Worklog putting rechargable batteries in the Wavebird. (minimal case modding required)

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Oct 6, 2021
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so as stated previously I put lipo batteries inside the Nintendo Wavebird in such a way that requires absolutely minimum case modification. and only the absolute basic understanding of soldering, so do this, we first find batteries that will fit without any funkiness, luckily there are SOME REALLY good batteries that I know of that fit absolutely perfectly in the controller wings with no glue or other ways of tying them down required, these batteries are original Ipod batteries, I have these... just laying around... used to work at a repair store and I gobbled up tons of gently used batteries, I don't suggest doing this.. but I'm cheap and I... generally know how batteries work.

first lets start by preparing the cells, these batteries come with a flat cable coming off specifically made for the iPod , this cable basically comes all the way off and we take it apart gently until we see the terminals coming directly off the cell... be very careful with this, normally we want to keep the original battery management system that comes on these cells but the charge circuit we have basically handles that... sorta... it does it in a stupid way

in order to make that work we need to charge the batteries all the way up and verify that the cells are within .05V or... somewhere in there, the closer the better but don't be afraid if it's between .06/.08 we are talking millivolts here the batteries won't care.
the pictures below show how I routed the wires, but keep in mind there is a little plastic piece that sits into the battery compartment so finagle the wires long enough so you can go around this plastic... trigger switch hold.

desolder the terminals from the mainboard and replace them with wires, due make sure to not lose these once you thread it through, I suggest using a different colour standard than you did for the batteries,

TAKE ALL OF THE WIREs and shove them where the terminals used to poke through, there are two holes, and it's still going to require some finagling.

about this time you're going to realize that the case isn't going to like to close, and that's because the bottom-most screw post has a tiny little interference, add a little plastic massaging here to remove the post support gently, you don't need to lose a lot, just enough. and... theoretically it... SHOULD fit, if it doesn't it's because the wires are interfering with the plastic "saddle" that's holding the trigger buttons in place, finagle, finagle, finagle, it will fit if your wires are 22 awg you just need to make sure they are out of the way, then you should be able to put them into the holes from the battery terminal spot on the board, there's just enough room, in the battery compartment we just... combine the batteries in parallel solder that onto the board where the B+ and B- is indicated and then solder the leads to the board where output + and output - is indicated, the switch on the controller should be fine enough to turn it off and on normally, and there you go, these are the absolute biggest batteries you could ever fit into this thing, and they add a good amount of weight to the already amazing feeling wavebird, happy gaming. links to parts below.


battery equivalent

lipo charge circuit
 

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Oct 6, 2021
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damn sounds like the dream controller for smash
Honestly, it's pretty awesome, I don't play the GameCube often anymore, but the thing lasts AGES and for me, at least the most important part was to not have to trim the plastic as much as possible, and I'm glad that that was possible.
 
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I've been looking for something like this, and when I searched this up, I'm glad I have found this. I got some USB C charge controllers to use for that, but I want to make mine easier to charge without having to take apart the backplate, so I might give this a go with my Wavebird real quick. Thanks for the references.
 
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Greetings directly from Brazil.
Great tutorial. I'll do it on my controls.
Could you please let me know what Ipod model the batteries are?
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2022
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Greetings directly from Brazil.
Great tutorial. I'll do it on my controls.
Could you please let me know what Ipod model the batteries are?
that person posted a link to buy the battery and it's a iPod 6th 7th Gen Classic
 
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