Step 13: Let there be light!
Almost done.
Desolder the small red LED. I haven't been able to extract this LED without melting the leads and ruining the red LED. If you can do it, you are the solder master!
Take a 3" - 4" piece of 2-wire ribbon cable and solder them to the 2 point for the LED.
Before soldering the lights, put a battery in and turn on the MP3 by holding down the PLAY button for a few seconds. With stripped leads on the LED ribbon cable and the black/red wires on the blue light, hold or temporarily solder the wires together to test for polarity. More importantly, just make sure the blue light comes on.
Once you get it worked out, push the blue LEDs into the plastic lens, one at each end. Drop 2 or 3 drops of super glue on the lights right at the top of the arches. You can probably omit the baking soda at this step since the glue wicks into the crevices and makes a good bond. Plus it makes for an easier light change in case you come up with some different colored LEDs you want to install.
Wrap your solder points with tape or heat shrink tubing to make it clean looking.
Here is where took a piece of Tempurpedic Memory Foam (TM) (my wife wrote the company for a free sample - weird stuff!) You could also use a chunk of kitchen sponge. This piece will serve as a battery hold-down to keep the AAA from moving out of the battery compartment.
OPTIONAL - I placed a piece of black electrical tape over the lens. You could omit this step and end up with a blue glow seeping out of the nearby USB jack.
Lastly, make sure you have the clearance. Remove 2 posts opposite the headphone jack and trim down the circuit board line-up pins. For the line-up pins, remove a little less than half from the pins and test fit. If the controller closes, good, if not, trim a little more. Do not remove the line-up pins because these will hold your circuit board in the correct position for the buttons.
I glued down the edges of the button pads just enough to hold them in place while I put it together. A little baking soda helps here.
Start tucking all your wires in and under. The USB wire can fold under the MP3. The button wires can fold down under also. Crease the LED wires in half and tuck them under the MP3 also. The goal is to make sure nothing will interfere with the operation of the buttons.
Close it up. Make sure the circuit board alignment pins are inserting into the circuit board where they are suppose to. If it doesn't come together relatively easily, peek inside while holding the halves close together to see where you are hung up. Put the 6 screws in the back.
Turn the MP3 on by holding down the UP button for a few seconds. The lights should come on. Push it again and it will play a pre-loaded music track. Test your functional buttons for proper operation.
Enjoy the coolest toy on the block.
Lastly:
Run to the bedroom at 3am to wake your wife to show her the cool blue lights.
Show it to your ex-wife's boyfriend so he can start pre-selling them for you to everyone he knows!
Desolder the small red LED. I haven't been able to extract this LED without melting the leads and ruining the red LED. If you can do it, you are the solder master!
Take a 3" - 4" piece of 2-wire ribbon cable and solder them to the 2 point for the LED.
Before soldering the lights, put a battery in and turn on the MP3 by holding down the PLAY button for a few seconds. With stripped leads on the LED ribbon cable and the black/red wires on the blue light, hold or temporarily solder the wires together to test for polarity. More importantly, just make sure the blue light comes on.
Once you get it worked out, push the blue LEDs into the plastic lens, one at each end. Drop 2 or 3 drops of super glue on the lights right at the top of the arches. You can probably omit the baking soda at this step since the glue wicks into the crevices and makes a good bond. Plus it makes for an easier light change in case you come up with some different colored LEDs you want to install.
Wrap your solder points with tape or heat shrink tubing to make it clean looking.
Here is where took a piece of Tempurpedic Memory Foam (TM) (my wife wrote the company for a free sample - weird stuff!) You could also use a chunk of kitchen sponge. This piece will serve as a battery hold-down to keep the AAA from moving out of the battery compartment.
OPTIONAL - I placed a piece of black electrical tape over the lens. You could omit this step and end up with a blue glow seeping out of the nearby USB jack.
Lastly, make sure you have the clearance. Remove 2 posts opposite the headphone jack and trim down the circuit board line-up pins. For the line-up pins, remove a little less than half from the pins and test fit. If the controller closes, good, if not, trim a little more. Do not remove the line-up pins because these will hold your circuit board in the correct position for the buttons.
I glued down the edges of the button pads just enough to hold them in place while I put it together. A little baking soda helps here.
Start tucking all your wires in and under. The USB wire can fold under the MP3. The button wires can fold down under also. Crease the LED wires in half and tuck them under the MP3 also. The goal is to make sure nothing will interfere with the operation of the buttons.
Close it up. Make sure the circuit board alignment pins are inserting into the circuit board where they are suppose to. If it doesn't come together relatively easily, peek inside while holding the halves close together to see where you are hung up. Put the 6 screws in the back.
Turn the MP3 on by holding down the UP button for a few seconds. The lights should come on. Push it again and it will play a pre-loaded music track. Test your functional buttons for proper operation.
Enjoy the coolest toy on the block.
Lastly:
Run to the bedroom at 3am to wake your wife to show her the cool blue lights.
Show it to your ex-wife's boyfriend so he can start pre-selling them for you to everyone he knows!
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http://www.instructables.com/id/NES-Controller-Shuffle-Nintendo-Controller-MP3-v/
Good luck!
My question is, can i use any cable I want to do this? I meen, I got old dvd players, cd players and other stuff that's either broken or no longer in use for me so..
I'de REALLY appriciate answers for this since I dont really have any skills with soldering so.. I wouldnt want to burn the mp3 player or something just because I used wrong cables :S..
Thanks =)
Just one question, this blurry giftcard, I don't know what that is at all but I'd like some light in my unit swell.. If I would add wires from plus/minus from the battery to the startbutton and then double wires from there (one is used for starting the player and one leading to a small collared light (blue, red or whatever) to get a light at the "nintendo" text as you got..
Think that would work? It's all planning right know, money is tight so I go around thinking to much some time =)..