Hardware [Question] Superglue And PCBs

[NekoMichi]

Hypothetically speaking, if I had a micro USB port soldered to a 3DS and it was working properly, but there's a small gap between the connector and the PCB surface, would it be safe to draw superglue into the gap via capillary action to secure the connector?

The idea is that there's a risk of the connector being bent when the cable is plugged in, putting strain on the pins and risking them breaking off the PCB. Would it be safe to apply glue to the bottom surface to mitigate this? (so long as none of the glue gets inside the port itself)

 

[LameNobody]

It would work fine, however, super glue may not be the best option for strength with such a low surface area.
You could go with epoxy or some sort of cement type of adhesive...

Instead of just securing the bottom of the microUSB connector to the board, i don't see why you wouldn't do the whole outside of the connector with epoxy

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Super glue is really messy to work with. If you don't 100% make sure all the leads are connected and you add that stuff in, you permanently set a broken connector to the board.

You're better off using those UV light pen glues like Bondic, 5 Second Fix, or Lazer Bond. It has a strength comparable to hot glue with a fine tune precision of a pen. You don't have to worry rushing to apply glue with curing time as you control when to harden the glue with the light.

It's also removable with needle work if you need to redo fixing the charging port.

 

[NekoMichi]

To tell the truth, I've ordered a modded 3DS with a Katsukity capture board pre-installed, so installing the micro USB connector is not an issue. I was just a little concerned after reading reports of some people's capture devices failing due to the connector lifting off the PCB, caused by cable strain. Supposedly this is a "new" board design after the March 2017 update that's supposed to be more durable, but it can't hurt to be extra-careful.

I've also considered getting a magnetic breakaway cable like this:

This would allow me to keep the "plug" end of the cable in the console at all times and stick on the magnetic connector whenever needed. Would this be a better alternative to messing with the internals?

 

[TurdPooCharger]

To tell the truth, I've ordered a modded 3DS with a Katsukity capture board pre-installed, so installing the micro USB connector is not an issue. I was just a little concerned after reading reports of some people's capture devices failing due to the connector lifting off the PCB, caused by cable strain. Supposedly this is a "new" board design after the March 2017 update that's supposed to be more durable, but it can't hurt to be extra-careful.

I've also considered getting a magnetic breakaway cable like this:
View attachment 120745
This would allow me to keep the "plug" end of the cable in the console at all times and stick on the magnetic connector whenever needed. Would this be a better alternative to messing with the internals?

Oo. In that case, do the glue idea (but not with super glue).

You immensely lower the risk with that magnetic intermediate adapter. If you want to be even safer, try securing the usb micro-B side to the 3DS with removable gummy glue (the stuff you find with credit cards attached in letter mail).

With all three implementations, you shouldn't break the port with accidental tugs.

 

[NekoMichi]

Oo. In that case, do the glue idea (but not with super glue).

You immensely lower the risk with that magnetic intermediate adapter. If you want to be even safer, try securing the usb micro-B side to the 3DS with removable gummy glue (the stuff you find with credit cards attached in letter mail).

With all three implementations, you shouldn't break the port with accidental tugs.

Thanks! I will try that out when it arrives.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Thanks! I will try that out when it arrives.

If your planning to use mag safe usb cables with a kat capture card, there are a few mag safe usb cables that will not work.

I have the Netdot 3rd Generation Magnetic usb and 2nd Generation version, neither of them work with kat's capture card. The data signal keeps dropping on windows, linux and rpi.


If you find a mag safe usb that works with kat's capture card, I would like to know which one you got that works.

 

[The Catboy]

I am honestly not a big fan of superglue going anywhere near electronics. It's messy and can melt plastic, which is kind a bad thing when plastic is used to coat wires.

 

[NekoMichi]

If your planning to use mag safe usb cables with a kat capture card, there are a few mag safe usb cables that will not work.

I have the Netdot 3rd Generation Magnetic usb and 2nd Generation version, neither of them work with kat's capture card. The data signal keeps dropping on windows, linux and rpi.


If you find a mag safe usb that works with kat's capture card, I would like to know which one you got that works.

Do the cables work for data transmission on other devices? Sounds like the physical connection might be flaky, or the cables themselves somehow have a lower bandwidth.

The cable I ordered is by Penzo and will be arriving today, I will test it on phones and stuff before the 3DS arrives, and let you know how it goes.

 

[CMDreamer]

Instead of superglue, I'd use hot glue for securing the connector to the case and add mechanical strength to it.

When you can, care to attach some images?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

You can also use loctite 242 to do some of the same things as super glue. loctite 242 is a epoxy resin

Do the cables work for data transmission on other devices? Sounds like the physical connection might be flaky, or the cables themselves somehow have a lower bandwidth.

The cable I ordered is by Penzo and will be arriving today, I will test it on phones and stuff before the 3DS arrives, and let you know how it goes.

I believe that you will have to look at the descriptions or in the title name if it says something like data sync or something similar. The majority of the mag safe usb cables are for charging only.

 

[NekoMichi]

You can also use loctite 242 to do some of the same things as super glue. loctite 242 is a epoxy resin


I believe that you will have to look at the descriptions or in the title name if it says something like data sync or something similar. The majority of the mag safe usb cables are for charging only.

Yes, I specifically looked for ones that mention data transfer. The cable arrived today and I did a quick test on a phone - It syncs data only when connected one way. When I turn the magnet cable the other way, it functions only as a power supply with no data transfer.

 

[NekoMichi]

[Update]
So both the magnetic cable and capture device arrived. When I inserted the plug module, it doesn't sit flush with the console's casing and hangs out a bit:

The cable itself connects and disconnects easily enough without any strain issues, and the magnets are strong enough to stay connected when when I hold the console up and move around slightly. The cable has an extremely bright LED on one side, and data transmission only happens when the LED is facing downwards (connecting the other way round will not allow the PC to detect the capture card).

The video quality on the PC is the same as using a standard non-breakaway cable. Here's a sample recording:


This was recorded using the Mac viewer software and QuickTime's screen recording feature. Audio was recorded through the USB (beta) and not the 3.5mm audio port.

Some things to note:
- The recording quality and frame rate is the same as using a standard micro USB cable.
- Occasionally the frame rate would drop severely (to about 1-3FPS) and required a restart of the Mac, whereas this did not occur on my PC. Considering that the Mac has an i7 processor and the PC is running on an Atom CPU, I guess this is a software issue and not something wrong with the capture card itself.
- Occasionally the viewer would freeze on a frame as if the USB connection had been broken, but restarting the viewer software without touching the cables would momentarily fix it. Again, this only happened on the Mac version and not Windows so I'm assuming it's a software issue and not a hardware one.
- Audio output via USB is about 24 frames (0.4 seconds) delayed compared to the video, this happens on both the PC and Mac viewer softwares, and may be a limitation due to the USB 2.0 bandwidth as well as the feature being in beta.
- Audio quality through USB wasn't as good as the 3.5mm port, with weaker bass.
- Audio output through the 3.5mm port would have audible background noise present whenever the capture card was connected.
- In some scenes, screen tearing was visible. This could be fixed by limiting the frame rate to 30FPS in the viewer settings.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

[Update]
So both the magnetic cable and capture device arrived. When I inserted the plug module, it doesn't sit flush with the console's casing and hangs out a bit:

The cable itself connects and disconnects easily enough without any strain issues, and the magnets are strong enough to stay connected when when I hold the console up and move around slightly. The cable has an extremely bright LED on one side, and data transmission only happens when the LED is facing downwards (connecting the other way round will not allow the PC to detect the capture card).

The video quality on the PC is the same as using a standard non-breakaway cable. Here's a sample recording:


This was recorded using the Mac viewer software and QuickTime's screen recording feature. Audio was recorded through the USB (beta) and not the 3.5mm audio port.

Some things to note:
- The recording quality and frame rate is the same as using a standard micro USB cable.
- Occasionally the frame rate would drop severely (to about 1-3FPS) and required a restart of the Mac, whereas this did not occur on my PC. Considering that the Mac has an i7 processor and the PC is running on an Atom CPU, I guess this is a software issue and not something wrong with the capture card itself.
- Occasionally the viewer would freeze on a frame as if the USB connection had been broken, but restarting the viewer software without touching the cables would momentarily fix it. Again, this only happened on the Mac version and not Windows so I'm assuming it's a software issue and not a hardware one.
- Audio output via USB is about 24 frames (0.4 seconds) delayed compared to the video, this happens on both the PC and Mac viewer softwares, and may be a limitation due to the USB 2.0 bandwidth as well as the feature being in beta.
- Audio quality through USB wasn't as good as the 3.5mm port, with weaker bass.
- Audio output through the 3.5mm port would have audible background noise present whenever the capture card was connected.
- In some scenes, screen tearing was visible. This could be fixed by limiting the frame rate to 30FPS in the viewer settings.

The screen tearing and frame rate drop can be fixed by turning off the audio over usb and use a line in to record the audio. Your near the transfer limit of usb when using the capture card. The audio recording with a line in will always sound a bit louder.

You might also have to depopulate anything on that usb hub to run smoothly.

---

Mine is slightly at an angle. Mine sits nearly flush but the mag safe usb doesn't work.

 

[NekoMichi]

The screen tearing and frame rate drop can be fixed by turning off the audio over usb and use a line in to record the audio. Your near the transfer limit of usb when using the capture card. The audio recording with a line in will always sound a bit louder.

You might also have to depopulate anything on that usb hub to run smoothly.

---

Mine is slightly at an angle. Mine sits nearly flush but the mag safe usb doesn't work.

The screen tearing and frame drops didn't seem to be affected by turning off USB audio, but the delay between video and USB audio would get worse as the recording went longer. I switched to line-out audio but there would be a constant buzz whenever the video-out was connected and active. In the end I MacGyver'd up an audio filter using a spare cord and a ferrite bead and that seemed to do the trick. I think a lot of the video and lag issues are caused by the Mac software itself because none of that happens on a PC running a lower spec. (on both machines, video-out was plugged straight into a USB 3 port with no hubs)

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

The buzzing is due to the mag cable, There is a circuit that the data seems to be passing through. I get that buzzing even on the ones I use, I have several. I narrowed down the guess to the shitty light circuit on the mag cable, because it stays on all the time when plugged in.

---

The guess as to why is the circuit in mag cable is set up to support a lightning cable mag head and/or a usb c mag head as well even if your cable only came with the micro usb head. They intend to make you buy the remaining 2 heads in that case.

NetDot is only good for mostly charging.

 

[NekoMichi]

The buzzing is due to the mag cable, There is a circuit that the data seems to be passing through. I get that buzzing even on the ones I use, I have several. I narrowed down the guess to the shitty light circuit on the mag cable, because it stays on all the time when plugged in.

---

The guess as to why is the circuit in mag cable is set up to support a lightning cable mag head and/or a usb c mag head as well even if your cable only came with the micro usb head. They intend to make you buy the remaining 2 heads in that case.

NetDot is only good for mostly charging.

I'm getting an audio buzz regardless if using a magnetic cable or a standard one (without a light). It's possible that my setup just isn't audio-friendly or something, since my PC speakers used to do that too.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

probably, if the speakers are bad enough. You will have to check the recording on something like a laptop or tablet or phone with the speakers plugged into and not plugged into that device to see if you get the buzzing. If you don't get the buzzing then it is something wrong with what your output device, the speakers. If you get the buzzing even in the recording, it is likely due to something in the system your using, sound recording has a problem. You might have to buy a dedicated sound card if that is the case.

I didn't hear any buzzing in the recording you did. I would assume your speakers are going bad.

---

Under windows, you can find out if your device is the only thing on the hub or not, by checking every usb device to see if they are on the same hub or not.

For me, mine is pretty much the only device on hub 6.

 

[NekoMichi]

probably, if the speakers are bad enough. You will have to check the recording on something like a laptop or tablet or phone with the speakers plugged into and not plugged into that device to see if you get the buzzing. If you don't get the buzzing then it is something wrong with what your output device, the speakers. If you get the buzzing even in the recording, it is likely due to something in the system your using, sound recording has a problem. You might have to buy a dedicated sound card if that is the case.

I didn't hear any buzzing in the recording you did. I would assume your speakers are going bad.

---

Under windows, you can find out if your device is the only thing on the hub or not, by checking every usb device to see if they are on the same hub or not.

For me, mine is pretty much the only device on hub 6.
View attachment 120988

The buzz is present in audio recordings too.

I might've worked out why there's audio buzz. The 3DS is connected to my laptop, which is connected to the mains. The audio cable is connected to a dock for the laptop, which has its own mains source. There might be a potential difference between the two applicances, forming a ground loop. If I connect the 3DS to the dock's USB port instead of directly to the PC (tested before and works fine with video output), it might eliminate the ground loop because everything is now on the same AC source.

Either that, or I could just unplug my laptop from the mains while recording.

EDIT:
Got a ground loop isolator and it fixed the audio issue. Everything's up and running perfectly now. Woo!

 

[astrangeone]

There's epoxy putty for filling gaps/modeling stuff.

A brand name is Apoxie Sculpt or Milliput. Comes in two parts, and you mix them together. You have a couple of hours to shape it however you want. It is versatile and cures very hard.

It's like play dough and you can use it to fill gaps and it doesn't react with plastic and electronics. I've used it to fix a micro usb charge cable that came out of it's housing. Stuff it into the gaps, close the shell around it and remove the excess.