi portables are great for this. Also have a good soldering iron; life will hate you if you don't.

Someone please tell me is I stepped over the line with this post. I'm still trying to figure out how to hone in my content.
 

kennsj

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Someone please tell me is I stepped over the line with this post. I'm still trying to figure out how to hone in my content.
Yeah... This...

Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me in ever-so-thinly veiled terms that my build is ugly and I don't know what I'm doing.

I'll just be crying over here in the corner, cradling my perfectly functional, satisfactorily portable Nontendo Woi, trying not to get tears on the solder points. :'(
 

Stitches

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I did get two of those, one for the CPU and for the GPU, but the one for the GPU just wouldn't stay stuck.
You sure these aren't going to do the job? The thermal resistance seems high enough (5.9 deg C/W). I forget the math I did to make sure they'd be good enough, but when I did do the math they seemed more than up to the task? If not, I might need to look at trimming down the stock heatsink.

Also, as a little build update, discovered that the fan was unable to spin due to being pressed up against the heatsink (duh). Made extra clearance for it by mounting the fan grill on the outside of the case instead of the inside. Oh, and some bolts to hold the case shut did the job in terms of keeping it flush. Seems like the blobs of hot glue are taking up more space than anticipated, but it still squeezes shut. Might need to trim the glue blobs a bit...
If the airflow is good enough, the sinks might suffice, but you definitely need to find a way to reliably secure the sinks to the chips. Otherwise the heat will damage the Wii during prolonged operation.
 

jefflongo

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To get the sinks to "stick" you could try thermal epoxy. The best way though is to have screwposts for the motherboard and to have the sinks pushed up against the wall of the case by the force of the motherboard, but I'm not sure that's possible with your current setup.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your build though. Sure there's room for improvement, but you have something functional and there's a lot to be said for that. Looking forward to your next build!
 

kennsj

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To get the sinks to "stick" you could try thermal epoxy.
Thanks. Any tips on where to source it? Prices for it on ebay including P&H to Australia are crazy, and my local electronics suppliers don't appear to list it on their online stores.

For now, I'm holding the GPU's heatsink in place with some hot glue around the edges, but I realise that's not likely to hold with any extended use.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your build though. Sure there's room for improvement, but you have something functional and there's a lot to be said for that. Looking forward to your next build!
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I definitely recognise that there's plenty of room for improvement, and don't actually even consider it a finished product yet. But I am a little proud to have come this far with it already, if I'm being honest.

Thinking about the final look I want for this thing, I'm now leaning towards building a balsa wood case, shaped like an oversized GameBoy, that would house the controller component/s as well as everything that's in it at present. Balsa to keep it lightweight, and for a nice soft texture when handling the unit, and wood for a medium I'm confident in working with and for a cool "steampunk" look.

I'd really like to be able to extend the battery life, and have a few questions about it now that I've done the proper reading on custom regs (Save State Gamer might've come across as a jerk, but s/he had a point about doing the research). These questions will still be noobish though, because as previously stated, this is my first time modding a Wii, so please bear with me.
  1. Is it possible to install and use custom regulators without trimming the motherboard?
    (To pre-empt the "Why not just trim it?" comments; to maintain functionality, I don't have a Dremel, I'm a first time Wii modder who's not that confident with it, I think my design allows for keeping the full mobo while still having a sufficiently portable unit.)

  2. Do PTH08080s always cost somewhere around AU$20 apiece? 'Cause $80 for 4 of them, as required for a Wii mod, might slow me down a little. I notice a site store here, that's currently down for maintenance. Are the regulators usually sold here, and if so, for how much?

  3. Would it be possible/practical to use a single buck regulator to keep battery Vout at 11-12V for longer, as another method of prolonging running time (I find that the unit stops running once the battery discharges to 10.2V approx.)? If so, can anyone recommend a regulator kit? Might this do the trick, for instance?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Stitches

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Paging @Stitches for Australian purchase help.
I am the guy.

Thanks. Any tips on where to source it? Prices for it on ebay including P&H to Australia are crazy, and my local electronics suppliers don't appear to list it on their online stores.

For now, I'm holding the GPU's heatsink in place with some hot glue around the edges, but I realise that's not likely to hold with any extended use.


Thanks for the words of encouragement. I definitely recognise that there's plenty of room for improvement, and don't actually even consider it a finished product yet. But I am a little proud to have come this far with it already, if I'm being honest.

Thinking about the final look I want for this thing, I'm now leaning towards building a balsa wood case, shaped like an oversized GameBoy, that would house the controller component/s as well as everything that's in it at present. Balsa to keep it lightweight, and for a nice soft texture when handling the unit, and wood for a medium I'm confident in working with and for a cool "steampunk" look.

I'd really like to be able to extend the battery life, and have a few questions about it now that I've done the proper reading on custom regs (Save State Gamer might've come across as a jerk, but s/he had a point about doing the research). These questions will still be noobish though, because as previously stated, this is my first time modding a Wii, so please bear with me.
  1. Is it possible to install and use custom regulators without trimming the motherboard?
    (To pre-empt the "Why not just trim it?" comments; to maintain functionality, I don't have a Dremel, I'm a first time Wii modder who's not that confident with it, I think my design allows for keeping the full mobo while still having a sufficiently portable unit.)

  2. Do PTH08080s always cost somewhere around AU$20 apiece? 'Cause $80 for 4 of them, as required for a Wii mod, might slow me down a little. I notice a site store here, that's currently down for maintenance. Are the regulators usually sold here, and if so, for how much?

  3. Would it be possible/practical to use a single buck regulator to keep battery Vout at 11-12V for longer, as another method of prolonging running time (I find that the unit stops running once the battery discharges to 10.2V approx.)? If so, can anyone recommend a regulator kit? Might this do the trick, for instance?

Thanks in advance.
G'day fellow Australian, have some answers.

  1. Yes, but you have to fully remove ALL components related to stock power regulation. If any of the onboard reg parts remain, it'll mess with the system and it won't work.
  2. Getting parts down here can indeed be tricky, but fortunately for us, there are a few local places to get obscure components. https://au.rs-online.com is my favourite because all orders have free Australia wide shipping, it's local warehouse stock, and the pricing isn't too bad. They have some acceptably priced thermal epoxy here, never used it myself, but I'm sure it'd do the job. Just be aware that thermal epoxy is a molecular bonding mechanism, and the sink will be PERMANENTLY stuck to the chip. It can never be removed, ever.
  3. There's already a 12v buck that does that right in front of the power socket on the motherboard. Its min input voltage is about 10.2v IIRC. Adding another step of regulation will just waste power from inherent inefficiencies, so the best way to get better life from your cells is to change them into a 4S 14.8v config, which has a minimum voltage of 12.8v. You'd just have to make sure that your screen can handle the 16.8v max of a 4S config.
 

kennsj

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Stitches, you are indeed the guy.
Getting parts down here can indeed be tricky, but fortunately for us, there are a few local places to get obscure components. https://au.rs-online.com is my favourite
Nice. Their PTH08080s are reasonably priced, too. Will do a little further experimentation with batteries and buy some regs there if my results point me in that direction.

Just be aware that thermal epoxy is a molecular bonding mechanism, and the sink will be PERMANENTLY stuck to the chip. It can never be removed, ever.
Right. That, and its cost, puts me off it. Might look at securing the troublesome sink with some kind of clamping arrangement or another source of physical pressure to keep it in place instead.
There's already a 12v buck that does that right in front of the power socket on the motherboard. Its min input voltage is about 10.2v IIRC. Adding another step of regulation will just waste power from inherent inefficiencies
If I add a module that steps up from whatever Vout below 10.2v the battery is providing to 12v though, that's still going to improve my running time, isn't it? It'd be like lowering the min input on the existing buck.

Definitely see what you mean by inefficiency, though. My immediate reaction upon reading that information was that adding another buck regulator module would be redundant. In terms of actual outcomes, though...

One potentially limiting factor here is current. What is the minimum wattage to run the Wii? Googling it has presented varying information on this one.

the best way to get better life from your cells is to change them into a 4S 14.8v config, which has a minimum voltage of 12.8v. You'd just have to make sure that your screen can handle the 16.8v max of a 4S config.
Yes. I've been considering that, too. I've got a 3.4v Li-Ion with about the same mAh rating as the 11.7v I'm using at present, which I could hook up in series to provide 15 Vin approx. total to the Wii (with a separate circuit for safely charging the smaller battery, of course). I could also then wire it so that the screen is only powered by the 12v-ish battery, not drawing anything from the 3.4v. (My voltages are a bit rough there, as I'm at work and can't reference the batteries directly.)

Thanks for that useful info, as always, and for the food for thought! Greatly appreciate it.
 
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kennsj

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Started work on the balsa wood case. I'll be able to make it shorter, but it'll be wider by necessity. Still a comfortable size for large hands.

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