Hacking WiiKey question

[hansoffate]

Hi,

I have read alot of threads and I still have these questions. I am sorry am a noob. Now that I have that out of the way, here are my questions. I have read there are some Wiikey problems with audio, but they all don't seem to effect playing wii games or games I really care about.

Also, I am a total Soldar noob. I have one, but I have only used it to melt plastic. All my tips are black. I probably need to get new tips. Which one do I use? Which method of soldering should I use for soldering the WiiKey? Can I take the wiikey off with the method?

The quick soldar method seems to be easy, but I don't understand. It seems as though you put soldar (any kind) and fill up the wells. I can't tell from the pictures.

Sorry for the noob questions,
Thanks for the help,
Hans

 

[bliss-chris]

You're also a noob in grammar, right? It's spelled "soldarrrr" with 4 r.

Let's see what we can do here. You can fix your soldering tips with tip tinner, you might not need new tips at all. Eventually it's good to have that stuff anyways, because it nicely fixes up dull tips.

Quick soldering: First the points on the DVD PCB should be pretinned. Then the chip is placed directly onto the PCB and then the wells on the chip are filled with tin to get contact with the solder points on the PCB underneath enclosed by the wells. But that's all bullshit, because once soldered it's hard to remove the chip again. You may want to connect it via short cables.

 

[aross6]

My advice... use the wire install method and leave yourself plenty of extra wire! My buddy had a WiiKey installed for about 2 months and then it quit working on him. Popped the box open and found that it wasn't the solder point that failed, but the wire itself broke. Had plenty of extra wire in there, so we just cut it back, stripped it, re-soldered it and he was good to go! Always better to be safe then sorry... and sorry is what you will be if you use the quick solder method because those micro-solder pads are a bi#ch (because of their tiny nature) and you can easily bridge a couple together using the quick solder method. You'd know if you've ever seen them in person... Trust me!

 

[hansoffate]

Well I found a person selling Wiikey's near where i live.
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/ele/340297592.html

Do they look legit? Should I just ask him to do the installation? There is another person listed that is selling wiikey's and installing them. But its $100 for the wiikey and install. It seems a bit rediculous. http://sacramento.craigslist.org/ele/337632970.html

Thanks for the help,
Hans

 

[fldash]

If you saw the pin head solder points on the Wii motherboard you wouldn't think it was too high of a price. I wouldn't do it for less than that. I modded my own for the first time last night and I had sweat pouring off me after seeing how small those points are.... Very, very scary...

 

[aross6]

That's actually about $20-$25 on the high side. Wiikeys are going for $25-$30 and installs are typically $50... you do the math