Multi-Light Sixaxis Mod Tutorial

[DarkArchon]

Hey all, this is just a tutorial for modding the sixaxis so it has individual player lights (yellow, green, blue, red) and has corresponding colour underneath the PS button.

Here is a video of the finished product, as well as a couple of images.

This is not for the beginner as it has some difficult soldering involved. Then when you are more confident, you can proceed with this tutorial.

*note: i have not provided disassembly/assembly pic's as i assume you already know how to do this, if not follow the link above to see pics of how-to.

Required:

- 0603 SMD LED's (x2 for each colour to be used = 8 LED's)
- 30 gauge wire
- solder
- soldering iron
- philips head screwdriver (small)
- flathead screwdriver (v. small)
- ALOT OF PATIENCE

Optional:

- magnifying glass (quite useful for seeing the v. small led's)
- Board holder (keeps the pcb board steady whilst soldering)
- double sided tape (keeps the LED steady while soldering)
- electrical tape (keeps wires from flicking off while soldering them down)

1) Replace existing LED's:

Start off by watching this video (http://www.xnogard.com/post/index/19/Modding-PS3-Controller). This shows exactly how to replace the existing smd's with your own. Its really up to you what colours you would like to have for the 4 player indicator lights, but ive gone with (p1=yellow, p2=green, p3=blue, p4=red).

You will have to make sure that the polarity is right with the LED's or they will not light up. The triangle / arrow on the other side of the LED should be pointing towards ground. So make sure that it is orientated downwards as the +ve terminal is the top and -ve is on the bottom. Refer to diagram for polarity below.

top side of the smd 0603 LED:


bottom side of the smd 0603 LED (arrow points to ground):


Once you have finished soldering for each LED, you need to test it by putting back the motion plug and attach the battery and also put in the see-through pad and hit the ps button using the rubber plug to test each is working (see video for a clearer explanation).

2) Give power to you new LED's under PS button:

You will need to route power to the LED's underneath the ps button. This can be done simply by making a solder point to the top of the 4th player indicator light (see pic below for reference) and route to the middle of the board just where the LED5 is located. You will need to make a square loop (alittle unclear in the picture) in order to supply power to each of the new led's.

power wire setup with first LED attached and linked to ground:


3) Solder ground points to each new LED

Once you have the power sorted for the LED's, just route the ground terminals for each LED to the central LED's where the ps button is.

A handy tip for soldering, make a wire to the shape of where you would like it to go first before soldering and then solder on the GROUND terminal to one of the ps button LED's to one of the ends. It is easier to solder the wire to the LED if you use double sided tape to sit it on whilst soldering to keep it steady (see picture below). Then solder the other side of the wire to the GROUND terminal of the corresponding player indicator LED. Once this is done all you need to do is solder the ps LED to the power wire and your done!

soldering smd 0603 LED to wire using double sided tape:


4) Cut out Black mask
You will need to cut the plastic off from the control pad holder where the hole is for the 5th LED. Just cut all of that off which enables you to see all four LED's from the ps button hole. (unfortunately no picture)

Here are some pics of how this should look at each stage of the process:



power wire setup with first LED attached and linked to ground.



2nd LED linked.



4th LED linked (important to do this one first before 3rd LED or wires will cross).



3rd LED linked and turned ON.

final product:


Enjoy guys, and please post what you think. If you are going to attempt this and get stuck, post the problem up and ill try and help. Thanks.

[TehDash]

What exactly IS 30 Gauge Wire? The only thing I can find is meant to be used by Jewelers o.O

[DarkArchon]

30 gauge wire is used for soldering. It is not like the wire which frays if cut, it just has one solid wire which you can use to solder easily to other solder points. Look on google for more info or goto your local electronics store.

I forgot to mention in the tutorial that I needed to cut the plastic off from the control pad holder where the hole is for the 5th LED. Just cut all of that off which enables you to see all four LED's from the ps button hole.

[moose1981]

Oh this is the stuff dreams are made of! Great job! Makes my look like childsplay.

[cherryduck]

Looks sweet, I might give it a shot sometime. I guess an old IDE cable would do the trick?

[oliver989]

Looks really good, i'm too afraid to mod my controller though.

[faith2063]

Looks really good, i'm too afraid to mod my controller though.

Mee too... But I'm gonna think about it, because the result is so classy and gorgeous.
Thanks a lot for this tutorial ! Think i'm gonna do this .

[fransua1981]

What!!?? 30 gauge wire is used for soldering. It is not like the wire which frays if cut, it just has one solid wire which you can use to solder easily to other solder points. Look on google for more info or goto your local electronics store.

I forgot to mention in the tutorial that I needed to cut the plastic off from the control pad holder where the hole is for the 5th LED. Just cut all of that off which enables you to see all four LED's from the ps button hole.

[DarkArchon]

ok, im sorry for not making this crystal clear. 30 gauge wire if you see this link: http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm determines the diameter of the wire.

picture of 30 gauge wire (note the thickness of the wire) below.

Certain types of wire are braided instead of a single strand of wire, such as copper wire.

picture of copper wire (note how it is frayed around a cut piece) below.

This is why it is recommended to use 30 gauge wire to solder as it has a larger diameter to connect the wire with the piece of electronics you are working with. It is less likely to break off from a solder joint than a braided wire. And no, you dont physically "solder" the wire without solder. I dont think i can make this any clearer than this sorry.

[SEMER]

What exactly IS 30 Gauge Wire? The only thing I can find is meant to be used by Jewelers o.O

It's called kynar wire.