Hi
Just wondering if I could get some advice/suggestions on how to bridge a button on a Wii controller.
Basically what I’d like to do is somehow bridge the wires or if there is another way the trigger button (B button) on the Wii controller so I can have another push button elsewhere that can be pushed to. So have 2 buttons that can do the same thing but just have a second button relocated in another location. I have attached pictures of the inside of the Wii controller where the original trigger button is located.
Hope this makes sense.
Cheers
Hi Daniel
Is it just the one button??
Assuming it is you will have to determine if the contact is normally open and closes when the button is operated or normally closed and opens when the button is operated.
If it is normally open then simply connect another button across (in parallel) with the original.
If it is normally closed the extra button will have to connect in series with the original.
The one you have marked should be OK but the others look like they are mounted on the PCB and would be much more difficult.
Whichever way around it is it looks as if there will be some soldering involved.
Cheers Bob
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The black circular component you have circled in the first two images doesn’t look like a button to me. It’s polarized, for a start. I think it’s a battery. The button is probably a conductive membrane that presses onto the gold pads in the centre of the large circle (although there’s no sign of the membrane). If that’s so you will need to find solder points or thruholes that are directly attached to those pads. The ‘TP’ points would be a good place to start (they are likely there to allow a simulated button press during testing when the button component is not in place).
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Hi Jeff
You are quite right. That black bit IS the battery.
Those pics are a bit confusing I think there are a few bits not shown. That 4 pads surrounded by the white circle would seem to be the cross switch shown in the front view. But what makes it work and where are all the other switches , The back of that panel seems pretty bare. There seem to be test points all over the place, heaps of them.
If the device was on the table in front of me there might be some chance of seeing how it all worked (mechanically at least) but those pics don’t offer enough info I am afraid.
Cheers Bob
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Hi all,
If it’s the same Wii I played I think the black box could be a vibration motor, the batteries inside are AA and use the prongs just in front of the electrolytic cap.
Very neat seeing it all apart, I’ll be home for the holidays so I’ll see if I can get some better photos of the PCB.
Jeff’s definitely on the money with the membrane buttons.
Hard agree on the quality of the photos
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Thanks everyone for their feedback it’s very much appreciated. I’ve just got my old controller out. I’m about to pull it apart now and take some better photos. I’ll post up shortly.
Daniel
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Hi Daniel
They are different boards. But if the 2 controllers are basically the same it looks like the button switches are pads on the PCB closed with a carbon or other conductive patch on a membrane.
I think it would be a pretty difficult job to get an external switch across any of these and probably beyond most hobbyists expertise. Particularly switch B as you outlined. I think that seems to be the 4 larger pads in the centre of that circle and the all would be joined by a membrane so what they actually do is anybody’s guess.
I would not like to take this on and guarantee a successful outcome.
Cheers Bob
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Hi Daniel,
It looks like I’ve got another revision of the same board.
To add the other button, I’d follow this process:
- find a common point (gnd), will be the same for all buttons and likely have a lot of vias
- if you can find another test point (TP) from the button you call solder to that, else scraping back part of the silk screen above the trace and soldering a wire to the button
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Thanks for this Liam. I almost gave up on this project but you just breathed some new life into it. I’m a bit of a newbie to this sort of stuff so I probably bit off more than I can chew but I’m always willing to learn and that’s where this forum and people like yourself are worth your weight in gold.
Any chance you could elaborate a bit more on this “ if you can find another test point (TP) from the button you call solder to that, else scraping back part of the silk screen above the trace and soldering a wire to the button” maybe a picture or a link to a tutorial?
Thanks
Daniel
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The gold segments arranged in the circle that the button presses on to are likely connected to the nearby test points (“TPxx”). They might be arranged as diagonal pairs, so a button press is registered when any two adjacent segments are connected.
If you can confirm this by following the thru-holes and traces on the board, and if the test points can be soldered to without interfering with either the button or the top half of the case when it closes, then this is where you could wire your extra button.
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Thanks Jeff I’ll give it a go. I did come across this last night not sure if this changes the way I do things or not or if it makes it any easier if you wouldn’t mind having a look for me
Thanks
Daniel
I believe you are trying to replace button B, so that pinout description is not relevant. Connecting to a TP will be much easier than trying to connect to a via, so the TP are definitely the place to start looking. You would only consider other options if they are not connected to the pads.
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Looks like I got it sorted with the advice you both gave me just need to do one more test and wire it up neatly now. Thanks again for all your help
Daniel
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