Fix nes controller cable chewed up by the cat

[Geddon]

Stupid cat likes chewing shit. Got some controllers that need some work. Some nes and tg16. Starting with a nes controller. Had to drill out some of the screws that wouldn’t turn. Cable colors on the original and this extension are different of course. Found a useful diagram and used a multimeter to map how the extension is wired and matched it up. Some bush league soldering later and I have a working controller! I’m a complete noob when it comes to this kind of crap so I’m happy with myself. Now I want to go fix more junk. Hopefully I don’t burn or shock myself but we will see.

 

[Derick2k]

The soldering is a bit rough there but Im happy its working and you fixed it yourself

Keep practicing your soldering on junk boards, etc...there are plenty of youtube videos that show some good soldering techniques.

 

[Geddon]

Yeah nes controller is a good one to mess with. It is pretty forgiving with space. Someone linked a good series of videos about soldering, I think I bookmarked it. Another project I have is to make the nes and tg16 controller circuits on little pcbs. I got a bunch of the ICs each controller uses and have extension cables. Going to use them to wire up arcade controls to those consoles. I like that idea better than sacrificing controllers and it should be a fun exercise making some circuits.

 

[zero238]

feed your cat!! Stop playing too much Nintendo

 

[YesAffinity]

Nice fix! For me, a big ah-ha moment in leveling up at soldering was the use of flux and tinning. A lot of the soldering 101 videos I watched early in my effort to learn how to solder completely avoided the subjects of tinning and flux, or only barely touched on them and didn't provide good detail of the importance and how much easier and cleaner it makes the job. Tin those wires before you try to stab them through the board, and a little bit of flux once they're in their final position will result in nice clean joints that look like the other factory joints on the board, but more shinier.

 

[Geddon]

Cool. I actually bought those things but didn’t think to use them. I’ll try that with the next one I fix.

 

[Mitsurugi-w]

Fixing things is addictive

 

[stj]

i had to do that a lot with joysticks for 8bit computers - c64 mostly.

on the plus side, it's easy to get 9pin serial extension cables intended for modems.

 

[nem]

I had to do this on a couple of controllers. The NES controller leads have odd wiring, the strands of wires are weirdly wrapped. Solder didn't stick all that well to it either. I had trouble getting good solder joints as well.

 

[stj]

i know that wire - also used in old telephone handsets and headphones.

stranded nylon with coated copper wire coiled along it.

 

[Geddon]

Next up some turbografx controllers. Same cat. Actually my brothers cat and he has chewed countless cables over the years. I would go crazy with all the cables in my house. So I think I’m going to use DuPont connectors for the turbo controller header. Unless I happen to have something else that fits. The colors in the extension match but I haven’t verified pinout yet.

 

[jassin000]

Same cat. Actually my brothers cat and he has chewed countless cables over the years.

This is why I'm a dog person, cats are damn destructive.
My toy poodle only chews on his toys (not mine).

 

[nem]

i know that wire - also used in old telephone handsets and headphones.

stranded nylon with coated copper wire coiled along it.

That's it, yes. Terrible stuff.