How to : Convert Nintendo Wii Sensor Bar to USB Sensor Bar

[admin89]

(10-27-2011, 06:43 AM)Tropxe Wrote: I'm trying to do this now. The problem is, there doesn't seem to be a silver wire in the USB cable. There's black, white, green and red. They were wrapped in foil and outside that was the closest thing here to a silver wire; lots of metal fibre wrapped around the foil as further shielding.

There are only 2 wires of USB which contain electricity . Plug USB to PC , put the battery in the battery holder then try connect each of those wires , use camera to see the light emit from the sensor bar

[slaQ]

I recently converted one myself. Didn't need any extra parts, just the sensor bar and the USB cable. Works like a charm. Guess it depends on the voltage required. Mine is from Qware and it required 4 aaa batteries, it says DC 6.0v on the bottom. Now its USB powered.

You should only need the black and red wires in most cases. If your LED isn't turing on, in most cases you probably just have to switch the + and - wires.

[kuroneko]

Hey, two questions: my sensor bar as a green and a blue wire. Is there any way to tell which is +/-? also, in your tutorial, you said to hook one of the wires to the silver/shielding, aren't you supposed to hook it to the black/ground wire? or does it not matter?

[AnyOldName3]

If you don't know which wires to use in the USB, it will be the two that arc when touched, or have current when measured if you don't want to risk blowing your USB hub.

If you don't know the polarity of the wii bar, the positive end can be found by looking in a LED . If you follow the smaller terminal inside it takes you to the positive end.



I know it won't be red, but you get the general idea.

If you want to leave out the battery then you will have to unsolder the resistors in the circuit and replace them with weaker ones. I am trying to work out exactly what resistors are needed.

[ExtremeDude2]

Been meaning to do this for a while , finally did it when I saw this thread

[AnyOldName3]

I've now finished mine. In my case the resistors it needed after the voltage drop were smaller than anything I had, so I intelligently and total on my own without a parent's suggestion used a couple of diodes as they caused the right voltage drop. I'm also pleased that I only soldered my thumb once.

[Duke Nukem]

Meh it's cheaper buying a wireless one online to use for your rig. I don't know why you folks keep insisting doing this kind of stuff with your poor sensor bars.

[AnyOldName3]

Quote:it's cheaper buying a wireless one online

Sorry, but that's not correct.

3rd party wii bar: £3.45 with free postage from Amazon.

5m USB 2.0 lead (A to B, but that is irrelevant as I chopped off the B): £1.15 with free postage from Amazon.

3mm of lead free solder: under £0.01

Two diodes I already had (because I needed to replace the 120 ohm resistors with something closer to 8 ohms, which I didn't have): free, as they were rotting in a box in my garage

OR

3rd party wireless wii bar with above 3/5 stars: £3.25 with £1.95 postage from Amazon

Enough batteries (rechargeable NiMH, it wouldn't be fair to use regular cells as they'd last about a week per set): 1.5 times £5.39 with free postage from Amazon.

So for a converted wired one: £3.45 + £1.15 + £0.01 = £4.61

For a wireless one: £3.25 + £1.95 + 1.5 x £5.39 = £13.29

When I last checked £4.61 was less than £13.29.

[Livy]

Using a USB port in conjunction with an external battery is not wise, afaik.

Currently I'm doing this. I'm not sure if any problem will arise with my sensor bar or my rechargeable battery. But I don't want to remove LEDs from the sensor bar so it is the only choice now.

[AnyOldName3]

Other people

Y U No swap resistors for weaker ones?