Solved Wii trimming

[Nostars240]

Hi, I want to build Wii portable, would it work if I cut motherboard with sharp knife and sand edges? I can’t buy dremel and it would be needed for only one time, so it’s ok to use knife? I once did it, but it was ground plane and I didn’t sand edge it was smooth already.

 

[RedEnergy]

It's a pretty brutal way to trim a Wii, but I admit that I've tried it once and it worked. You can try it of course but remember that you're doing it at your own risk. I suggest to sand the edges in any case, in order to avoid any kind of short, also try to check the trim with a multimeter

 

[Shankwannabe]

It's a pretty brutal way to trim a Wii, but I admit that I've tried it once and it worked. You can try it of course but remember that you're doing it at your own risk. I suggest to sand the edges in any case, in order to avoid any kind of short, also try to check the trim with a multimeter

What is a multimeter

 

[RedEnergy]

It's an instrument used to read voltages, resistances and other stuff on circuit boards, and also to check the shorts

 

[Shankwannabe]

It's an instrument used to read voltages, resistances and other stuff on circuit boards, and also to check the shorts
View attachment 26106

OK.

 

[LCandell]

Hi, I want to build Wii portable, would it work if I cut motherboard with sharp knife and sand edges? I can’t buy dremel and it would be needed for only one time, so it’s ok to use knife? I once did it, but it was ground plane and I didn’t sand edge it was smooth already.

I did a trim using a big grinder like the picture below. Maybe doing it with a knife is too harder, but I can suggest you to find any workshop and ask them to use a grinder or maybe they can cut the board for you. OBVIOUSLY you have to cut too far of the red line to ensure that the usable part of the board doesn't get damaged and then, you have to sand a lot every edge.

Is not so easy, I don't recommend this method at all, but you have to work with the tools you can find

 

[Nostars240]

It's a pretty brutal way to trim a Wii, but I admit that I've tried it once and it worked. You can try it of course but remember that you're doing it at your own risk. I suggest to sand the edges in any case, in order to avoid any kind of short, also try to check the trim with a multimeter

So you done this once? What did you cut? Of course I will sand edges and check everything with multimeter.

 

[Nostars240]

I did a trim using a big grinder like the picture below. Maybe doing it with a knife is too harder, but I can suggest you to find any workshop and ask them to use a grinder or maybe they can cut the board for you. OBVIOUSLY you have to cut too far of the red line to ensure that the usable part of the board doesn't get damaged and then, you have to sand a lot every edge.
View attachment 26107

Is not so easy, I don't recommend this method at all, but you have to work with the tools you can find

I don’t know if I can find any workshops at the Italy and what I have is stationery knife (same as on picture)

and with it I successfully removed part of PS2 Slim motherboard and cut AV Multi Out port and it worked fine, I just curios if it would work with Wii, and of course I will do everything like write in Wii build instructions.

 

[Stitches]

If push comes to shove, I have seen people use a fine toothed band saw to perform trims. It's big cringe, but supposedly it works fine and many public workshops have one

 

[Nostars240]

If push comes to shove, I have seen people use a fine toothed band saw to perform trims. It's big cringe, but supposedly it works fine and many public workshops have one

I can’t imagine trimming with saw, even fine toothed one, but it’s an idea, still I will stick with my stationery knife for now, then come up with something else.

 

[Stitches]

We will always recommend using a rotary tool for safety and reliability, but other things do work, albiet less safely and reliably

 

[RedEnergy]

So you done this once? What did you cut? Of course I will sand edges and check everything with multimeter.

I’ve trimmed a Wii motherboard and it worked fine

 

[CrazyGadget]

You can get a decent rotary tool for $20 on Amazon, I would highly consider the added cost of an easy, safe trimming experience (and a tool you can use in the future) over hacking away at the board with tools not meant for the job and a significantly higher risk of screwing something up.

 

[Nostars240]

I’ve trimmed a Wii motherboard and it worked fine

It was standard trim?

 

[Nostars240]

You can get a decent rotary tool for $20 on Amazon, I would highly consider the added cost of an easy, safe trimming experience (and a tool you can use in the future) over hacking away at the board with tools not meant for the job and a significantly higher risk of screwing something up.

I checked Amazon and eBay and there is many options, but I don’t have any place to work with rotary tool and it needed for 1-2 times only.

 

[AdriBoy]

I bought a dremmel like tool, with battery for 25€, and i cut the wii in the window. You just have to be careful.
In another trim, I cut it with a old handsaw I had at home, I sanded the edges and it worked fine.

So, if you can cut it inside the line and you didnt broke anithing, just sand the edges and it will work.

 

[RedEnergy]

It was standard trim?

Yes

 

[Nostars240]

Hello again, after talking with my mother, she said that I buy rotary tool, because she will need it later for her work. Thanks for helping me with chose

 

[Stitches]

Make sure to practice on some unimportant scrap PCBs to learn the proper grip and cutting pace before going for the Wii trim