Question 1

What is your definition to refurbish / restore when working with consoles and their peripherals?

Accepted Answer

To refurbish / restore a console and their peripherals means to

1) Dismantle the console and perform a deep clean
2) Replacement of all liquid capacitors with equal capacitance and equal or greater voltage value
3) Replacement of coin cell batteries
4) Repair or replace damaged internal components (ie. ICs, crystals, vias, pads, etc.) where able with like components from a donor unit or components obtained from vendors
5) Testing the units for full expected functionality
6) Repair or replace plastic shells as deemed needed; cracks are repaired and reinforced, segments may be replaced with 3D printed parts, if a shell is mostly destroyed or severely damaged, then the shell gets replaced.
7) Removal of yellowing in plastics as much as possible without compromising the plastics' integrity
8) If a controller has an analogue stick, the rocker is replaced if it's potentiometer based. 'Cleaning' potentiometers doesn't fix or helps performance as the carbon film is eroded away from use and cleaning doesn't restore lost material.

Question 2

Do any consoles come modified?

Accepted Answer

Yes, unless not specified, consoles are installed with a USB-C power mod to be powered via USB-C PD. Please see the "Work Done" portion of the product descriptions to see what work performed and modifications have been done.

Question 3

Why power units using USB-C?

Accepted Answer

The USB-C power modifications are to

1) Eliminate the need for another power brick to manage in the household
2) Eliminate the need for 3rd party bricks that may damage units due to being out of spec from OEM power supplies
3) Reduce electronic waste by removing dependence of mentioned power bricks
4) Utilize standard PD (Power Delivery) protocol for future forward use of USB-C wall adapters

Not all USB-C wall adapters have the PD protocol nor may be able to supply the needed voltage and current. Please refer to the product descriptions to see what the power requirements are for proper functionality.

Question 4

What can I expect plastic shell conditions to be in.

Accepted Answer

Plastic shell condition will vary per unit. At minimum, scratches are to be expected.

Any cracks are set with adhesive, reinforced with segments of copper cable embedded into the underside of the affected area to not influence outward cosmetic appearance, and lightly melted across the surface to better bond the area; severe cracks that do not constitute a shell replacement are reinforced with additional epoxy putty.

Medium sized chips are filled with epoxy putty where small chips may not filled depending where it may be.

Any OEM shells that have severe damage; several broken posts, cracks, chips, segments; the shell is completely replaced with a new 3rd party shell.

All exterior facing surfaces are covered with a ceramic coating to provide protection against UV exposure while making it hydrophobic.

Question 5

What is the white stuff on some boards?

Accepted Answer

The white residue is non-conductive is what is a leftover byproduct from the ultrasonic cleaning process where the chemical bath reacted with flux on the boards. It can be removed with IPA and a toothbrush. While items are rinsed and gently scrubbed with IPA after going through the ultrasonic cleaning, this is something that is being looked at for cosmetic improvements.

Question 6

Will you repair / mod my console?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely! Fill out the form in the service page for a quote, and let us know what you want / need to get done, and we'll take it from there. If we have questions, then we'll contact you before sending any quotes over to make sure we're on the same page.

Question 7

Can I remove the ceramic coating?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Take a clean microfiber cloth, soak it with 99% IPA, and gently buff it off as if buffing a car.

Question 8

What consists of the Deep Cleaning?

Accepted Answer

Deep cleaning consists of completely tearing down a unit to start, quick dust removal of all pieces, submerge all electronic components in an ultrasonic acid cleaning bath; plastic components depending on the size may go in as well, hand washing of plastic components, and reassembly.

Question 9

Can I use the Nintendo Switch charger with the USB C Mods?

Accepted Answer

Sadly no. The Nintendo Switch charger doesn't support 9V nor 12V. Using it may result in damaging your consoles and is not recommended for any USB C Mods. While it does support 15V, it will not be compatible with a possible future WiiU USB C mod because it cannot supply the required current.

Please research appropriate USB C PD adapters that support an output of 12V 3A and 9V 3A respectively for the available mods. Our workshop currently uses the Nexode series wall adapters from Ugreen.

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