recently i squashed my ps3 controller in my hands while playing a round of street fighter 4 online…
the shell got crushed but the pcb doesn’t look damaged so i thought i’d solder some wires on top of it and turn it into a fight stick.
on the backside of the controller is noted “wireless controller” with the model number: CECHZC2E
since that attempt failed i thought i could solder the wires directly on the respective connections of the pcb BUT i can’t find a diagram for this model that explains which solder point is for which button or ground… on slagcoin.com i only found 2 different diagrams for ps3 controllers and both seem different to mine. now i wonder how to find out where to solder my wires for which button and ground??
here is the picture of my ps3 controller: http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q658/lankort/ps3pcbCECHZC2E_zpscd7e6054.jpg
Back on topic:
Since it looks like you destroyed the main contact points, you can try following some traces somewhere, but I’m pretty sure most people will tell you that this isn’t worth salvaging.
You’re better off just buying either a proper PCB used for arcade sticks (Cthulhu or PS360+ if you want to keep things versatile) or even just a ZD Arcade Encoder (to keep things simple). They cost ~30, ~60, and ~$15 respectively, and you’ll be MUCH happier without the headache of trying to solder to microscopic points on your ruined PS3 PCB.
Back off-topic:
I’m still in awe that anyone could crush their controller in their hands from playing online games.
its not from playing online games, its particularly fighting games especially with input lag… makes hulk angry…
i don’t want to spend money on a new pcb till there are lag free pcbs that can be used at least for pc, ps3 ps4, xbox one and xbox 360 (i don’t own the later 3 but i don’t want to respend money if i ever feel like buying one of those consoles)
aren’t the resistors only necessary if i remove the analog sticks? i did a ps2 pcb mod recently and simply left the analog sticks where they where, worked without adding any resistors.
so there is no way to find the right solder spots on the pcb for a lay like me?
You may be in for a looooong wait. You sure you’d rather frustrate yourself on this project instead?
Not necessarily just for the analogs. Sony controllers have that clear film that’s used to close circuits when a button is pressed. There are often resistors/resistances on that sheet depending on the circuit for the buttons. You’ll need to add those manually now that you’re not using the sheet of conductive film.
Like I said, do your best to follow the traces, and you may be able to use a multimeter to test continuity.
Unfortunately for you, there’s no documented additional solder points, for the simple reason that both myself and Darksakul above have recommended that this project is not worth the headache/effort.
it has been done, the other guy broke his points also, try to use 30 gauge wire and just follow the traces under a good light. you’ll need resistors between 7 and 8, 13 and 14. PS3 dualshock 3 pin layout . the ps4 padhack is very similar to this, so if anything you’ll get some practice, good luck!
I hate to be that guy, but I think this mod is at a lost.
Its a too frustrating of a mod when there many other options available.
its why most of our top pros avoid modding with this PCB.
And to be fair, the PS4 PCB is nothing like the PS3 Dual Shock
after scratching of the black stuff till the conducting path showed it was possible to solder. unfortunately i already partly destroyed 3 of the paths so i traced them (hopefully correctly) back and soldered those there. if anyone wonders why there are 2 red wires among alot of grays… i ran out of the red (with very thin multiple thread like wires inside) wire. then i got the gray wires out of a old pc from the broad cable that usually connects the cd/dvd drive to the motherboard).
the gray wires are made of one single thin thread inside. was tough to solder the gray wires to the conducting paths cause the solder wouldn’t stick very well to them so i foldet the wires at the tip to shape kind of a eyelet. the 3 solder points on the pcb were the toughest, guess the thinness of the gray wire came in handy at this point.
took a while but in the end i got them all in place.
all the solderpoints seemed very instable, especially those 3 with the damaged conducting paths so i put a lot of hot glue all over it. checked all the wires with a magnifier beforehand and none of them seemed to touch each other.
it looks super messy (soldering hulk style ftw!) and i doubt its going to work but even if it doesn’t i’ve lost nothing.
so for the soldering directly on the pcb part i’d say mission accomplished! (although i wouldn’t do it again even if it works…)
now i need figure which wire is responsible for what and if the resistors i found inside a remote control fit for this job.
a random resistor from your tv remote is unlikely to work and could damage the board. radioshack has all kinds of resistors at $1.50 per 5. good job on the soldering!
