Oops! Soldering on the Wii is quite difficult isn't it!

[Carlotta_Monroe]

So, here's a tale of woe to act as a warning and to make those of you who are good at soldering feel all warm and smug inside. :D

I picked up a Wiikey for my DMS launch PAL Wii, when it arrived I knew I'd be in trouble because the thing is about the length of your thumbnail and about a third slimmer (width) and of the 6 solder points, FOUR of them are all tightly packed together.

I've never actually read anywhere about how microscopic the soldering work on the Wii is, it's VERY close together, tightly packed - My hat goes off to anyone who can solder separate points that close together with pinpoint accuracy without bridging them. They are so close together, and tiny - Kudos to you soldering experts.

After much trouble trying to do the quick solder, I eventually had to give up as the points on the Wii drive where you solder the chip to, I must've burned the metal bits off, since I can't see them any more, just the green board where they were. The Wiikey is still in there, soldered, but all bridged and looking like a blind, thumbless monkey has been at it.

After putting the Wii back together, I was shocked to find it still work as before, except the Wiikey doesn't work of course.

SO - My question is: What do I do now? Can I rescue the chip by desoldering and trying again, or is it game over for using a modchip on my Wii since I can no longer see the solder points on the board?

:o :o :o

[showstopper]

So, here's a tale of woe to act as a warning and to make those of you who are good at soldering feel all warm and smug inside. :D

I picked up a Wiikey for my DMS launch PAL Wii, when it arrived I knew I'd be in trouble because the thing is about the length of your thumbnail and about a third slimmer (width) and of the 6 solder points, FOUR of them are all tightly packed together.

I've never actually read anywhere about how microscopic the soldering work on the Wii is, it's VERY close together, tightly packed - My hat goes off to anyone who can solder separate points that close together with pinpoint accuracy without bridging them. They are so close together, and tiny - Kudos to you soldering experts.

After much trouble trying to do the quick solder, I eventually had to give up as the points on the Wii drive where you solder the chip to, I must've burned the metal bits off, since I can't see them any more, just the green board where they were. The Wiikey is still in there, soldered, but all bridged and looking like a blind, thumbless monkey has been at it.

After putting the Wii back together, I was shocked to find it still work as before, except the Wiikey doesn't work of course.

SO - My question is: What do I do now? Can I rescue the chip by desoldering and trying again, or is it game over for using a modchip on my Wii since I can no longer see the solder points on the board?

:o :o :o

You have to trace the points to the chip and solder to the chip. If you think soldering to the board was hard this will kill you!

[Carlotta_Monroe]

You have to trace the points to the chip and solder to the chip. If you think soldering to the board was hard this will kill you!

Yeah, I was reading other threads, I don't think I'll be soldering onto the chip.

The points are seriously like 1mm each, with probably 1/2mm space between each one. A warning to anyone who's thinking of getting their Wii chipped - Unless you are a soldering DEMI-GOD, do not do it, get in the professionals! :D

[Silver Surfer]

Yeah, I was reading other threads, I don't think I'll be soldering onto the chip.

The points are seriously like 1mm each, with probably 1/2mm space between each one. A warning to anyone who's thinking of getting their Wii chipped - Unless you are a soldering DEMI-GOD, do not do it, get in the professionals! :D

.5mm for the chip legs and the same between them.
It takes time, it's fiddly but it gets easier and I'd agree now that I would only let someone very competent work on my console...in my case luckily that person is me :-D

There are other little minefields waiting to happen unless you are careful....burning the components because the iron touched one of them and you didn't spot it (look through threads for burned ribbon cables and molex connectors), lifting pads and traces as you mention you've done, and many others.

I had one of the ribbon cable clips snap on one side a couple of weeks back. Luckily this just holds the cable in place so easily repairable but dunno if I could have replaced the connector itself...don't think my soldering is THAT good.

To those who aren't sure, don't try it. To those who are good at soldering a low wattage iron, plenty of time and patience and some very good magnification required :)

I've learned the hard way....blew my first wii up and that was with a wiikey too! Lol

Oh yeah, soz meant to answer the question lol. If the wiikey is in there, before you give up 100% (unless you know it's totalled and not connected) try a wiikey config disc as it may show as a gamecube disc in the disc channel.
My first one I had thought I ballsed the install because no backup would load. I had a config disc I loaded and it came up as a GC disc but back then I didn't realise I had a wiikey clone and it needed set up first so stripped it all out and ended up with a nice paperweight.

If it definitely doesn't work as a wiikey but works as a normal wii then yeah, someone should be able to carefully remove the knackered mod and have a repairable/moddable with wasabi or direct to leg install wii.

[lenitao]

lolz.....the same case as......me!!

i tried to do it (although i knew i couldn't do it).....i soldered two pads on wii and gave up, then used to knife to separate...

i thought like "what a waste", until i saw a holy, happy thread with the "Wlip" thing which i got, and it works perfectly!! :)

[Carlotta_Monroe]

But you still have to solder the Wlip! :o

[skirocket]

If you use a modchip like the wiinja, you dont need to solder anything, the wlip just clips on the chip of the mobo & the wiinja clips on the end of the wlip, you will only need to solder if you want to attach the wiikey or any of the other supported modchips to the wlip :p

[Carlotta_Monroe]

Right, well I have a Wiikey.

What about the Wii Clip? Is this better than the Wlip?

[Wii Modder]

I just wanted to make users aware, I do Mod installs and repairs for a fair and decent price in comparison to other installers, I am located in the USA, Massachusetts area, I accept walk-in's but shipping is also an option if you are outside my area. I provide phone and e-mail support, and I can do D2CKey installs in under 8 minutes, WiiKey installs 5 minutes (if that), D2Pro installs 15 minutes. I guarantee my work for at least a year, if anything goes wrong within that year, I fix the problem, free of charge.

Please message me for pricing and more information.

[Silph]

Let me get this straight:

Soldering a WiiKey is A PIECE OF CAKE. Soldering to IC Legs, however, IS A LIVING NIGHTMARE.

[Carlotta_Monroe]

Let me get this straight:

Soldering a WiiKey is A PIECE OF CAKE. Soldering to IC Legs, however, IS A LIVING NIGHTMARE.

Very glad you found it so easy mate ;) - Not all of us are able to do it, I've tried and failed (this isn't my first console modding, my first unsuccessful, but it's surely the most microscopic I've ever tried).

There's no way in hell I'm trying to solder anything to the IC legs!

Thankful to say my Wii is still in fine working order after removing the Wiikey. The Wiikey itself still seems fine, so I think I'll wait for the Wiikey version of the Wii Clip, or get another chip with a Wii Clip. I guess that would be the Wasabi since I have a DMS. :)

[Wii Modder]

Soldering to the IC legs is simple for experienced installers, when it comes to a Wii install, your best bet is to find someone with experience to do it for you, otherwise its a $250 lesson. I think that anyone that knows anything about soldering would say the same thing. Or, take a couple years time to learn to do fine soldering, then attempt an install.

[somegamer]

Very glad you found it so easy mate ;) - Not all of us are able to do it, I've tried and failed (this isn't my first console modding, my first unsuccessful, but it's surely the most microscopic I've ever tried).

There's no way in hell I'm trying to solder anything to the IC legs!

Thankful to say my Wii is still in fine working order after removing the Wiikey. The Wiikey itself still seems fine, so I think I'll wait for the Wiikey version of the Wii Clip, or get another chip with a Wii Clip. I guess that would be the Wasabi since I have a DMS. :)

The reason it still works is because the Wiikey goes through a backdoor (serial interface I believe) of the chipset to bypass the disc security features. They are not control signals and do not affect the operation of the drive. This is why the version with cut pins works with no problems.

For you, I'd recommend you get the Wasabi mod chip. Even if you don't repair the board the mod chip will work for you because it uses different points. The 5 wire d2pro/argon solution will work for you as well.

It's not that hard to solder to the small points. In fact they are not that small. Honestly it's your TOOLS!!! Get a soldering iron with a tiny tip. Smallest you can find. You probably can't find it at Radio Shack. I don't know where you're from. But places like Fry's electronics will have a large selection for you. You'll have to buy the tip separately because they never come w/ a small tip made for this type of soldering. Get thin wire strands of solder. The stuff that is usually thrown in for free is like as thick as 20 AWG wire. That won't work for you.

[Wii Modder]

Also, make sure you get a low heat soldering iron like 15w that way you don't burn the board and damage something, this is a common error that most newbie installers make.

[symour]

Yes it was tricky....i did my own but bridged the sucker with solder twice, took a while but I got it to work. Anyways a friend of mine wanted his done as well and i took it to this Chinese dude claiming he had done hundreds....i took it to him and i kid you not he soldered onto every fricking leg of the IC chip one leg at a time in exactly 20 min (2Dpro chip) charged me $110 which included the chip. Unbelievable.....its nothing like a PS2 or Xbox or satellite, you cannot compare the soldering. This dude is my hero lol.........

[Wii Modder]

Yes it was tricky....i did my own but bridged the sucker with solder twice, took a while but I got it to work. Anyways a friend of mine wanted his done as well and i took it to this Chinese dude claiming he had done hundreds....i took it to him and i kid you not he soldered onto every fricking leg of the IC chip one leg at a time in exactly 20 min (2Dpro chip) charged me $110 which included the chip. Unbelievable.....its nothing like a PS2 or Xbox or satellite, you cannot compare the soldering. This dude is my hero lol.........

There are alot of skilled and talented solderers out there, especially in the modding scene.

[somegamer]

Agreed. I can do mods quick and it will work. But sometimes I take longer and have every wire shaped perfectly so the mod is super neat (like art).

I think every modder has his own style. So no one is that "amazing" when it comes to soldering...

[andisblue]

The soldering iron I'm using has a base stand that lets you adjust the temperature of the iron. What'd be a good temperature to set it to? It's set in the 670 F range right now.

[Wii Modder]

The soldering iron I'm using has a base stand that lets you adjust the temperature of the iron. What'd be a good temperature to set it to? It's set in the 670 F range right now.

Should be set around:

Tip Temp: 650°-675°F or 240 volts

So right now your in the safe zone as far as not burning any components, just make sure your using flux to help the solder flow nicely.

Best Regards,

Wii Modder

[gaaraofdadesert]

Yeah, i did it too. I lifted one of the small points trying to install a PIC chip. I also peeled a fat hunk (about 3/8 of an inch) of the power trace out. needless to say, im very happy :mad: at this point, the drive will not spin/read/load/eject/anything with this hunk of trace missing. so what did i do? I scraped the broken trace ends to reveal the trace and soldered a short peice of wire to each end. Power up and thank god my wii works fine again. now i think ill just wait for the free clip +programmer to come out (next week according to wii-clip@gmail.com). As for briged solder pads , yes i did that too, take your hot iron and wipe all solder from the tip. drag your iron across the board quickly between where the point should be seperated. the hot iron will pull the excess solder from between the traces. i dont know it worked for me but obviously im not one to be giving wii soldering advice. Big props to guys who solder to the ic legs. You got mad skillz.

[Wii Modder]

Yeah, i did it too. I lifted one of the small points trying to install a PIC chip. I also peeled a fat hunk (about 3/8 of an inch) of the power trace out. needless to say, im very happy :mad: at this point, the drive will not spin/read/load/eject/anything with this hunk of trace missing. so what did i do? I scraped the broken trace ends to reveal the trace and soldered a short peice of wire to each end. Power up and thank god my wii works fine again. now i think ill just wait for the free clip +programmer to come out (next week according to wii-clip@gmail.com). As for briged solder pads , yes i did that too, take your hot iron and wipe all solder from the tip. drag your iron across the board quickly between where the point should be seperated. the hot iron will pull the excess solder from between the traces. i dont know it worked for me but obviously im not one to be giving wii soldering advice. Big props to guys who solder to the ic legs. You got mad skillz.

I appreciate that, and yes it does take skills, I know theres gotta be some experienced installers on here somewhere, anyways, as for the soldering part, using flux is key, I don't care what anyone else says, flux makes your installation easy. If you can't do it with flux, then soldering is not for you and you should contact someone that is experienced and pay them to do it. The Wii-Clip has alot of hype but from what I am reading on reviews some users say its horrible and they would rather have saved the money and soldered the wires.