Solder Pad Fell Off

[Shank]

Hello ModRetro! I was hoping to have my first post be contributory to the community, but I unfortunately have reached a dead end. Ive been lurking for quite a while, and the portableizing community is just so awesome. You are all tight-knit, friendly, and helpful.

I have been working on a portable wii for a while, but ran into an issue: The copper pad on the motherboard fell off, and now I cannot solder to the pin. It is pin 7, which is quite important for SD card usage on the wii. The padless pin is shown below. If any of you know either how to re-attach or relocate it so I can carry on that would be terrific!

Thanks

TL;DR: WII SD CARD SOLDER PAD ON MOBO FELL OFF. WHAT DO?

 

[Blargaman91]

The SD card data lines go essentially to the GPU and I think they pass through some components along the way. I can't show you a diagram or anything because I've never worked on that but you should be able to follow the pad's trace to see where it goes and find another point to solder to.
Just a tip; those wires have a lot of exposed metal. Wiring will end up being cleaner if you keep most of it insulated.

 

[Shank]

The SD card data lines go essentially to the GPU and I think they pass through some components along the way. I can't show you a diagram or anything because I've never worked on that but you should be able to follow the pad's trace to see where it goes and find another point to solder to.
Just a tip; those wires have a lot of exposed metal. Wiring will end up being cleaner if you keep most of it insulated.

Thanks for the tip. I left more exposed so I can heat the wire without burning the insulation or touching the solder with the iron. Is there a better way to do this?

Unfortunately, there isn't a trace to be seen that can be followed, as seen in the picture. I checked to see if it has an equal contact on the other side but have been unsuccessful.

Also, Ive seen your projects before, and they are very clean.

 

[Blargaman91]

Thanks .

I left more exposed so I can heat the wire without burning the insulation or touching the solder with the iron.

Okay, I see what you mean. In that case, do what gets the best results for you.
If your soldering iron isn't a temperature-controlled one, it could be getting too hot for those small data lines and burning them off.

Unfortunately, there isn't a trace to be seen that can be followed, as seen in the picture.

If I'm looking at the picture right I think there is a via next to each of those missing pads. The data line should continue on the other side of the board but I can examine it myself and post some alternate soldering points in a couple days when I have access to my Wii again.

 

[Shank]

Okay, I see what you mean. In that case, do what gets the best results for you.
If your soldering iron isn't a temperature-controlled one, it could be getting too hot for those small data lines and burning them off.

I do have a temperature controlled one. What temperature should I be using?

If I'm looking at the picture right I think there is a via next to each of those missing pads. The data line should continue on the other side of the board but I can examine it myself and post some alternate soldering points in a couple days when I have access to my Wii again.

I may be wrong, but The small gold colored metal rings are not connected to the contact pads. Id love some help on this.

There isn't much information on the wii's circuitry. I have coppied everything I could find from modretro, BenHeck, GCforever, and the rest of the internet. A local pawn shop sells consoles only for $15 each, if you are interested I could ship you one to you or someone else who knows what they are doing if you/they would use it for the good of the community.

 

[Blargaman91]

I stay around 500° for most things, only going higher if I have to. I sometimes use 300-400° for the sensitive parts.
I think any pad will inevitably fall off after a lot of work, though.

I may be wrong, but The small gold colored metal rings are not connected to the contact pads.

I bet when the pads came off they pulled with them the traces all the way up to the via, since there's not much distance between the two.

 

[Blargaman91]

I'm 99% sure that you can solder to these pads on the bottom of the board, as they were originally connected to the pads that came off:

I would show the connection on the top of the board but I can't find any top PCB scans of the SD card slot area.

Whatever those transistor-looking components are, they probably do something to the signal, so I would think that unless you want to solder to those tiny legs, that's where it ends.

 

[Shank]

I bet when the pads came off they pulled with them the traces all the way up to the via, since there's not much distance between the two.

Maybe, but they don't look connected on the ones where the pad wasn't removed. Again, this is my first portable so I may be wrong.

I am out of town until Thursday and wont be able to work on it or test it until then.

As for the pads on the other side that was the first thing that came to my mind. I tested them with my multimeter and LED circuit tester but could not find a consistent result