Question Trimmed Wii 3.3v short. (Damaged the backside of the board)

[Jet432]

Hi guys, this is my first actual post on bitbuilt.

I just trimmed my wii and it was my first time using the dremel. I cut it horribly and hit some traces on the bottom side of the board (close up in the 3rd pic).
Also I was trying to save the AV port and didn't want to desolder it. This resulted in me cutting a bit further into the board onto the resistors.
I have sanded all edges with 120 - 800 grit.
From my measured resistances to ground:
1v = 200ohm | 1.15v = 57ohm | 1.8v = 36 ohm | 3.3v = 0ohm

I believe everything except the shorted 3.3v is acceptable. Is there anything I can do to fix it or is the board dead?
I went back and sanded all the corners 3 times with the previous grits and it feels really smooth. Is it a problem that the edge near the big capacitors is a little green and not perfectly shiny copper?)

Any help is appreciated!


(The blue wire is the u10 wire i connected to via and the blob of solder on the screwpost for ground, I following Dubesinhower's wii trimming video)

 

[Stitches]

Good lord..............

Son, wtf is that art project of a U10 wire? That's unsafe as fuck. You're meant to have a millimetre or two of exposed copper, not enough to form a Dreamcast logo.

And yeah that Nike swoosh you've done there by the NAND is pretty gnarly. I'm not sure if that location would cause a 3.3v to GND short, but I do see a lot of general detritus on the top face of the PCB that might be forming a temp short. I'd give the board a good clean with some isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush and do your resistance table again. Especially I'd pay attention to the orange tantalum capacitor at the top. It looks like there might be a strand of wire or something lodged underneath it.

 

[Jet432]

Good lord..............

Son, wtf is that art project of a U10 wire? That's unsafe as fuck. You're meant to have a millimetre or two of exposed copper, not enough to form a Dreamcast logo.

And yeah that Nike swoosh you've done there by the NAND is pretty gnarly. I'm not sure if that location would cause a 3.3v to GND short, but I do see a lot of general detritus on the top face of the PCB that might be forming a temp short. I'd give the board a good clean with some isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush and do your resistance table again. Especially I'd pay attention to the orange tantalum capacitor at the top. It looks like there might be a strand of wire or something lodged underneath it.

Thanks for the advice. I cleaned it up and seems like the short is still there. I have ordered another board and would definitely cut it better.

I loved your little quips about the u10 wire and the gash. Definitely would use more caution on my next attempt and go slower with the dremel.

 

[Stitches]

All good. For your next trim I recommend placing the rougher sand paper on a flat table and doing circular motion to get your major trim edges nice and flat. Rounded corners are good, but you want your major sides to be straight so they can't hide any shorts. Should get a better result that way.

Also you'll have less trouble with slippage if you use the heatsink screwholes to carefully secure the board to a bit of heavy scrap wood, or to a 3D printed frame that's attached to a bit of wood. I would not recommend using a vice or clamp though. They'll damage the components.

 

[LaBella]

I have a similar issue. All resistances look good, but the 3.3V line seems to be shorted with the 1.8V rail, I think. Does anyone know where I could look to find the fault?


and in u5 top left and the central pin is shorted with ground

 

[Stitches]

I have a similar issue. All resistances look good, but the 3.3V line seems to be shorted with the 1.8V rail, I think. Does anyone know where I could look to find the fault?


and in u5 top left and the central pin is shorted with ground

When you say it's shorted, does the ohm reading come up as single digits, or do you get a 25+ohm reading and your multimeter is beeping?

Also your board is very dirty. I see many deposits of flux and oxide that could be hiding shorts. I'd give your board a good clean with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush, and de-blob some of those regulator component pads.