Modded DSi Charger Docking Station

by stevoace in Circuits > Gadgets

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Modded DSi Charger Docking Station

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My parents got me this quite neat Dsi charger docking station for Christmas last year and although it is really handy it has one quite major downfall... It has a blue LED that is on all the time it is plugged into the mains. Now anyone can tell you for one that it is not as Eco-friendly as it could have been; and two having a bright blue LED shining 24/7 can get very annoying quickly.

So to solve this i simply put an on/off switch into the mix :)

Mateials:

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To start off with you need the docking station its self. I have the 'Bigben Interactive DSi docking station' which is as far as i know one of the most popular and easily available ones around.
You can get them for around £10 from any gaming store.

The only other materials you need are:
1x Switch 
2x lengths of wire

Tools:
Soldering iron
Solder sucker
Solder
Hobby knife
Super glue

simples ;)

Opening It Up

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Firstly we need to get to the circuit so the case needs to be opened up.
To do this on the underside there are three screws as seen in the picture. they are located under the felt (you do not need to remove the felt! just run your finger up the felt until you find an indent, that is where the screw is).

Altering the Circuit

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Basically there are 3 stages to complete this:

1) de-solder the black wire from the input socket from the LED

2) solder one piece of wire to the detached black wire and the other piece of wire solder to the LED leg

3) solder the wire from the socket to the middle switch pin and the other wire to one of the other pins on the switch

I have also included color coded schematics below

Adapting the Casing

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For this you need to make a slot in one of the end pieces so the switch can poke through, to do this i used a hobby knife.
Then you need to super glue the switch to the inside of the case( hot glue gun will work just as well) and re-assemble the case.

Finished!

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When the switch is on the blue LED is on and you can charge your DSi, when the switch is off the light is off and the DSi will not charge (saving electricity ;) )

Please feel free to suggest any improvements. :)