Worklog My First Project!

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Jun 9, 2022
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Hello everyone. Welcome to my first work log. I’m a teenager who wants to try turning my childhood console into something I can play on the go. Now that most of my tools have been purchased, I can officially start my project (The Ashida). I have made progress with a few things. I have a Wii, iron, usb drive and the necessary equipment to work on this. Some of the things I need left are the motherboards, screen, battery, case, Gamecube buttons and joysticks and magnet wire. I don’t have the nicest paying job so it will take time to get some of these parts, But I am determined to get this project done by the end of the summer. I will need to learn a lot about soldering and the skills/practicing needed for a project like this. so don’t be afraid to reach out and give me some pointers. I would love to hear what other people have to say because I have VERY Poor judgment and mess up a lot. here are the items I have so far and I’ll try to update this thread the next time something exciting happens!
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CrazyGadget

Crazy Helpful, CrazyGadget
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Portables
???
Hello and welcome! It's always good to see newcomers who are looking to take their time and make sure to get things right little by little, rather than bum rush a project and break things early on. Based on what you've got going on in those pictures, it looks like you're on your way to a nice set of tools and supplies! Having a good soldering iron, solder, and flux really does make all the difference when working on projects like this. That being said, while it looks like you have a good iron and good flux, I'm not so sure about that solder. Personally, I would recommend this Kester 63/37 stuff, it works amazing and it will last you a *very* long time. For wire, here are my recommendations for 22 awg stranded and 34 awg magnet wire.

Here's some good advice for getting started in this hobby:
  • Read, read, read, read, and keep on reading. There is a lot of information to see on this site, between worklogs and guides and useful wiring figures, etc. so be sure to take a look around and make sure you know *exactly* what you're going to do before you start doing it.
    • For pretty much every single build that I do, I always have The Definitive Wii Trimming Guide and G-Boy Rev 3 complete kit assembly open. Even though the G-Boy is a significantly different build process and uses different PCBs, I find it very helpful as a general guide for what order to wire things up in a portable for the cleanest outcome.
  • If you have done your research but are still confused about something, do not be afraid to ask! So long as you show that you've put in the effort on your end and still can't find it, people here are more than happy to help a fellow member out!
  • If this is your first time soldering at all, I would highly recommend picking up a soldering practice kit or two from Amazon; they're cheap, and you get a good feeling for how to properly use a soldering iron with the risk of destroying a high-ticket item like those used in portables.
  • Even if you have some soldering experience, there is a lot of fine soldering required in portable builds. I would recommend trying to solder to the vias and other small components on the unused part of the board (after you have already homebrewed / RVLoaded the Wii / trimmed out the main part). Again, practicing on junk is low risk, and will make the joints on the main part of the board that much better when you go to do them.
I look forward to seeing more posts from you with your progress!
 
Joined
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That solder might not be ideal. It is hard to read the label from the angle presented, but it looks like radioshack leaded solder, and on the thicker side. It is generally considered best practice not to mix leaded and unleaded solder on anything you are planning to leave long term (if you are just adding leaded to a stubborn part to lower the melting point and make desoldering easier that is fine, but on a mod or similar you intend to leave long term it should be avoided) and the wii uses unleaded solder. Radioshack solder is also quite old, and solder can go bad if it uses no-clean flux in the core (rosin flux lasts basically forever but requires cleaning with alcohol after you are done, but no-clean often only has a shelf life of a couple years). Thick solder can make it trickier to work on very small solder joints like many of the ones needed while making a wii portable. If you decide to get unleaded solder, I use Sn 96.5 Ag 3.0 Cu 0.5 0.5mm solder for hand soldering small parts on unleaded boards. It isn't as easy to work with as good leaded solder, but it can be quite manageable and is a hell of a lot better than the cheap generic "silver bearing" solder that contains the bare minimum of silver they can get away with without getting sued and is a decent step up from Sn 95 Ag 5 solder
 
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Hey Everyone. I am back with a big update. It has been a bit since I last wrote but I still have been working on research and practice. I have improved a great deal and have gotten more knowledge about modding. I’ve also gotten a LOT of new tools for these projects. I said “these” because I am starting another project, The Wii Micro from Nold! I am switching my focus because of a family matter. If you do not want to read about this story you can skip ahead the next paragraph.


My sister is going to pursue college all the way in Hawaii! It is very far from where we are, and it is a big change. My sister loves playing video games and she doesn’t have a way to take any game consoles with her because of size problems in her luggage. But with a Wii micro it should be easier and more convenient for her. I told my sister I was gonna make something for her but I didn’t say what. I went ahead and started researching as much about the micro as I could and starting making my list. When I finished, I had to look for 3D printing options and that’s when I met my new friend Crazygadget. Thank god for this guy! He has helped me a great deal with this project, teaching me things I didn’t know and providing me with much knowledge. Such a great person. Because of him, I was able to get 80% of everything I needed. After a lot of talking and conversations, we came to our conclusion and he sent me everything. (After paying for it of course). Another thanks to Crazygadget for putting up with my many many MANY questions. I know I can be difficult sometimes, so thank you again! Anyways, my deadline is August 14th, when my sister leaves to Hawaii. This will be my last gift to my sister and I wont see her for years, so this is something very important to me.



I have everything I need to start this project. I have a few things on the way: (Dremel, Micro cutter and solder sucker).
But, I finally finished my toolset so no more money spending for awhile! I will start my progress as soon as I get my Dremel delivered.



Thank you guys for reading and I’ll update again when something cool or important happens! (Here are pics of my toolset and parts for micro)
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Jun 9, 2022
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Hey everyone I’m back with a new update.

Everything is prepared, I’ve done the trim and Im all hands on deck for the next 10-11 days I have. I’ve run into a wall though, I can’t get resistances of the trim right and I think it might have to do with 2 things. 1 my current multimeter or 2 myself maybe both haha

the first time I sanded the Wii board I measured the resistances and it was not good at all. it was then I realized I did not have the sufficient sandpaper needed to sand the motherboard correctly so I bought more. I have since sanded up to 1000 grit and in my eyes and hands it has been sanded correctly but when I put my multimeter back on the board I got the exact same results. I’m thinking about going solo and just power the board to see if it works but I know that’s an unwise decision. One other solution is buying a new multimeter but that Will take more time out of my already limited timeline. The last thing I can think of is that I simply am doing it wrong and I don’t understand the multimeter enough, I have done some research to see what to do. And I have asked other people for insight, but I have not reached any type of advancement. If any of you know what the problem could be, help would be appreciated.

here is the multimeter I own (it’s a handmedown so I don’t know if it’s good or where it came from)
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thank you for reading and I’ll update next time something interesting happens
 
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There is quite a bit of variance in the resistances you can get on a good trim, your values might be fine, I would recommend posting them so people can check if they are within reason.
 
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