Worklog Dark Delfiino (Spencer's first Wii Portable)

[Spencer Richardson]

Hey guys! This is my first portable and my first electronics project ever so cut me some slack! (Especially on the internals.. hahaha rubbish!) it was quite an adventure and I learned SO much and I thoroughly enjoyed making this! I'd like to thank all of you on the forums for all of your help and patience! I was planning on doing a worklog, but kept procrastinating it and then i was almost done so I decided to just wait until I was finished. I will definitely do one for my next portable though.


Specs:


-Shell is an old GE alarm clock heavily frankencased

-OMGWTF trim, CPU 40 Wii mobo, Bluetooth relocated(I decided not too relocate the MX chip, but I may do that later. I also did not relocate wifi.)

-3.5" backup monitor(composite with shielded cables)

-screen adjustment buttons, sync and reset buttons

-AV out

-2nd player port

-"20,000" mah portable battery pack(it's actually more like 14,000 mah based on my battery life. I got the pack on a lightning deal on Amazon for $10 so I can't complain. It was a steal and a half.) I also included the features the pack had which includes a decent triple led light with 3 brightness settings, a 1 amp USB port and a 2.4 amp port(doesn't actually output that much when the Wii is on) one thing that was kind of a bummer was the charge and play feature I was hoping to have. The battery advertised pass through charging and it worked when charging my phone, but when it actually came to powering my setup, it didn't quite cut it. The pack prioritized charging over giving out current and it wouldn't give out enough for the wii to boot. So I just added a second micro USB port for wall power or a portable battery pack(must be able to output 2.4amp)

-battery life is about 5 hours on lighter games and about 4.5 on the heavier ones.

-awesome stereo audio amp with a headphone jack and speakers I got from @JacksonS. Works really well and sounds really great!

-Original gamecube face buttons and analog sticks. shoulder buttons(L and R double tact modded) are from a salty old madcatz ps2 controller all hooked up to the amazing GC+ board. thanks @Aurelio and @Noah !!!

-dual iPhone 5s rumble motors

I'm a noob and don't know how to do spoilers and what not so I'll just post the picture after I post this.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Before sexifying:

 

[Spencer Richardson]

After sexifying:

 

[Spencer Richardson]

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Filthy internals:

 

[cheese]

Nice sticking with the theme with all the controllers! Came out pretty nice

 

[Gman]

woah nice frankencasing!! I'd like to point out that the heatsink works best when there is a direct airflow, in other words the "perfect seal" between intake and outtake.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

woah nice frankencasing!! I'd like to point out that the heatsink works best when there is a direct airflow, in other words the "perfect seal" between intake and outtake.

Thank you! And yeah I haven't quite figured out how to get a better seal. The ventilation system I set up is pretty flawed because I did the casework before I did much research on that. Do you think there is a good way I could get a good seal from the intake vent on the back and the outtake vent on the bottom?

 

[Shank]

Very unique! I love seeing new takes on case design. The case is very easy on the eyes, and the frankencasing+paint job is pretty impressive. The custom buttons look nice (smashproof I assume?) as does all the neat IO.

I'm interested to see how hot it will run since it doesn't have a air seal. The wiring isn't good, but its not bad for a first. (Mine was much worse) Good cable management comes with experience, so keep at it!

All in all, this is a solid first portable. Can't wait for your next project!

 

[Gman]

Thank you! And yeah I haven't quite figured out how to get a better seal. The ventilation system I set up is pretty flawed because I did the casework before I did much research on that. Do you think there is a good way I could get a good seal from the intake vent on the back and the outtake vent on the bottom?

It may be too late to fix the airflow on this portable but for next time I think it is best to have the intake blower fan on the back blowing air through the heatsink and out the top of the portable. This also forces you to lay the batteries around the wii assembly so the portable will be thinner. But in general I really like the shape of the portable, great job.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Very unique! I love seeing new takes on case design. The case is very easy on the eyes, and the frankencasing+paint job is pretty impressive. The custom buttons look nice (smashproof I assume?) as does all the neat IO.

I'm interested to see how hot it will run since it doesn't have a air seal. The wiring isn't good, but its not bad for a first. (Mine was much worse) Good cable management comes with experience, so keep at it!

All in all, this is a solid first portable. Can't wait for your next project!

Thanks Shank! I actually played on it for hours on end over the weekend( I left it on for the duration of my battery life at one point which was about 5 hours) and there seemed to be a good flow of warm air coming out of the vent. So I'm hoping it's going to do the job. But I'm definitely going to try to figure out a way to get a better seal.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

It may be too late to fix the airflow on this portable but for next time I think it is best to have the intake blower fan on the back blowing air through the heatsink and out the top of the portable. This also forces you to lay the batteries around the wii assembly so the portable will be thinner. But in general I really like the shape of the portable, great job.

Thanks gman! That's definitely one of the many things I'll be changing on my next one

 

[CommanderBrace]

I actually really like your final product here. Can I ask about your frankencasing process? All we get to see is the before/after, but I wanna know how you built that DOPE ASS front plate.

 

[Stitches]

Looks sleek and comfy to use. And dat colour scheme >o>. Very nice job m8.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Thanks guys! @CommanderBrace i was stupid and didn't take any pictures of the process sadly! But I think it was a pretty typical frankencasing process. I just hacked up a gamecube controller, cut out the holes with a dremel and filed them to fit, and used a TON of epoxy and then got the nice smooth edges with bondo. It was probably the most time consuming part. Just tons of sanding and what not! I actually really enjoyed it though! It was really fun seeing that crusty alarm clock turn into something cool. I'm considering going the 3D printing route next time though just for
Time's sake.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I got the power bank idea from @Madmorda ! I've really liked it and it's works great so far! Thanks!

 

[Ikeprodigy]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I got the power bank idea from @Madmorda ! I've really liked it and it's works great so far! Thanks!

Power banks are honestly the best! Oh and you did an absolutely e outstanding job on this! Keep it up!

 

[fibbef]

This is my first portable and my first electronics project ever so cut me some slack!

You did an OMGWTF trim and made a dope-ass portable on your first project; consider your slack thoroughly cut!

Clearly a lot of love went into this and it looks amazing!

 

[Madmorda]

This is amazing! Really unique design and great job frankencasing

I especially like that your controller matches it. I think I'll have to do something similar with a wiimote. Did you custom order your gc buttons colored? I had no idea you could paint joysticks

 

[Spencer Richardson]

This is amazing! Really unique design and great job frankencasing

I especially like that your controller matches it. I think I'll have to do something similar with a wiimote. Did you custom order your gc buttons colored? I had no idea you could paint joysticks

Thanks! I painted them, but the paint didn't work well on the original joysticks so I got some from China and the rubber on them is a little different and I sanded them a little and the paint seems to be staying on there pretty well, although I doubt it will last too long. I think when the paint starts to wear, I'll replace then with some from black nunchucks