Hardware Replacing 3DS Charging port with Micro USB

Foxi4

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There's an infinitely easier solution if you don't have the right equipment to solder a USB port on - grab a miniUSB extension cable and a broken DSi/3DS charger, slash the wires off, connect the two cables together, use some insulation tape or thermal insulation and BAM! you've got yourself a male DSi/3DS to female miniUSB adapter. Alternatively you can just grab a DSi/3DS USB cable online.
 

Foxi4

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Right, but that requires you to have an extra cable along with the miniUSB cable, and while that's only a minor inconvenience, the whole point of this is for convenience.
You have the convenience of using any miniUSB cable you want and you don't have to worry about using a charger, you can just use a very small adapter.
 

RandomOddness

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Without butting in too much, can I just ask what wattage your soldering iron will be, as you've stated that you've never done SMD rework I'm assuming you've mostly done through-hole soldering in the past, what pitch have you soldered to before? Replacing any connector isn't impossible but as a USB port has 4-5 pins depending on the choice, you've got two pins for the current connector and I'm not entirely sure on the size difference between a 3DS port and a USB port but I'm assuming you'd also lose a lot of the structural support from the grounding pins, which could mean a loose connector which could be prone to breaking, which would be very difficult to repair. I'm not saying it's impossible but I wouldn't recommend you attempting to replace a charging port if you've never tackled SMD soldering before, the basics are simple enough but when you've got SMD and through hold on one port due to the ground pins on the body of the port, if you don't know what you're doing you're very likely to make a mistake and kill a pad if using an iron or improper use of a rework machine.

From what I can see the ground and power pin match so if you removed the data pins from the USB port you'd not have any issues with shorting or reversing the connection but I'm quite sure the pins wouldn't be aligned on the pads so you'd have to take extra care there and again, the lack of proper support for the connector is likely to cause many issues in itself. It might be a cool idea but it's not the smartest sadly with too many variables for someone inexperienced to attempt. I'm much more a fan of replacing like for like and using a modified cable if it makes you happy.
 
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chairsgotoschool

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it would be much easier to make a small 3ds charger to micro usb cable or just a usb on one side and 3ds charger on the other since all things that use that simply take 5v anyway. but if you really want to then I guess it is possible. getting the pins lined up would be the hardest part but if you get a port that has long connectors you could bend them a little, use a non conductive epoxy to secure it all down and you're good. again I see no reason to do this besides it being a fun little project.

additionally looking at the 3ds it seems there is some open space on the back edge, you could probably have both chargers in if you really wanted, easiest way would be to replace the infrared port but it looks possible without doing that.

sadly even with the right equipment (mainly talking about a heat gun of some kind) in my mind at least this raises to many risks for what it is worth. applying heat is risky alone, you don't want to warp the board or overheat anything. you also want to make sure all the solder is flowing so when you pull you don't rip the traces... which is a pain.
 

Oxybelis

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Actually desoldering SMD connectors is easier. But it is easy to damage other components at the area if you do not have enough skill.
It would be much easier for novice to solder another connector to existing. But this would need case modification.
 

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