Worklog The Nintendo Swiitch - BocuD's first Wii portable

[BocuD]

Ouch. I'd still try to fix the short and see if that revives it. You should probably get a better iron tip if that's what knocked them off. You should probably get one anyways, as a narrow tip will make soldering to the little things a LOT easier.

Yeah, will do
this iron seems like it's just too big. The other regulators are fine though... I'm just going to hope I can fix it. I can alway try to measure what the resistance is using the other regs and try to replace it, using normal resistors of course. I hope I can revive this one though since I have a LOT to do in order to finish the portable in time for the contest.

 

[cheese]

Well the short on that capacitor is between vin and ground, but those SMT parts would seem to be more important... Also, on all of my PTHs I have, that capacitor is not there

 

[BocuD]

well I'll try to just remove the cap then, and TRY to replace the SMT resistors. I don't think I'll be able to resolveer SMT parts though so I'll probably just order a PowerMii Lite from @Noah

 

[BocuD]

Okay, so i was trying to relocate the U10 and i think i really messed it up...
Anyone know how to fix it?

I destroyed the pad where i am supposed to add the wire and i also destroyed some other pad, but this is messed up in the guide as well so i dont think it is a problem. But that one pad... also, how can i remove the U10 without killing it?

 

[Stitches]

Okay, so i was trying to relocate the U10 and i think i really messed it up...
Anyone know how to fix it?
View attachment 2751
I destroyed the pad where i am supposed to add the wire and i also destroyed some other pad, but this is messed up in the guide as well so i dont think it is a problem. But that one pad... also, how can i remove the U10 without killing it?

If you clean the area, you can find and scratch the trace that runs to the pad and solder a short wire from the U10 to that.

As for not destroying it, a good iron, some flux and a desoldering braid are handy. A good set of de-magged tweezers help too.

 

[BocuD]

If you clean the area, you can find and scratch the trace that runs to the pad and solder a short wire from the U10 to that.

As for not destroying it, a good iron, some flux and a desoldering braid are handy. A good set of de-magged tweezers help too.

Okay, I'll try that after I get a new iron and will finish bluetooth first then.

 

[cheese]

I actually did the exact same thing on my board, the pad in the opposite corner of the wire pad isn't needed. As for the pad that would have the wire, I would suggest doing what I did, lift that pin on the u10 and solder to that. It seems there is something underneath there that makes it not work right...

As for removing the u10 I just cover it with solder until it just lifts off with the iron and then flick it on my desk The u10 can survive quite a bit of heat, I've never destroyed one doing it this way

 

[jefflongo]

Gmans method worked great for me, put a blob of solder on both sides then heat both sides back and forth while pushing it off with tweezers.

 

[BocuD]

w-what
How is that supposed to work
Also what soldering iron do you guys use? Mine seems to put me down every time.

 

[jefflongo]

w-what
How is that supposed to work
Also what soldering iron do you guys use? Mine seems to put me down every time.

You put a blob of solder on the 3 pins on the one side and a blob of solder on the 2 pins on the other. Then you heat both sides repeatedly while pushing with tweezers so the solder stays liquid and it can be easily removed. Here's a good and affordable soldering iron.

 

[BocuD]

You put a blob of solder on the 3 pins on the one side and a blob of solder on the 2 pins on the other. Then you heat both sides repeatedly while pushing with tweezers so the solder stays liquid and it can be easily removed. Here's a good and affordable soldering iron.

Thanks, ill look into it. I'm currently using a digital one with thermometer and stuff but it has a really big tip. Can I also just replace the tip or do I actually need a new one? If i want to be able to solder wires to the nand for instance, will the iron you linked be sufficient?

 

[jefflongo]

Thanks, ill look into it. I'm currently using a digital one with thermometer and stuff but it has a really big tip. Can I also just replace the tip or do I actually need a new one? If i want to be able to solder wires to the nand for instance, will the iron you linked be sufficient?

Most irons have replaceable heads. Just get a pencil tip. It's pretty versatile for everything. You could get an even thinner tip for the NAND if you're worried about it but it should definitely be possible with a pencil tip.

 

[BocuD]

Okay, I'll buy one of those then because my iron definitely has replaceable tips.

 

[cheese]

A larger tip would be fine, also you don't have to bother putting two blobs, I always just have one big blob that covers the whole chip

But if you iron has a replaceable tip, do that for sure, the ones with the temperature settings are almost always good

 

[BocuD]

A larger tip would be fine, also you don't have to bother putting two blobs, I always just have one big blob that covers the whole chip

But if you iron has a replaceable tip, do that for sure, the ones with the temperature settings are almost always good

Okay, then I will do that. With this tip it was already hard to solder to the bluetooth tets pins, but I don't have any flux so maybe getting that will also help. Thanks!

 

[BocuD]

Okay, I just removed all of the onboard regs and hooked my wii up to 3 bench power supplies. I don't know how its possible its working, but it is so im happy with it. I then trimmed my motherboard, and now I'll have to sand for an eternity. Whatever, everything for a working Wii portable. I also just ordered the L7009, and it will replace the 480x234 display I'm currently using. I also trimmed around 5mm around the red line to be safe.

Pics of the trimmed motherboard:

Does it look like I can get this motherboard working, after I solder the U10 on?

 

[jefflongo]

Okay, I just removed all of the onboard regs and hooked my wii up to 3 bench power supplies. I don't know how its possible its working, but it is so im happy with it. I then trimmed my motherboard, and now I'll have to sand for an eternity. Whatever, everything for a working Wii portable. I also just ordered the L7009, and it will replace the 480x234 display I'm currently using. I also trimmed around 5mm around the red line to be safe.
View attachment 2805
Pics of the trimmed motherboard:
View attachment 2804
Does it look like I can get this motherboard working, after I solder the U10 on?

Definitely sand it good, especially the area above the NAND, you can see copper pieces on there.

 

[ShockSlayer]

if your bluetooth wires are any longer you might as well just connect them to the wiimote ayy

 

[BocuD]

Okay so after ~ 5 Wii motherboards (and fucking up everytime trying to solder a wire to the "U10 via") i just gave up on trimming a Wii. It is the most important part of my Portable so i had a question. Can a mod move this thread back to the Wii worklogs so I can finish this build later? When I get a new soldering iron and am able to have practiced some via wiring on old Wii motherboards, I might try to finish It and I really want to. For now I have another project that I want to submit and I hope you'll like that one. Its an Altoids Tin Pi Zero Portable NES Classic Mini clone based on a Raspberry Pi 2.

 

[cheese]

Moved