Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hey everybody!
Christianne got me this Sudoku game system and I like it except for one thing:
The directional buttons are terrible.
I had the idea to swap out the soft contact style buttons for hard tactile buttons.
The first step was to take apart the system.
Inside I found the speaker, connections to the battery bay, and the main circuit board.
Then I removed the screws holding the circuit board to the frame.
The poorly designed parts of this unit are the button pads and this directional button.
By shining light through the PCB I determined that it was a single layer board.
If there are multiple layers, cutting the board is not feasible.
I outlined the connections that had to be remade after the cuts.
Also, I marked the relative positions of the contact pads on the back of the board.
Then I carefully cut the circuit board,
making sure to avoid any other wire traces.
I decided to not fully penetrate the board with the rotary tool,
and used a utility knife to fine tune the holes to match the buttons.
I then prepared the buttons, trimming unnecessary leads.
After that, I set the buttons in their respective holes and hot glued them in place.
It's Soldering Time!
After bending the direct connections from the buttons together, I soldered them.
I needed some longer leads and used scrap wire to bridge the gap.
Then I outlined the necessary connections to be made to the circuitry
and prepared the solderpoints for wires.
One of the connections needed the insulation scraped off.
I did accidentally scratch the surface board, but luckily avoided damage.
The next step was attaching wires.
After mapping the circuit, I soldered the appropriate wires to the buttons.
I then cut off the conductive pads on the soft button assembly.
Following that, I put the front plate together carefully.
I figured that some extra glue to hold it all together was a good idea.
Next I reassembled the entire device.
It powered on normally and the buttons performed excellently.
The modification is a success!
As always, thanks for watching.
*Plays Gleefully*