Question 6 Layer trim troubleshooting

[OneLiberty]

Hello everyone,


After successfully building a G-Boy, my friend and I felt confident enough to make a Noldendo Wii Miicro.

We prepared the Wii by trimming the board and then ordered parts to assemble an RVL-PSU in order to have a reliable way to power the Wii.

However, we are currently stuck trying to get a composite output from the Wii. We have soldered two cables - one ground and one on pin 3 of the video out - and linked them to an old TV for testing. The composite output is just to test the Wii, but we definitely want to get VGA output at the end.

Before powering the board, we checked for any shorts on the main power lines and verified that the RVL-PSU was outputting the correct voltages. Despite soldering the different cables, we are unable to get an image on the screen and CPU/GPU are getting warm.

Our next step will be to measure the resistance between each voltage line and, just in case, try another RVL-PSU.

We're looking forward to your ideas to help us troubleshoot this Wii.

I have attached a few pictures so you can take a look.

PS: Please forgive any mistakes in the text, English is not my first language.

 

[Stitches]

You have some components along the trim edge that you've cut through. Those components can cause transient shorts and should be removed. Also you have some flux sitting around the composite wire that has burnt bits suspended in it, which can also cause transient shorts. I'd clean that up with some isopropyl alcohol when you can

 

[CrazyGadget]

To add to what Stitches said, I would recommend touching up all those solder joints with some flux, and a nice fat tip, as most of them look cold. Having a good, temperature controlled iron (I usually keep mine between 350C and 400C, only going higher for big heat sinks like ground planes) and some decent flux will make a world of difference.

Also, you need at least 2 ground wires between the PSU and the the Wii. 6-layers consume double the power of 4-layers, and all that power needs a more substantial return path.

 

[OneLiberty]

Thank you very much for your answers. We will certainly look into them when we have a bit more time (probably next week). In the meantime, here are the resistances values :

Please let me know if anything seems strange.

 

[CrazyGadget]

Those resistances look good, I don't think your issue is stemming from a short on the power lines if that's the case. To reiterate, I would do like Stitches said and remove anything that you trimmed through, and then rework those current solder joints and add an extra ground. If neither of those fix the issue, we can at least rule them out.We'll get this working!!!