Hardware Opening/Soldering the WII *INFO*

[DRACO]

Hey whats up guys! I am new to the forums and i was wondering if you peeps can pass around some of your knowledge.
i have a wii that i recieved on christmas(bought mid december) and i have raised enough money for the nessesary equuptment for modding. I am gonna buy a wiikey/triwing from foundm and the rest from radioshack. my only problem is that it is my first time soldering and i dont want to f»«k up my wii. one question- if i solder my wiikey directly to the board how will i remove it if i break my wii? and how does te 4 wires option work helllpp

 

[Hooya]

Read this thread starting from the beginning man. It's got loads of info already here for you.

 

[DRACO]

i did but i found nothing on wires/ quicksolder comparison

 

[ssj4android]

Any tips on stripping the 30 gauge wire? I can't seem to do it.

 

[DRACO]

try using a sharp knife hold pressure on the blade while moving it down the wire good luck

 

[Perplexer]

I use something very similar to THIS TOOL ($5 at Radio Shack). Works great every time.

 

[philipcooper]

lots of useful info there just one thing whee do u get that backup image what you burn with nero

 

[Hooya]

lots of useful info there just one thing whee do u get that backup image what you burn with nero

Are you asking where to get the images? We can't talk about where to download them from, but if you check out posts regarding the RawDump utility you can learn how to dump your own images. You need a specific DVD drive.

If you mean how do you burn them: You have to make sure the image is unscrambled. If the image will fit on a DVD it is unscrambled, if it doesn't you need to unscramble it. Dig around for the unscrambler program, but you usually don't need this as most releases are unscrambled and the latest version of RawDump does it for you. Then you'll have a DVD .iso image you can burn with any burning software that supports DVD burning (such as Nero).

 

[Hooya]

i did but i found nothing on wires/ quicksolder comparison

Wires are usually easier to install.

The only reason "quicksolder" is called that is that theoretically you only need to install a point on the chip directly to the board, meaning you have half as many solder points to connect (compared to Chip-Wire and Wire-Board you just go Chip-Board). But quicksolder is usually more difficult to get right, and it's also more problematic to fix or remove if something goes wrong.

It's not "easysolder" it's "quicksolder". Don't get the idea that quick=easy here. It's not.

 

[ssj4android]

Damn it, I can't get the four screws on the one side of the Wii off. My tri-wing doesn't open them. On the two under the bumpers, the screwdriver seems to fit, but the screws won't budge.

 

[Lazycus]

The screw on my battery cover was EXTREMELY tight. I had a jewelers size philips head screwdriver but it took forever to get that thing loosened up. Also, the square nut on the back of that screw should be held in place by a little black plastic tab that is part of the interior black plastic shell of the lower half of the case. There was another thread about those nuts falling out and people not knowing where they came from. Perhaps when the nuts were inserted the plastic tab was stressed too much (or even broken off) and doesn't flex back to hold the nut in. It would be easy to just glue the nut in or tape it at the top to fix it.

It was more time consuming for me to remove the rubber feet and stickers (and keep them nice looking) than to remove the screws they covered. I used an X-acto knife and tweezers to lift and pull them off cleanly and an old backing sheet from a mailing label page to stick them on until they were placed back on. As long as your philips head screwdriver has a nice sharp point and can get to the bottom of the screw tops you should be fine.

I don't think there are any wire strippers just for 30 guage wire. I used the wire cutting portion of my strippers where a small indent was formed when cutting a nice solid piece of wire long ago. Just pinched the wire enough to grip the kynar and pulled them off. Basically that's all the 'adjustable' wire strippers are - cutters with a small v shape on each blade so the insulation is cut on 4 sides and easily pulled off with a gentle touch.

Definately do a wired install over a quicksolder installation with the Wiikey. Maybe the CycloWiz is thin enough with enough contact area on the side of the pcb for quicksolder to be easy but my experience is with the Wiikey.

 

[mustnap]

i used a pair of scissors to strip the wires.. (make sure you are not cutting the wire)

Any tips on stripping the 30 gauge wire? I can't seem to do it.

 

[mustnap]

Since i got a Wii, and an Xbox 360 (currently waiting for my Gamecube to arrive - don't ask me why i bought a GC after having a Wii.. hehe) i purchased this

http://www.mod-chip.com/en/access_pro_tool_kit.php

I think it is worth my money coz this thing has a complete collection of the screwdrivers/tools that you will need when you are disassembling your consoles (i have not gotten it yet though, probably sometimes this week)

Anyone know a good place to buy a triwing screwdriver that can open up the Wii and the (original) DS? Would some place like Menard's or Ace Hardware have it? What size should I look for?

 

[Fatal]

The screw on my battery cover was EXTREMELY tight. I had a jewelers size philips head screwdriver but it took forever to get that thing loosened up. Also, the square nut on the back of that screw should be held in place by a little black plastic tab that is part of the interior black plastic shell of the lower half of the case. There was another thread about those nuts falling out and people not knowing where they came from. Perhaps when the nuts were inserted the plastic tab was stressed too much (or even broken off) and doesn't flex back to hold the nut in. It would be easy to just glue the nut in or tape it at the top to fix it.

I had the same problem with tight screws. I solved it by wrapping duct tape around the handle of my jewelers screwdriver to give it a softer and larger grip. Once you can actually hold on to the screwdriver normally, it's much easier to get the screws out. I used the same type of method to get the drive screws back in. Just tape the to the point of the screwdriver and when its in place you can pull the tape away. Duct tape solves most of life's problems.

 

[plexo]

Since i got a Wii, and an Xbox 360 (currently waiting for my Gamecube to arrive - don't ask me why i bought a GC after having a Wii.. hehe) i purchased this

http://www.mod-chip.com/en/access_pro_tool_kit.php

I think it is worth my money coz this thing has a complete collection of the screwdrivers/tools that you will need when you are disassembling your consoles (i have not gotten it yet though, probably sometimes this week)

Anyone know a good place to buy a triwing screwdriver that can open up the Wii and the (original) DS? Would some place like Menard's or Ace Hardware have it? What size should I look for?

does that have 1 thats like a torx but a hole in the middle? i cant see it aint workin cannot find server, but if it does, its also useful for uk cable boxs

 

[mustnap]

does that have 1 thats like a torx but a hole in the middle? i cant see it aint workin cannot find server, but if it does, its also useful for uk cable boxs

I think it has that kind of screwdriver (i saw a better picture of the stuff included, but i forgot where) i will let you know when i got the item.. hopefully sometimes this week..

 

[bobtron]

heres what i use for ps1/ps2/xbox/ds modding
Wires:
30awg teflon wire
22awg wire for power and ground
Iron:
Cooper Tools 42w
Lead:
.022" dia lead alloy 62/36/2 (silver bearing, rosin-core) radioshack
.025" dia lead alloy (organic flux water based cleaning) kester
Flux:
Liquid Flux (really nice since you can dip a wire in it and touch the wire to a tiny lead ie ps2 slim points)
Paste Flux good for tinning and everyday use
Desoldering Braid:
ESD Safe 0.98", 0.60", 0.35
Misc.
Electrical tape, Heat sink clips, tweezers, helping hand, shrink tubes, glue gun

also i kinda hate the RoHS compliant solders, their usually tin/silver, or tin/copper but god their such pain in the ass, hard to work with and requires more heat to melt, also cools too fast and hates sticking to stuff, also dont use corrosive flux. kinda hard to fry things unless you use a soldering gun (i've tried and some resistors acually explode when held on long enough) use the 3 second rule, dont have the soldering iron on a point longer then 3 sec, if lead wont stick apply rosin or scratch area lightly with a xacto knife or pencil eraser, really makes things alot easier if you do this

Hi everybody. I have never solder so here I have a question for you:
If I understand, you need to tin the wires and connection points with solder. Also, when connecting the wires and board circuit, you need to apply some more solder. So why and when use flux ? I don't understand what's it is used for.

Thanks!

 

[Hooya]

You really shouldn't need flux if you're using flux core solder (which you should be). You would if the job were considerably bigger, but you'll be fine without the flux for the most part.

Flux is the stuff that allows solder to flow around components and form a bond with them. Without flux the solder just beads up on itself and doesn't form any good connection.

 

[gvanker]

Quicksoldering as a newbie....not a good idea. I just learned that first hand. Damn RadioShack and Best Buy for not having any 30 AWG wire! I'm not exactly sure what's not working, but it's only reading regular disks and my drive is acting a little funny. At least my wii isn't broken. Two of the front ones bridged and that was a bitch to try to recover. I'm thinking that messed it up.

 

[Harsky]

I know I should be parked up to the PC and read each and every post in this thread but I suppose it can't hurt to ask. I'm currently practicing not for a Wii chip but for a PS2 chip on my old broken CD drive from my old PC. But the chip I'm thinking of choosing has a tone of those copper points and when I tried to get solder to stick to the copper point, it either:

Doesn't stick

or

Sticks but when I pull the iron up, it pulls the solder up as well

I'm using a 15 watt iron with a solder which has flux core

Does that mean I still need more flux?