Desoldering...

XFactor · Post by **XFactor** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:29 pm

Ok, I have a few questions on what can and cannot be desoldered:

1.) Does the cart/expansion slot need to be desoldered or can it be pryed off with pliers? I plan on relocating it similar to how timmeh did.

2.) The black plastic video and power thingys attached the back of the motherboard...

3.) The screw housings for the huge aluminum heatsink. They are metal and have holes on the top of them. They surround the main chips...

4.) The grey plastic covers for the controllers...I am leary about this since the metal seems to be a good guide as to where things go, but if i can remove them with the knowledge of where everything has to connect my anxiety will go away

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:17 pm

1. no, they can just be pulled off and the pins can be bent off

2. yes but be careful with the big pins on the power plug

3. yes but those are pretty hard to get off without killing the N64

4. yes but they have big pins so be prepared for that

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:39 pm

second opinion:

1. no, but probably its a better idea than attacking it with wirecutters and a screwdriver... we're talking about sensitive electronics here. my personal approach is "a little of both"

2. no problem there. i wouldnt take them off until you have a reliable alternative way to power it/get video.

3. consider using these to your advantage rather than removing them. they arent that high, and are a solid anchoring point for say, heatsinks

4. havent been inside a controller for years...

XFactor · Post by **XFactor** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:42 pm

Thanks you guys. There was one other thing i was going to ask but was afraid to...what about the expansion port? I am trying to make this thing compact and i really would like to relocate it if it is at all feasible. Timmeh, i guess you'd be the most appropriate person to ask since you've actually had a successful trial run with it: how hard is the relocation and what level of soldering (plus special tools) would you need to do that? I see from your pictures that the holes for the joints are quite small...

Post by **marshallh** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:52 am

I've relocated an N64 cart slot 6 times now... It helps to get it right the first time.
You can easily remove the expansion slot, just unplug the cart slot, rip off the metal shroud with pliers, and gently pull the plastic casing off the slot. You'll be left with a lot of gold-plated pins, just de-solder these and solder your cart slot wires where these pins were.

It takes time, patience, and a steady hand. It's not as bad as SMT soldering though.

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:34 am

wow 6 times eh? how many of those 64's died?

-

it took me a while to figure out that metal shroudy thing... its actually two pieces, mirror images along the long axis of the slot. you can open them up, perhaps with a screwdriver even, and then wirecutter them, or just bend them till they break off.

Post by **marshallh** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 2:52 pm

The first two times were my first N64, then I did a few for other people, and then there's my new N64
I haven't fried one yet...

XFactor · Post by **XFactor** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:21 pm

Update time...

I managed to get the damn extension slot off (with much frusteration and a bit of panic because i knicked the board

). I took off the normal cart slot and saw where the gold pins and their soldered joints were located.

Now onto that little knick...It convieniently went across a line which was labeled "12v+". I made it when i was trying to get the extension slot off the board. What i ended up doing is i took some solder and soldered over the knick in the hope that if any connection were severed, the line would be reconnected by the solder. Has anyone done this before or am i just an idiot?

To test whether it worked or not, i "reconnected" (pushed the cart pins on the plastic cover back into their corresponding holes) the cartridge slot and play Zelda. It didn't work. I am hoping this is because the extension slot was disconnected and somehow the pins just weren't hooking up because of that (i had to hold it in to keep it from moving out of place, so i guess this might be why...) BTW, the expansion pak was in during all of this.

So what i plan to do is simply relocate the slot like it has been done before and test it then (because the connections will be soldered and will be much more reliable).

Has anyone tried to test the N64 after the Ext. slot was taken off but befoe the N64 cart slot was relocated? Is it entirely possible that the test did not work because it was not fastened the the board like it normally is?

Post by **marshallh** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:56 pm

When you take out the Extension slot (disk drive thingy) you also take out the contacts for the normal cart slot. So, you'll have to rewire the whole thing anyway. Which is not impossible at all, just have patience.

XFactor · Post by **XFactor** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:46 pm

Thanks marshall, although i have a couple questions:

1.) Which rows do i rewire to the plastic cart slot? Is it the inner rows or the outer rows?
<a href="http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img03977fn.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/751/ ... 7fn.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

2.) You can see in this picture where i fixed the knick. It wasn't a deep scratch, but it looked as if metal was visible (It looked like the entire length of the scratch had metal under it, however the actual line was only in the middle of it). Here is a picture of it:
<a href="http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img03989rm.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/2548 ... 9rm.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
You can see the knick on the bottom right-hand corner of the board where the ext. slot was removed. Should i be concerned that my test didn't work? Could it have failed as a result of me disassembling the cart slot?

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:09 pm

remove the solder from the fix, maybe it's bridging power and ground (that line is +12v). the cart slot goes on the outer rows. make sure they line up right the 1st time so you don't have to do it again

XFactor · Post by **XFactor** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:41 pm

should i then desolder the outer pins so i can resolder them with wiring?

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:42 pm

just bend them off, it's easier

XFactor · Post by **XFactor** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:53 pm

do you mean that i bend them so they come out of their joints or are you saying i should cut them off?

after i do one of those two methods, i directly solder the wires over the prongs which i just bent off right?

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:34 pm

i totally reccomend desoldering them instead of mechanically removing them. its easy enough to start ripping up traces if you just rip them out, and you will most certainly rip out the little metal bit between the layers of the board around the inside of the hole... yeah. it will only take take like 15 minutes longer. just desolder them. then you can solder your wires right into the holes, as they should go if you dont want them to rip off.

the odds that you gouged right through the copper are pretty low. ive scratched right across like 4 signal wires towards the center of the board and it still worked. that bead of solder does look like its shorting something though.

the cart slot dosent work without the entire expansion slot present underneath