Solved _o f f i c i a l l y_d e a d_ i n s i d e_

[Mumble]

Alright. I'm feeling a bit screwed over with this whole situation. I don't want to buy another controller. HOWEVER.
I have a 3rd party controller, and they have a "metal like thingy" for the buttons, rather then the black "circle like thingies". Can I solder directly to the "metal like thingy", with the trimmed parts I have?

 

[Bakuku]

Alright. I'm feeling a bit screwed over with this whole situation. I don't want to buy another controller. HOWEVER.
I have a 3rd party controller, and they have a "metal like thingy" for the buttons, rather then the black "circle like thingies". Can I solder directly to the "metal like thingy", with the trimmed parts I have?

Mumble,

Always add pictures with your question. We can't make out what you mean all the time just going from text.

 

[Gamecube]

Just wait till GC+ boards are back in stock

 

[Luke]

Alright. I'm feeling a bit screwed over with this whole situation. I don't want to buy another controller. HOWEVER.
I have a 3rd party controller, and they have a "metal like thingy" for the buttons, rather then the black "circle like thingies". Can I solder directly to the "metal like thingy", with the trimmed parts I have?

Chances are, yes, you can either solder directly to the metal under the buttons or at least somewhere farther back on the trace to make the connection. You could get a small piece of wire and make these connections by hand to verify. But like Bakuku said, post a picture if you're still confused and we can confirm.

 

[Mumble]

Mumble,

Always add pictures with your question. We can't make out what you mean all the time just going from text.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hv6yvu95psl9i6c/pic.png?dl=0

 

[Noah]

Yes, it's possible to do that but the OEM controller has a paint over the circuit board making it harder to scratch the traces in order to solder to it.

 

[Mumble]

Yes, it's possible to do that but the OEM controller has a paint over the circuit board making it harder to scratch the traces in order to solder to it.

Yeah. That's the reason why the title of this post is
CONTROLLERS WON'T F***ING STICK!
lol

 

[Noah]

I'd just get a GC+ personally and then chop the third-party and wire it to those pads.

 

[Mumble]

I'd just get a GC+ personally and then chop the third-party and wire it to those pads.

I'd totally do that but the store is down.

 

[Noah]

I've got a couple left in my personal stock that I can sell, send me a PM.

 

[Mumble]

I've got a couple left in my personal stock that I can sell, send me a PM.

I'll think about it when I have the money. I'm currently broke. (I get $35 a week from parents so yea)

 

[Mumble]

I'm going to try the third party controller, and see what I come up with...If I break this one I'll sit in a corner and cry. After that, I'll probably get a GC+.

 

[Gamecube]

I've got a couple left in my personal stock that I can sell, send me a PM.

I'm going to try the third party controller, and see what I come up with...If I break this one I'll sit in a corner and cry. After that, I'll probably get a GC+.

They are only $15 or so. If you ask Noah nicely maybe he'll give you a good deal

 

[Mumble]

They are only $15 or so. If you ask Noah nicely maybe he'll give you a good deal

$15 is better than $30

 

[Luke]

Scraping traces is annoying but not impossible, even with all the crap that's on there. The answer to your question "can I solder to the metal thingy" of the 3rd party controller is yes, yes you can. Soldering to the traces of the white board will be more complicated, but if you need to save money you might as well bite the bullet and just do it...

It's worth mentioning that there are other ways to make controls for a portable that don't involve soldering pieces of a controller to another controller. For example, if you were to use tact switches for buttons (with the plastic buttons over them, pushing them down), you could simply solder those to the "metal thingy" of the 3rd party controller and be done with it. GC+ is a simple solution with other benefits as well, but if you went with the GC+ you would be doing a similar thing as what I have just mentioned - soldering in your own tact switches.

 

[Mumble]

Scraping traces is annoying but not impossible, even with all the crap that's on there. The answer to your question "can I solder to the metal thingy" of the 3rd party controller is yes, yes you can. Soldering to the traces of the white board will be more complicated, but if you need to save money you might as well bite the bullet and just do it...

It's worth mentioning that there are other ways to make controls for a portable that don't involve soldering pieces of a controller to another controller. For example, if you were to use tact switches for buttons (with the plastic buttons over them, pushing them down), you could simply solder those to the "metal thingy" of the 3rd party controller and be done with it. GC+ is a simple solution with other benefits as well, but if you went with the GC+ you would be doing a similar thing as what I have just mentioned - soldering in your own tact switches.

Can we officially refer to the buttons on the 3rd party controllers as a "metal thingy"?
Also, thanks. I saw a good deal on 200 tact switches for like seven bucks, so if all else fails, that's not a bad option at all.

 

[Mumble]

If I've gone through 3 gamecube controllers, I wonder how many consoles I'll have to go through... (I'm actually using a Wii, which has a lot less info)
Edit:
Let's hope one.

 

[Luke]

Yeah, definitely practice soldering on stuff that doesn't matter.

 

[Mumble]

Yeah, definitely practice soldering on stuff that doesn't matter.

Maybe for my first portable I shouldn't trim the board to the console...

 

[cheese]

Maybe for my first portable I shouldn't trim the board to the console...

Your first electronics project should probably be something a little smaller than a portable
If you want wiis though, you can get cheap wiis from me, tested to make sure they work