Finally decided on crystal for my V14

Well after much searching around, roaming forums, reading what people had to say and evaluating the info I could find on the web regarding the reasonably large selection of chips I could use on my PAL 75002 - V14. I've finally taken the plunge and ordered a Crystal 1.1.

This will be my first time modding a PS2, so a little scary. I have a decent iron and have spent a lot of time over the years building various little electronic projects and repairing radio equipment. So my soldering skills are decent and I have done plenty of soldered mods on later model Xbox's without ever a problem. So I'm reasonably confident that I should be ok with the PSTwo despite the increased level of difficulty.

Reading through these forums and others though, I notice that a lot of people seem to be blowing fuses when modding their consoles. Is this a ussually due to a lack of skill and care taken in the modding process, or is it just something that is real easy to do by accident?

Also are there any particular things that tend to cause difficulty, that I should be aware of before I do this install?

Many Thanks.

being a slimline you have no bios legs so thats usually where people bugger up so thats one area out of the way.
the main problem with fuses is usually the fact that the power wire normally gets connected to a fuse and being bigger wire takes more heat and consequently blowing the fuse if held too long.
the vias are like the d0 point on an xbox and you have about 4 of these to solder.
the rest are either clear pads which require scratching up for solder to stick but very easy to do or small components which require a wire to be soldered to 1 end.
time, care and patience and all should be well
cheers

good work m8t. Those are some Bomb a** chips.

Thanks dungbeetle for your advice, sounds pretty straight forward.

Thanks for the compliment on my decision crans.

Looking forward to doing the install, just need to hunt down some 30awg Kynar here before my chip arrives... I have like 15 meters of 24awg Kynar sitting here, guessing that's a bit too chunky.

I see your in perth, try this place for wire
http://www.panthergaming.com/

Thanks dungbeetle,

Already grabbed some 30awg Kynar from Jaycar (Electronics retailer here).

My freaking pcb soldering iron has gone missing also, spent like 3 hours looking for it, turned the house upside-down, nowhere to be found.

So I bought a new iron today, Goot CXR-30, absolutely beautiful iron, a total pleasure for pcb soldering (modchip isn't here yet, been routing kynar all over the back of an old geforce2mx card for practice). Anyhow if anyone is chasing a new iron for modding and can't afford a decent temp controlled soldering station, I highly recommend checking out one of these.

http://www.goot.co.jp/ENGLISH/catalo...R_CXG/CXR.html

Thats the exact same iron I have, they are great, I use this for fiddly bits and a larger iron for power and ground.
you made a good choice.
cheers

Quote:

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Thats the exact same iron I have, they are great, I use this for fiddly bits and a larger iron for power and ground.
you made a good choice.

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Yup it's great, my previous iron for pcb work was a 15 watt Weller, quality iron, but this one is a hell of a lot steadier in my hand. The Weller iron seemed to amplify every little shake I made, making fiddly jobs quite awkward.