Solved Why is the Wii not turning on?

[Joey Macaroni]

I just trimmed my Wii and I soldered all of the voltage wires and the U10 wire to the motherboard and when I try to turn it on I get nothing
The wires colors should be
Red - 3.3v
Black - GND
Green - 1v
Yellow - 1.15v
White 1.8v

 

[Viilmo]

Is the board even sanded?
What resistances are you measuring?
What voltages are you getting?
There is way too much exposed wire which could cause a short

 

[Joey Macaroni]

Yes the board is sanded (I can sand it down some more if that’s why it’s not turning on)
The resistance I am getting is 0 for the 3.3v wire, .248 for the 1v wire, .029 for the 1.15v wire, and .241v for the 1.8v wire
I’m getting power into the pms-lite but I’m only measuring .03v from the 1.8v wire

 

[Bozer]

From the looks of it you should probably sand more, you also only need to expose the amount of wire that will be connected to the joint. Start from low grit to high grit sand paper.

 

[Joey Macaroni]

I’ve just sanded the board with 800 grit sandpaper but I’m still not getting any power to the Wii motherboard

 

[Stitches]

Disconnect all wires and check the resistances between each voltage line and ground, and each voltage line against the other voltage lines on the Wii. Fill out the spreadsheet provided here and post a screencap of it so we can rule out a short on the Wii motherboard.

Make sure that when you do this, you use the lowest resistance setting on your multimeter that gives you a whole number. If your multimeter has an auto mode, that probably will do fine as well.

 

[Bozer]

^ do this first


You gotta fix up that exposed wire. It may or may not be the problem but that's how you trouble shoot. First time I tried booting a trimmed wii I got nothing then I prettied up all the wiring and joints and it booted.

 

[dababy]

I have to agree with bozer. there are visible cuts in the board that could use a lot more sanding. mainly the bits that are jutting out on the sides. But what u have now is a great start!

 

[Joey Macaroni]

I cleaned up the wires but there is still no power to the Wii motherboard

 

[Stitches]

View attachment 28170
I cleaned up the wires but there is still no power to the Wii motherboard
View attachment 28188View attachment 28189

You have a short to ground on the 3.3v line, and your 3.3v to other voltage line resistances are very low

 

[Joey Macaroni]

You have a short to ground on the 3.3v line, and your 3.3v to other voltage line resistances are very low

Am I going to need to replace my motherboard or is there something I can do?

 

[icy_system]

Am I going to need to replace my motherboard or is there something I can do?

You can sand more up to 1000 grit untill you get rid of the short. You can also check for random solder blobs or flux that can cause shorts.

 

[Stitches]

Am I going to need to replace my motherboard or is there something I can do?

Post a clear picture of each side of the trimmed board and we can have a look for any obvious damage or defects.

Make sure the shot is clear/not blurry, well lit without glare, and as much of a closeup as you can.

 

[Joey Macaroni]

These are the best photos I could get with my iPhone

 

[Stitches]

Oh, sorry, I meant the top and bottom faces of the board.

View attachment 28189

Like this

 

[Joey Macaroni]

Oh sorry here’s this

 

[Stitches]

There are a few components on the edge of the trim that have been cut/sanded through, which are a very common source of shorts. Remove any components along the trim edge that have been damaged and check the resistances again. If you're lucky it'll be that, otherwise if you have an air duster or an air compressor you can blast under the BGA chips to see if some conductive dust from trimming got underneath and caused the short there

 

[Joey Macaroni]

I just removed the components on the edge and I used compressed air under the BGA chips and it still not turning on
here are my new resistance measurements

 

[Stitches]

What are these odd blobs on the back of the board?

I'd also give this burnt spot a clean, burnt material can be conductive. The solder blob next to it is worth looking at as well

 

[Joey Macaroni]

I just cleaned the burnt parts on the photo you just sent and also some other ones that I found. I also cleaned up the solder so it would not be touching any other pins and I am still not getting any power to the board
here is the resistances that I am getting