Worklog DeTree’s First Wii Portable

[DeTree72]

So I’ve officially decided to make a work log of my wii, rather than just going for it simply because this is my 4th portable attempt, and the first time I intend to not rush the project.

I’m starting off with a wii with PortablizeMii installed, as well as the U10 relocation already performed. I’m also using an old 5 inch backup screen that’s been modified to use 5V

I’d like to attempt to trim the wii this time, as I already have custom regulators available, and it seems to be the best way to make the system actually PORTABLE.

 

[jefflongo]

So I’ve officially decided to make a work log of my wii, rather than just going for it simply because this is my 4th portable attempt, and the first time I intend to not rush the project.

I’m starting off with a wii with PortablizeMii installed, as well as the U10 relocation already performed. I’m also using an old 5 inch backup screen that’s been modified to use 5V

I’d like to attempt to trim the wii this time, as I already have custom regulators available, and it seems to be the best way to make the system actually PORTABLE.

Best of luck! I suggest you relocate bluetooth now before you trim if you're planning on doing that. That way you can still test with the sensor bar.

 

[DeTree72]

I finally had a chance to get back to this thing this week, and was testing my regulators to see how they would function as they’d been sitting on my desk for ages. I decided to simply hook them up to a 4x AA battery pack to test and noticed that they were not outputting the right voltages.

Is about 7v4 the lowest you can go without causing a voltage drop across the regulators?

 

[Stitches]

I finally had a chance to get back to this thing this week, and was testing my regulators to see how they would function as they’d been sitting on my desk for ages. I decided to simply hook them up to a 4x AA battery pack to test and noticed that they were not outputting the right voltages.

Is about 7v4 the lowest you can go without causing a voltage drop across the regulators?

Were the regs connected to the Wii at the time?

 

[DeTree72]

Yes, they were.

Also, in your experience, what’s the easiest way to connect all of the regulators to power? Because right now I just have a strand of wire with stripped insulation every 3/4 inch to act as a bridge.

 

[Aurelio]

AA batteries can’t provide enough current to power a Wii

 

[Stitches]

Yes, they were.

Also, in your experience, what’s the easiest way to connect all of the regulators to power? Because right now I just have a strand of wire with stripped insulation every 3/4 inch to act as a bridge.

That method works fine, the only other method really is to have separate wires running to each reg from your power supply. And as Aurelio said, AAs cant supply enough current to run the Wii. You'd need a proper battery setup or a DC power supply.

 

[jefflongo]

IMO the best way to do it is to have one wire in the through hole then solder the next wire from the small cap to the through hole of the next reg and so on

 

[DeTree72]

So I went and bought some 18650s as well as the protection circuit that is on the BOM. I’ve been searching for a while, and can’t find anywhere that says what charger is recommended to use.

I’d like to use shockslayers design for the charge and play, but can’t for the life of me understand how to charge the batteries in a 7v4 setup with two sets in series.

 

[jefflongo]

If you have a basic protection circuit, you will need a smart charger. Lithium Ion batteries require a special kind of charging based on their current charge state. There's one in the BOM (I actually have a spare one if you want me to sell it to you for a little cheaper).

Alternatively if you have that red board (which you can read about in the batteries thread) as your protection circuit it has special circuitry to handle the conditional charging of the batteries so you can just use a standard DC power supply. Just be aware of what kind of charging your protection circuit needs!

I'm assuming you mean you are using 4 batteries in a 2s2p (2 series 2 parallel) configuration. When batteries are connected in series (connecting the positive end of one battery to the negative end of the other), their voltage adds. When batteries are connected in series (connecting the positive ends of the batteries together and the negative ends together), the capacity is added. Li-on batteries are at 3.7v so with 4 batteries you create two sets of series batteries, which will be at 7.4v each. The + of one battery goes to B+ the - of the other battery goes to B- and the terminals in between connect to BM. Then the second set is wired up in parallel by doing the exact same thing with the second set. You can connect the batteries together then have just one set of wires to the protection circuit.

 

[DeTree72]

When you say red, do you mean one of the BCPs? I would like to get one, but was unsure how they worked.

So if I can just use an ordinary DC supply, would I need to find the needed voltage from a data sheet? I was looking at this circuit, and it says 9-15v input. I’m sure this means I can use anywhere between that voltage, but how would I know what amp rating I would need on the charger?

 

[jefflongo]

When you say red, do you mean one of the BCPs? I would like to get one, but was unsure how they worked.

So if I can just use an ordinary DC supply, would I need to find the needed voltage from a data sheet? I was looking at this circuit, and it says 9-15v input. I’m sure this means I can use anywhere between that voltage, but how would I know what amp rating I would need on the charger?

The red board is a CMB. Read up about it on the batteries thread. The Wii will need ~2.5A with all your peripherals so 12v3A is a safe choice. Alternatively you could use the Wii power brick.

 

[DeTree72]

So its been a while since I've done anything on this project, and I'm trying to get back into it. I've got a bit of an idea for how I'd like the case to be, and was wondering how likely it would be to work. Id like to use a standard gamecube controller, and then vacuum form another portion to house the wii, batteries, the screen, and any other components and frankencase them together.

This is a really rough concept of what I’d like to do. The top would be joined with a large area of the controller, allowing for a hopefully stronger bond than I could get with just an edge. The z button will probably be moved to the right leg of the controller to make room for a better connection between the two housings.