Hacking Guide to The Wii GiftCard

Step 2 What's On The Inside

Now that you've got the thing open lets take a look at the innards.

-Six blue LEDs are mounted on the corners to illuminate the edges of the card and two more are pointed into the Wii logo at the center.
-The diffuser bars only fit into their spots one way, notice the larger area of plastic extending towards the outside.

Remove the circuit board.

-Note the button mounted in the front plastic cover, it lines up with the metal button on the board.
-On the circuit board there are several key spots that I highlighted. Most important is the little black glob just right of center on the bottom. This is most likely a 555 timer IC, it controls the delay that keeps the LEDs lit.
-There are three 10ohm current limiting resistors on the board to protect the LEDs from high currents. The one noted on the top regulates the inner LEDs, the two on the right side of the board regulate the left and right sets of wired LEDs.
-The transistor switches on the LED circuit when the middle pin is connected to ground. This is needed because the current draw of the LEDs is to great for the little blob IC. The right pin runs to the LEDs, the pin on the left, to the positive rail.