Worklog The WiiCube

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Okay, so I am really worried because I left my wii on for almost an hour. It was at the normal no usb screen, but I left and now it doesn't turn on (two tries). Does it need time to cool down, or is it fried? I didn't put the thermal thing from 4layer on it yet.


All lines are outputting correct voltages.
 
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Viilmo

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Did it have a heatsink on?
Does it still have power in the battery?
 
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Did it have a heatsink on?
Does it still have power in the battery?
No cooling, I left it on by accident when I was testing. The battery has 3.5v and all of the voltage lines were outputting the correct amount.

I haven't changed anything since it was working, and I check to see if any wires fell off.
 

Retro95

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Definitely let it sit for quite a while to cool off.

The GPU should thermal shut off at 80C by design. Though it's not something that should be relied on.
 
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Definitely let it sit for quite a while to cool off.

The GPU should thermal shut off at 80C by design. Though it's not something that should be relied on.
Thanks retro. Thats good to hear, but when I tried to turn in on a couple of times was I giving it more heat and making it worse?
 

Stitches

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Okay, so I am really worried because I left my wii on for almost an hour. It was at the normal no usb screen, but I left and now it doesn't turn on (two tries). Does it need time to cool down, or is it fried? I didn't put the thermal thing from 4layer on it yet.


All lines are outputting correct voltages.
Even at idle, an hour of runtime with no heatsink is probably a death sentence. It may still work, but I'd be surprised.
Definitely let it sit for quite a while to cool off.

The GPU should thermal shut off at 80C by design. Though it's not something that should be relied on.
Afaik that thermal shutoff has never saved a portable. Many a brick has melted and burned in a backpack/suitcase before the release of the PMS-2, which uses its own thermistor specifically because the Wii's inbuilt one almost never saves the system
 

Wesk

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Afaik that thermal shutoff has never saved a portable. Many a brick has melted and burned in a backpack/suitcase before the release of the PMS-2, which uses its own thermistor specifically because the Wii's inbuilt one almost never saves the system
iirc the thermal shutdown function doesn't work at all when trimmed.
 
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Well thanks for the info. I'll order a new Wii after my vacation. I'm kinda mad at myself for losing my progress over such a stupid mistake, but it probably won't be too bad because I have all of the wires ready, the expensive part (pms) is fine, and Wiis are cheap.

I am a little disappointed I didn't get to see if my usb wires were okay becuase I got them hooked up after I twisted them with a drill.

PXL_20230604_040312794.jpg
 

Retro95

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Welcome to the club of destroyed Wiis! I've destroyed 2 myself.

I buy Wiis that are "broken and for parts only" with broken disc drives or broken power buttons and got them for 15-20$ a piece with free shipping on eBay.
 

Stitches

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Way too big. Also, you're exposing far too much wire in general. You should only be tinning a few millimetres of the end of a wire, otherwise you're at risk of causing shorts.

I'd inspect all your wiring and double check that none of your over-exposed wires are shorting against a nearby contact. Also I'd buy some no-clean tacky flux. It'll help loads with via adhesion
 
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Hello again! I finally got Wii number 2 working. I had to do the u10 relocation because my u10 emulation stopped working but it's okay now. Thanks to everyone in the discord for helping me. Next up I'll finish some more connections can be finished!

PXL_20230720_223903655.jpg


[EDIT: It's done! I just made a cutting-edge post: https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-wiicube.5944/]
 
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