Had the same exact issue with the ribbon and i though I was doing something wrong. I bought high temp silicone wire from amazon and redid all the soldering worked great. I even bough an HDMI tester that plugs inline and it showed missing signal. I almost reprogrammed the FPGA board using the Pluto programming windows application. Again all was solved with replacing with individual wires!
The Pluto board was my very first mod back in 2016. That was an absolute nightmare to get installed without any soldering experience, and as a college student without access to 3D printing. It’s permanently hot glued inside my GameCube and I’m deeply, deeply ashamed.
@@amak1131my friend tried to install an Xbox modchip and had never soldered anything before and basically used the solder like glue and all of the connections were soldered together so they were all electrically connected and wondered why it didn't work. Luckily he didn't fry it though. So to everyone who is ashamed of their past work or scared to start cuz they don't know what they're doing, just try it! You have to start somewhere! I still make ugly looking solder joints but it mostly works lol
35:44 I was just saying in another thread--this is very similar to what I consider a major downside of silicone wire insulation. Most kinds of wire insulation deform *plastically,* meaning that you can bend them and they will roughly stay bent. You can reflow your solder joints with the wire in its final position to make sure that there is no stress being applied to them by the wire trying to return to its original shape. Silicone insulation, although it bends more easily than some other types, deforms *elastically.* It will almost always try to spring back to its original shape. This can put strain on solder joints for sure.
I agree with you about not using ChipQuik but you said you weren't going to use any expensive soldering system and then you broke out a $200 plus de-soldering gun. Made me chuckle.
I got a Pinecil soldiering iron for Christmas, and I think it'll be real fitting that my first mod would be for my first console. Before, the most modwork I could do with those soldering irons you plug into the mains was nil, all I ever managed to do was to solder a wire so my AGS-101 screen had an extra step of brightness in an OG GBA (I now want to install a new screen and an audio mod.) Now there's this world that's opened up and I can take it on with confidence thanks to your help! Thank you!
Great video! I appreciate how in depth you go when explaining things and show all your work (when the camera allows, understanable ha) instead of cutting to the end. It really helps teach good habits and technique.
The flex cable for the Pluto board. Wouldn't it be better to make a sharp fold where it is marked with dashed lines? Leaving it rounded bent instead of sharp folded, will always stress both the flex cable and the GC circuit board.
This video is perfect. I've learned about every mod from Macho Nacho's videos, and this video ties everything I plan to put into a gamecube I recently bought on ebay into a beautiful bow.
Finally, somone addressing the issue of how to desolder through hole components properly. Too many times i see dodgy ways of through hole compnents being removed. Not that i am an expert but i have done a electronics course with lots of soldering involved and that was one thing they taught us never to do
Tito has a 301 as well. He was operating on bad information that he might damage the traces in the digital port mounting area on the board by using the desoldering gun. But even Helder, the designer of that ribbon, used a desoldering iron in his installation video. There was a qsb like mount developed for the pluto before the ribbon by another designer, but it was short-lived and seemed to have issues of its own.
I really think these ribbon cables can only take the smallest about of heat before they break, and they definitely can't take 2 or 3 reworks. Like a 2 second tap and done kinda deal. The Kunai interface board looks like it was fabricated at JLCPCB without the "castellated holes" option selected. Likely to reduce costs as this option can sometimes triple the production costs of these boards. I've done this myself multiple times when you just can't justify the astronomical price increase.
Nice video. I'm personally more a fan of the pico boot, but I also have over a dozen of the various Pi versions I use for loads of projects and tasks. I've been meaning to get around to modifying the HD port to HDMI, but haven't been in much a rush since getting the steamdeck and having my whole console Library on it with saves backed up to my NAS. I'm looking forward to the coming M.2 adapter for use on the gamecube too.
I really like the power screwdriver at 8:13. It has a lever to engage it, rather than a surface button. Would you be willing to share what model this is or where to find a similar one?
25:30 I got an idea for helping to align things here. Put component legs in the 2 ground/mount points, or really just about any 2 holes. Give you something to rest the notches of the cable against.
I've been following your progress and frustrations on Twitter for these mods, so it's nice to see a complete video to have everything come together. I've already done the PicoBoot mod to my GameCube, but some of the other mods here are on my radar now.
As a former video game system repair person of 5 years, I have to say your video is highly informative, offering several techniques I don't see often (I often see more hacky solutions like hot air, and prying). That said, please don't take this next bit as anything other than slight constructive criticism, but I notice you seemingly get caught in looping (like you spent a few minutes reiterating how others tend to remove the digital out port, before you show how to properly do it. Makes it harder to follow along for me personally, but either way, entertaining and informative video! I really like the step by step instuctions, and while you're showing your work you explain why it is useful.
I like the kunaiGC because the picoboot needs to be mounted externally away from the IPL outside of the shielding (which stresses the flex/wires leading out) and this is hidden inside next to the IPL, as well as the built in on-board storage. But perhaps someone could just create a qsb with SD support for the 2040. The reason 2040 boards are superior are not from function, rather, availability, updates and price. The fact that they will be available and have updates way after people who make things like the Kunai GC and other modchips decide to stop production and updates. I know you as well as myself and many others have had issues sourcing things like the GCdual. 2040s have so many applications that they will always be plentiful and available.
I've used Helder's flex cable for a couple of these, I personally think it works well, but it is extremely sensitive. I've had the little edges detach on the GC side a couple of times as I was reworking the GC side destroying the cable. It's cleaner, but I'm not sure if it's better. I would recommend screwing the pluto down with at least one screw to the mount, I've had the pluto pop out before.
I recognize that chip quick video. Its macho nacho's pluto board video. I admit he did not have a good day with that one since he also put in the cable backwards at first. Usually his mods look pretty good and clean. At the end he did his pluto board right and it was looking good.
I'm not sure if you mentioned this in the long video but a common consequence of being too rough with the heatsink is knocking off the diode arrays that protect the serial ports--they're little SC-70 packages with refdes like DA15. For anyone that has a board where these are missing, I found some replacement parts: Rohm part numbers UMP1N and UMN1N. Which one you use depends on whether the footprint connects to ground or 3.3V. I believe these are original parts used by Nintendo because the markings match some photos of boards I've seen. I verified these parts are correct based on a GC mainboard schematic a kind fellow slipped me.
I've seen someone add a resistor to a noctua fan to use its silent function without the use of the third wire, not sure how much I can recommend it but it's a neat thing to point out for a quiet solution
Huh, I've been using quickchip for tricky joints on older vintage boards that I didn't feel could handle too much heat. I just use a tiny bit on each contact, certainly not flooding and using hot air though. A little bit goes a long way.
52:05 where did you get that bezel? I prefer to use the original SD2PS2 adapter because that way I can put the original GameCube cover back on over it (and can't lose it) but with how seamless this is, especially if you're using a Gameboy player, I may just have to use this bezel and slap the cover somewhere on the back with tape.
Any idea where to get one of those sd2sp2 bezels made? Laser Bear didn't respond to my request and I'm not sure who is reputable in the 3D printing world.
I just watched the video containing the hot air/ChipQuik example the other day... Maybe a good idea to look up multiple such instruction videos when trying something like this.
I have no issue with the pluto mod. It retains the stock look and works as good as a carby. Also doesn't require a 3rd party remote to change settings, which is another plus for me.
For the castelated holes they choose not to pay the extra fee for castelated holes. Then you see this issue. If you pay the extra fee then the production will plate these spots after milling and not before...
@Voultar I'm curious, what is your website for your equipment? Also I have a retron 3 av hyper beach I want to mod myself to HDMI... Think you could make an HDMI board for it?
I just want to let you know I share this video with a few people just randomly in my snap stories and stuff. I will say that my particular friend group loves the way you described at each step and even though they don't know anything about soldering? Truly appreciate you. I'm still practicing my soldering skills on an old 90s Nissan instrument panel, but after hitting that Game Gear again
Will this mod work with the GameCubes that don't have the digital video port? Cause that port was removed in 2004 and the AV port was moved to it's place.
Yes, this is extremely common. You simply need to take the PCB out and reflow the pins for the controller port with fresh solder and you'll be as good as new.
I've been getting more into soldering and recently got a Hakko desoldering gun and it makes life so much easier. Much better than the previous one I had. The better quality tools are worth their weight in gold. Thank you for gracing us with another great video Lord Voultar.
The FR-301 is the best ~$250 I spent on desoldering equipment. No more ripped-up traces and no more pumping insufficient thermal energy into massive ground planes! I bought the slot-type tip that lets me use it with those wide connections. Way better than wick for the big jobs (which is "anything more than about 3 connections")
It looks as though they initially designed the KunaiGC to where you had to remove the chip and the board would be soldered into the main board with the chip being placed on top. Because the measurements are so bad if not.
After I did this installation about a month ago I thought the same about the flex cable, I didn't like at all how it was going upward (it even touches the shielding, so you have to insulate the two pads on the top otherwise you'll ground everything), still I didn't have any issues and kept the cable. What convinced me the most was that the flex cable should technically avoid any interferences, so no video distorcions or whatsoever. How did you fix that using wires? Maybe magnetic wires should avoid any interferences...? Also great video as always, I too didn't like the idea of having a debug board inside the GC, but I really wanted to spend some money for a GCVideo option which is also practical and good looking and this is the only option available
Update: the ribbon cable broke and I used your 30 AWG wires technique :) Came out very nicely, I think I learned something from it (other than never trust weird ribbon cables)
I had problems with the flex cable aswell. So now I ordered a Adaptor Board from OSH Park for the Pluto Installation that uses Pin heads. It is called EZPluto Do you have any experience with that? Would you reccomend that? OR Would you recommend wirering it up by hand? If so what wires are you using? Those in the video look very thin.
So apologies if I missed something but the main downside Voultar gives to using ChipQuik or another low melt removal alloy is the cost, I think? I wanted to give another downside that I don't hear people talk about much: Because it stays molten for so long it is *so* easy to get it all over the place, and then you have to worry if you've accidentally contaminated other solder joints on the board with low melt. There've been times that I wicked and resoldered like 2 dozen joints in the general area of where I used ChipQuik because I was so paranoid that they might have gotten contaminated.
I've done quite a few of these and using a wick will cause you to question your humanity as you scream in frustration. I hate doing this mod, removing the digital port is the worst.
@@Voultar i'm waiting on parts for my first GC mod and i'm counting on a combination of braid and hand pump. I remember it working well on my OG xbox mods which were through hole connections when i wanted to take them out. Not fun but doable
@@Voultar I managed to do it using wick and everything came out ok but it was indeed not fun at all. if i ever do this again i'm going to buy that little solder remover gun.
I appreciate that Macho Nacho leaves the mistakes in his videos (the Chip Quik incident) because it at least shows people what NOT to do. I'm sure it makes you cringe, though 😣
Why is there interest for internal GCvideo mods? There are a number of GCvideo devices that plug into the digital port. Is there some advantage that I am not considering? It's not analog, so there is no improvement when using an external adapter. Why do this? I also agree. Preserve those ports. But I question the point in removing them.
I hadnt heard of the gc dual, and ended up buying the pluto with the ribbon cable and mounting bracket. Would you recommend selling them off to get the gc dual imstead? I dont have a desoldering station yet, so i would need to buy one, but im reasonably sure i could install the pluto without too much trouble.
Is there a reason for cutting and joining the fan loom instead of crimping on a new connector? I bought some crimps to do that when replacing fans on vintage graphics cards as it meant I could keep the wiring runs shorter / more like stock and feel it's cleaner than having to cut up and solder.
Depends on the connector type. Some of them you can easily get good crimping tools, others are a pain even with the $600 tool sold to work with them. I often would rather splice than crimp even if it's a little uglier.
@@rfmerrill it’s just a “JST” type connector though, a $30 tool from Amazon will do a good enough job. Does take a bit of practice to get it right, I burned through a few connectors before I was happy!
I have 2 DOL-001s.1 PAL and one NTSC-J. Lucky ass find on the Japanese one. Brand new less than £300 just had been sat in warehouse. Needs new CMOS battery but that's all. Got some others somewhere that family own and also the Panasonic one in mint condition. Found a 1000 block memory card in it yesterday 😂. I wanna mod my PAL one.
Lord Voultar, because oF YOU i started my journey ind mods. Firsr one was the Picoboot today. No experience, no good tools, but i think its all okay, i not tested yet. Thanks for inspiring me
Had the same exact issue with the ribbon and i though I was doing something wrong. I bought high temp silicone wire from amazon and redid all the soldering worked great. I even bough an HDMI tester that plugs inline and it showed missing signal. I almost reprogrammed the FPGA board using the Pluto programming windows application. Again all was solved with replacing with individual wires!
"...prettiest system Nintendo has ever built." Preach brother!!!
The Super Famicom comes second.
The Pluto board was my very first mod back in 2016. That was an absolute nightmare to get installed without any soldering experience, and as a college student without access to 3D printing. It’s permanently hot glued inside my GameCube and I’m deeply, deeply ashamed.
Everyone has to start somewhere
@@AshtonCoolman thanks for the encouraging words! Now I have lots of practice!
I fried a 1.6 Xbox trying to do an Xecuter with that horrible solderless adapter. We all make mistakes....
you can always go back and redo it
@@amak1131my friend tried to install an Xbox modchip and had never soldered anything before and basically used the solder like glue and all of the connections were soldered together so they were all electrically connected and wondered why it didn't work. Luckily he didn't fry it though. So to everyone who is ashamed of their past work or scared to start cuz they don't know what they're doing, just try it! You have to start somewhere! I still make ugly looking solder joints but it mostly works lol
35:44 I was just saying in another thread--this is very similar to what I consider a major downside of silicone wire insulation. Most kinds of wire insulation deform *plastically,* meaning that you can bend them and they will roughly stay bent. You can reflow your solder joints with the wire in its final position to make sure that there is no stress being applied to them by the wire trying to return to its original shape.
Silicone insulation, although it bends more easily than some other types, deforms *elastically.* It will almost always try to spring back to its original shape. This can put strain on solder joints for sure.
I agree with you about not using ChipQuik but you said you weren't going to use any expensive soldering system and then you broke out a $200 plus de-soldering gun. Made me chuckle.
It's not the same as doing it with a pump-action solder sucker lol. The gun is way more comfortable
I got a Pinecil soldiering iron for Christmas, and I think it'll be real fitting that my first mod would be for my first console. Before, the most modwork I could do with those soldering irons you plug into the mains was nil, all I ever managed to do was to solder a wire so my AGS-101 screen had an extra step of brightness in an OG GBA (I now want to install a new screen and an audio mod.)
Now there's this world that's opened up and I can take it on with confidence thanks to your help! Thank you!
Voultar is the Bob Ross of soldering
Blob Ross
Great video! I appreciate how in depth you go when explaining things and show all your work (when the camera allows, understanable ha) instead of cutting to the end. It really helps teach good habits and technique.
The flex cable for the Pluto board. Wouldn't it be better to make a sharp fold where it is marked with dashed lines? Leaving it rounded bent instead of sharp folded, will always stress both the flex cable and the GC circuit board.
This video is perfect. I've learned about every mod from Macho Nacho's videos, and this video ties everything I plan to put into a gamecube I recently bought on ebay into a beautiful bow.
Finally, somone addressing the issue of how to desolder through hole components properly. Too many times i see dodgy ways of through hole compnents being removed. Not that i am an expert but i have done a electronics course with lots of soldering involved and that was one thing they taught us never to do
this felt like a bob ross painting episode. loved it.
Hey mates, does anybody knows the song that plays at 7:45
Gotta say, watching tito put that pluto in had me cringing as well. Spend the coin and just get the hakko 301.
Tito has a 301 as well. He was operating on bad information that he might damage the traces in the digital port mounting area on the board by using the desoldering gun. But even Helder, the designer of that ribbon, used a desoldering iron in his installation video. There was a qsb like mount developed for the pluto before the ribbon by another designer, but it was short-lived and seemed to have issues of its own.
@@brianchambers7070 That's what made it even harder to watch. I was literally screaming at the video saying "Use the hakko!" lol
I saw Tito do that and immediately knew he was a guy in over his head who is decent at making RUclips videos. Filled with mistakes.
i love how this dude just mops the floor with everyones solders skills and spits flux in our faces but god damn he aint wrong
Came here for the Game Cube mods that I'll probably never fit, stayed for the Bob Ross style soldering tutorial. Nice!
I really think these ribbon cables can only take the smallest about of heat before they break, and they definitely can't take 2 or 3 reworks. Like a 2 second tap and done kinda deal.
The Kunai interface board looks like it was fabricated at JLCPCB without the "castellated holes" option selected. Likely to reduce costs as this option can sometimes triple the production costs of these boards. I've done this myself multiple times when you just can't justify the astronomical price increase.
Nice video. I'm personally more a fan of the pico boot, but I also have over a dozen of the various Pi versions I use for loads of projects and tasks. I've been meaning to get around to modifying the HD port to HDMI, but haven't been in much a rush since getting the steamdeck and having my whole console Library on it with saves backed up to my NAS. I'm looking forward to the coming M.2 adapter for use on the gamecube too.
I really like the power screwdriver at 8:13. It has a lever to engage it, rather than a surface button. Would you be willing to share what model this is or where to find a similar one?
25:30
I got an idea for helping to align things here. Put component legs in the 2 ground/mount points, or really just about any 2 holes. Give you something to rest the notches of the cable against.
Glad you're back brother. Let's do this.
You're the Bob Ross of the soldering world. "Just make some happy little trees - of solder".
Voultar’s soft and calming voice needs two mics to gather all the beauty of it. Great job with your new clip!
I've been following your progress and frustrations on Twitter for these mods, so it's nice to see a complete video to have everything come together. I've already done the PicoBoot mod to my GameCube, but some of the other mods here are on my radar now.
As a former video game system repair person of 5 years, I have to say your video is highly informative, offering several techniques I don't see often (I often see more hacky solutions like hot air, and prying). That said, please don't take this next bit as anything other than slight constructive criticism, but I notice you seemingly get caught in looping (like you spent a few minutes reiterating how others tend to remove the digital out port, before you show how to properly do it. Makes it harder to follow along for me personally, but either way, entertaining and informative video! I really like the step by step instuctions, and while you're showing your work you explain why it is useful.
I like the kunaiGC because the picoboot needs to be mounted externally away from the IPL outside of the shielding (which stresses the flex/wires leading out) and this is hidden inside next to the IPL, as well as the built in on-board storage. But perhaps someone could just create a qsb with SD support for the 2040. The reason 2040 boards are superior are not from function, rather, availability, updates and price. The fact that they will be available and have updates way after people who make things like the Kunai GC and other modchips decide to stop production and updates. I know you as well as myself and many others have had issues sourcing things like the GCdual. 2040s have so many applications that they will always be plentiful and available.
Not to mention the high quality documentation and dev resources! Huge timesaver as a hobbyist.
In every video Lord Voultar is working so precise that soldering become fun to watch.
It’s like Nintendo hates fun. Also I miss Iwata. That guy was awesome.
Thanks for the SNES 2Chip EE Mod, Kudos from Poland 🍻
Glad to have you back.
Voultar.. are you still alive?
So, the Pluto board should be forgotten, just like the planet Pluto!
38:45 Kunai-GC Install
You do a really good job with your videos . I think I watched your xstation walkthrough when I first started doing these
would making the hdmi bracket taller and cutting a custom hole for the hdmi make the ribbon cable have less tension?
I've used Helder's flex cable for a couple of these, I personally think it works well, but it is extremely sensitive. I've had the little edges detach on the GC side a couple of times as I was reworking the GC side destroying the cable. It's cleaner, but I'm not sure if it's better. I would recommend screwing the pluto down with at least one screw to the mount, I've had the pluto pop out before.
I recognize that chip quick video. Its macho nacho's pluto board video. I admit he did not have a good day with that one since he also put in the cable backwards at first. Usually his mods look pretty good and clean. At the end he did his pluto board right and it was looking good.
Am I hearing "Full Force" at 12:23? That's a serious blast from the past for me. Freaking awesome.
Lovely video. I had no idea there were so many handy GC mods. Also, the toy microphone is just *chef's kiss*.
Correction: Nintendo hates everything that isn't literal cash money.
Wishing you and Yours a Happy Holidays fella 🎄🎅🕹️☃️🎄 😎✌️
Dood, you’re cool! I’m impressed. Am trying to unlock my gcube for multi-region use
Do u recommend the pico mod for the GC?
esse estilo de soldar, fico perfeito, simples e limpo,otimo trabalho !!!!!!
I cannot explain how much I love these videos. You're also an absolute wizard with a soldering iron haha!
Love my Spice Orange Gamecube. Got the exact mods you just did.
I'm not sure if you mentioned this in the long video but a common consequence of being too rough with the heatsink is knocking off the diode arrays that protect the serial ports--they're little SC-70 packages with refdes like DA15. For anyone that has a board where these are missing, I found some replacement parts: Rohm part numbers UMP1N and UMN1N. Which one you use depends on whether the footprint connects to ground or 3.3V.
I believe these are original parts used by Nintendo because the markings match some photos of boards I've seen. I verified these parts are correct based on a GC mainboard schematic a kind fellow slipped me.
LoL "Our Lord Voultar" , LoL I spat out my home made strawberry wine. LoL
I've heard dude went kinda nuts
Hey just wondering where you would get the soldering iron handle from as they only sell it with the new handle which I don’t like every much.
I've seen someone add a resistor to a noctua fan to use its silent function without the use of the third wire, not sure how much I can recommend it but it's a neat thing to point out for a quiet solution
Huh, I've been using quickchip for tricky joints on older vintage boards that I didn't feel could handle too much heat. I just use a tiny bit on each contact, certainly not flooding and using hot air though. A little bit goes a long way.
@voultar can you put up a wiring digram for the pluto, yours is rhe cleanest. I always see ppl pull the wires from the bottom of the board
Just came here to ask where are you Voultar? Your audience needs you. I hope you're in good health buddy.
I am hoping for a GCDigital from PixelFX. I got an Orange GC waiting for that :)
52:05 where did you get that bezel? I prefer to use the original SD2PS2 adapter because that way I can put the original GameCube cover back on over it (and can't lose it) but with how seamless this is, especially if you're using a Gameboy player, I may just have to use this bezel and slap the cover somewhere on the back with tape.
Check the video description.
Can you explain why it is important to introduce new solder to the digital output before removing it?
Any idea where to get one of those sd2sp2 bezels made? Laser Bear didn't respond to my request and I'm not sure who is reputable in the 3D printing world.
Gotta say you are the most entertaining modder I follow! And what a vocabulary!! ❤
Voultar which solder suction pump do you use? It sounds like it is electronic? The manual ones are very tedious to use.
I just watched the video containing the hot air/ChipQuik example the other day... Maybe a good idea to look up multiple such instruction videos when trying something like this.
I have no issue with the pluto mod. It retains the stock look and works as good as a carby. Also doesn't require a 3rd party remote to change settings, which is another plus for me.
For the castelated holes they choose not to pay the extra fee for castelated holes. Then you see this issue. If you pay the extra fee then the production will plate these spots after milling and not before...
Glad to see you back, awesome vid. I love my laserBear bluetooth GC controller mod. it is truly a work of art
@Voultar I'm curious, what is your website for your equipment?
Also I have a retron 3 av hyper beach I want to mod myself to HDMI... Think you could make an HDMI board for it?
Bob Ross of electronic soldering!!
You are so encouraging; I appreciate you for helping me learn to solder and mod.
Is your issue with the pluto just that it's not a clean install, or is there another technical reason for it?
Primarily the lack of "polish" when used with either the GC or Wii.
I'm amazed between this and the 360 RGH3. I never would have thought old consoles would get mod "updates" after a base standard was set.
I wanted to do rgh3 on my 360 E corona but was told the post fix adapter is a pain in the ass
@@joshkelly4682post fix is the easy part imo. Pads are easy to grab only issue is if you don’t have captains or electrical tape
Where did you find the cover for the 90° sd2sp2 adapter?.
37:15
Why not just move the red wire directly to the board?
ive always wonder if you tend the vias then use a hot air station is that a bad idea? (Pluto)
Lord Voultar are those muscles? And what's with that PS2 Slim in the background?
I just want to let you know I share this video with a few people just randomly in my snap stories and stuff.
I will say that my particular friend group loves the way you described at each step and even though they don't know anything about soldering? Truly appreciate you.
I'm still practicing my soldering skills on an old 90s Nissan instrument panel, but after hitting that Game Gear again
I appreciate it! Thanks!
You know a tutorial's gonna be good when they don't say "Now this is where we're going to get started" until 10 minutes into the video
Will this mod work with the GameCubes that don't have the digital video port? Cause that port was removed in 2004 and the AV port was moved to it's place.
Hey Voultar. Controller Port 1 on my childhood GC is broken. Anyway to fix it or would I have to swap out all the ports?
Cheers
Yes, this is extremely common. You simply need to take the PCB out and reflow the pins for the controller port with fresh solder and you'll be as good as new.
I've been getting more into soldering and recently got a Hakko desoldering gun and it makes life so much easier. Much better than the previous one I had. The better quality tools are worth their weight in gold.
Thank you for gracing us with another great video Lord Voultar.
The FR-301 is the best ~$250 I spent on desoldering equipment. No more ripped-up traces and no more pumping insufficient thermal energy into massive ground planes! I bought the slot-type tip that lets me use it with those wide connections. Way better than wick for the big jobs (which is "anything more than about 3 connections")
That's the same one I got. 👍🏻
Works amazingly.
It looks as though they initially designed the KunaiGC to where you had to remove the chip and the board would be soldered into the main board with the chip being placed on top. Because the measurements are so bad if not.
After I did this installation about a month ago I thought the same about the flex cable, I didn't like at all how it was going upward (it even touches the shielding, so you have to insulate the two pads on the top otherwise you'll ground everything), still I didn't have any issues and kept the cable. What convinced me the most was that the flex cable should technically avoid any interferences, so no video distorcions or whatsoever. How did you fix that using wires? Maybe magnetic wires should avoid any interferences...?
Also great video as always, I too didn't like the idea of having a debug board inside the GC, but I really wanted to spend some money for a GCVideo option which is also practical and good looking and this is the only option available
Update: the ribbon cable broke and I used your 30 AWG wires technique :) Came out very nicely, I think I learned something from it (other than never trust weird ribbon cables)
I had problems with the flex cable aswell. So now I ordered a Adaptor Board from OSH Park for the Pluto Installation that uses Pin heads. It is called EZPluto
Do you have any experience with that? Would you reccomend that?
OR Would you recommend wirering it up by hand? If so what wires are you using? Those in the video look very thin.
I Ended up wirering it by Hand and Not using the EZ Pluto Board.
So apologies if I missed something but the main downside Voultar gives to using ChipQuik or another low melt removal alloy is the cost, I think? I wanted to give another downside that I don't hear people talk about much:
Because it stays molten for so long it is *so* easy to get it all over the place, and then you have to worry if you've accidentally contaminated other solder joints on the board with low melt. There've been times that I wicked and resoldered like 2 dozen joints in the general area of where I used ChipQuik because I was so paranoid that they might have gotten contaminated.
.. removing the through hole port - can you use wick instead of a solder sucker/puller? Agree that you don't need a heat gun though - yuk!
Sure. But you're not going to have a fun time.
I've done quite a few of these and using a wick will cause you to question your humanity as you scream in frustration. I hate doing this mod, removing the digital port is the worst.
@@Voultartry one of those plastic pumps for fun.
@@Voultar i'm waiting on parts for my first GC mod and i'm counting on a combination of braid and hand pump. I remember it working well on my OG xbox mods which were through hole connections when i wanted to take them out. Not fun but doable
@@Voultar I managed to do it using wick and everything came out ok but it was indeed not fun at all. if i ever do this again i'm going to buy that little solder remover gun.
I appreciate that Macho Nacho leaves the mistakes in his videos (the Chip Quik incident) because it at least shows people what NOT to do. I'm sure it makes you cringe, though 😣
Which electric solder sucker do you use?
Any chance you can do a sega genesis triple bypass on a VA7 revision voultar as there is not a single guide out there?
Why is there interest for internal GCvideo mods? There are a number of GCvideo devices that plug into the digital port. Is there some advantage that I am not considering? It's not analog, so there is no improvement when using an external adapter. Why do this? I also agree. Preserve those ports. But I question the point in removing them.
I hadnt heard of the gc dual, and ended up buying the pluto with the ribbon cable and mounting bracket. Would you recommend selling them off to get the gc dual imstead? I dont have a desoldering station yet, so i would need to buy one, but im reasonably sure i could install the pluto without too much trouble.
Love how your title always seems to get a bit longer ;-)
Is there a reason for cutting and joining the fan loom instead of crimping on a new connector? I bought some crimps to do that when replacing fans on vintage graphics cards as it meant I could keep the wiring runs shorter / more like stock and feel it's cleaner than having to cut up and solder.
Depends on the connector type. Some of them you can easily get good crimping tools, others are a pain even with the $600 tool sold to work with them. I often would rather splice than crimp even if it's a little uglier.
@@rfmerrill it’s just a “JST” type connector though, a $30 tool from Amazon will do a good enough job. Does take a bit of practice to get it right, I burned through a few connectors before I was happy!
Jesus Voultar, i could just close my eyes and just listen to you solder boards all night long 😂
I have 2 DOL-001s.1 PAL and one NTSC-J. Lucky ass find on the Japanese one. Brand new less than £300 just had been sat in warehouse. Needs new CMOS battery but that's all.
Got some others somewhere that family own and also the Panasonic one in mint condition. Found a 1000 block memory card in it yesterday 😂.
I wanna mod my PAL one.
what sort of de soldering thing do you use? i couldnt find it in your links
Lord Voultar, because oF YOU i started my journey ind mods. Firsr one was the Picoboot today. No experience, no good tools, but i think its all okay, i not tested yet. Thanks for inspiring me
Thank you for the very kind comment!
@Voultar when are you gonna be posting more videos?
What is that cool automatic screwdriver you're using
i always enjoy your sensual soldering
don't understand using pluto on anything but gamecube's that are missing the digital port.
Are you planning to restock the SNES RGB board soon?
Within days.
Come for the tips, stay for the rant! I love a good Voultar rant.
Love You 🥰 Awesome video, Thank you ❤