Soldered, yes.
Great guide, it’ll help a lot people out.
2 words though:
smaller solder
seriously, you’ll end up with way more bridged points with gigantic solder, especially on the pads for the capacitors and the resonator. Use .032" or .022", you’ll thank me. When I first bought solder I got 1 each of the 3 sizes at radio shack since I didn’t know which was best for work like this. So far I’ve only used .015" unless I run out and the store is closed, then I use .022", haven’t touched .032" because it’s not as pliable and there’s too large of an amount when it melts.
The technique you show in part 1, where you put some solder on the iron first, then touch it to the pad. I do that all the time for smaller pads, but using a smaller diameter will stifle big blobs (and bridged joints). Good technique to show though, it helps to do that one sometimes.
In summary, learn with, and use .022".
@Phreakazoid187?Thanks for watching! =D
Yeah, I’ll have to look into what’s available. Sadly, our RadioShack is quite small, appropriate for a small town. I’ve used thinner solder, too, and I prefer them, I’m just using what I’ve got. And I did create a few bridges. The first was intentional, though.
I appreciate your input, though. 
@gamerkim28?In the picture, they look to be the same. I noticed this, too. When you get the kit, the capacitance ratings are printed on them. C3 is 10 µF, and C2 is .47 µF. And, also, glad to help you with that! I’ll get to finishing the dualmod as soon as my SE is here. Currently no update on its whereabouts, just Lexington KY. Sadface =(
the SE case by all means is not cramped. in fact you have alot more height than the TE
Emptied out SE case
SE case with:
- DPDT switch (top right)
- XBOX PCB (center bottom)
- Cthulhu (lower left)
Another SE case with
- Paewong Revolution
- Custom wiring harnesses
- ArcEyes
- Custom PCB with ATMEGA for controlling LEDs
in the above there is enough room to park my VW Golf in!
hey there guys! i too am about to undertake this mod for the first time. i just placed the order for my toodles chimp board and a couple other fun items, ill post some pictures hopefully this weekend or next week of my progress!
Good luck, elvashts! ^^
Hey, I just did this mod and I’m no tech or electronics wiz. While it wasn’t my first time working inside a stick (I gutted a PS1 custom with an MC Cthulhu about a year ago, and assembled the pcb), this job was involving precision and care on a level that made me nervous as all get out. Still, I followed guides on here, and filled in any gaps with a little common sense, and it worked on the first go-round. Now, if you look inside my TE, it’s ugly and stinks of amateur hour, but I accepted that this wouldn’t look clean and pro for a first try.
But be sure and plan your layout! One reason mine is ugly was partly because I didn’t consider placement of everything. Thus, it’s sloppy.
One more thing, too. Ensure some really good, snug connections to the ChImp. I had some wires snap off on me, and after they were all mashed together, that was just unfun times to worm the iron in there and reconnect them.
Just relax. You can pull it off, and the guides here really are comprehensive enough to help you do it.
Honestly, the biggest step to get past for me was just clipping the wires, because at that point there was no turning back. Everything after that just demands a lot of time and patience.
Don’t get me started with the desoldering/clipping of the USB cable…fun times lol.
Plus had to strip the wires with an exacto knife, but I got everything to work! my first ChImp install success!
You really have to read everything thoroughly and understand what needs to be done, and especially be patient with the soldering because I had to solder/desolder acouple of times because i was going hasty.
I’m just an amateur in soldering and stick modding/building. So the ChImp install isn’t so bad! don’t be afraid and just be ready for it!
OoooK so i ran into my first problem… I took apart my TE stick and wanted to get a head start on the soldering and wiring while i wait for the Chimp to come in. with out thinking i simply clipped the USB wire coming off the 360 pcb thinking i could just cut another portion off the same usb cable to another connection but for some reason down the usb line there is only 4 connections, im missing the thick black ground that was originally connected to the 360 pcb. Is this gonna pose any problems? if so what should i do?
You don’t need it.
The thick black is Shield Ground.
Yeah, I stripped off the shield ground of mine, and the stick works just fine.
Hi guys.
Just got my chimp. It’s the revised version (1.1) from lizard lick. I’m gonna attempt the mod at Dual Mod a Mad Catz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition using Toodles ChImp|Donovan Myers .
All the questions and answers here have pretty much cleared up any worries I had but I’m still a little confused about that 5th thick black wire known as SGND or Shield ground connected to the 360 PCB. From what I gather, I don’t need it but why is it there in the first place??. First time I’ve ever encountered 2 Grounds on a board. Looking at the chimp itself, I dont see any place for this shield ground to be soldered anyway. Just the holes for the green, white, black and red.
So just to clear this up for me guys. When I desolder the 5 wires from the 360 PCB, will I just ignore the Shield ground and solder the 4 - D-, D+, 5v and GND to the chimp. Thanks in advance guys and I plan on doin a thorough tutorial when I’m done to help any noobs like myself get it done as easy as possible.
You don’t need the thick black wire. I would desolder it from the 360 board and then tape it up so it doesn’t short out. The ‘proper’ ground (thin black) needs to go to one of the common grounds on the ChImp.
Honestly, I’m not quite sure of Shield Ground’s purpose. I cut into the rubber holding the wires to get a little more wire for the 4 “true” wires, and shield ground just vanished. There’s a hole near the USB solder points you can solder Shield Ground to. An ideal job look like?
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/9853/p100627225242.jpg
(Of course the square next to it can be soldered to, but I find these points easier)
Also, one other thing to note?if you bought a kit, there is an error in this photo, one of the resistor arrays (yellow piece near the top of the photo) is backwards. Be sure that the writing faces forward. I made this mistake myself, and it was a pain in the neck to fix.
After finally getting a soldering iron and thanks to Nerrage and his video, I have finally assembled the ChImp.
Now I’m at a point where it seems like I need to make the actual jump, taking apart my TE.
I am not going to lie, I am way too scared out of my mind to attempt to do anything to my TE without an in-depth guide. I theoretically know where wires should go and what not ( http://a.yfrog.com/img214/7899/chimpmadcatz.png ), but I don’t want to actually screw up my stick.
So are there any in-depth guides?
Also is there any way to check if my ChImp actually works before getting too invested in this mod? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
To test the ChImp by itself, Find a usb cable you don’t care about. Cut it. See the 4 holes where the USB jack would normally go? You can solder the black wire on the USB to ground, White to D- and Green to D+ and Red to V. Plug it into computer. You can screw a wire to a ground terminal to see if the buttons and joystick directions work properly by taking the other end of the wire and touching the other screw terminal points. Don’t link ground and VCC however!
There are indeed 4 holes were the USB jack would go, but they aren’t labeled. The the right of the 4 holes are 4 holes that are labled R,G, W, and B. Are they different holes or alternative ones to use? If not, how would I know when of unlabled holes (where the jack would go) to use?
Also does anyone know how to remove all that glue from inside the TE stick?
They’re alternatives. You’re on the right track. You can just wire the USB cable to the four to the right according to wire color. Also to remove the glue, get some pliers with a good tip that’s narrow and grab at it. Most of the time, it’ll come off in one piece.
R-5V B-GND W-Data- G-Data+
If you cut open a USB cable, the wire colors will correspond to this layout. Also, these alternatives are much easier to solder to, in my opinion.
The glue is annoying. If it’s that red stuff like in the SE, then I just kinda pryed under it with a screwdriver. It peeled off in most parts.
Also, with the unlabeled holes, check the welcome guide, but I’d recommend just the RGBW. It makes sense.
After soldering a random USB cable and wire to my ChImp, I can confirm it works! (I’m going to assuming correctly
Now for the hard part, the wiring of the whole thing. I kinda jumped the gun and unconnected all the pins and unscrewed the 360 pcb. However I forgot to mark which pin goes to what (more specifically the 2 on the left.). Would there be any ramifications if I just randomly connected the pins and plugged it into my 360 to see if I connected it correctly? I was thinking about just doing that, but I don’t want to screw over my stick.