5. Assembly Guide
Populate the SMD components on the main and the plug PCB with the method you like. I've tried hand-soldering and hot-air and both method worked fine.
I'd suggest to begin with the "Outside" side of the main PCB since the big chips will be harder to solder once the smaller ones are already on the board.
For now, DO NOT solder on any of the through hole components.
Place your strip of 2.54mm pin headers through the holes on the main PCB and trim it to the necessary length.
Place the pins in place. Pay attention to which side the pins are going into.
Make sure the pins sit as flat and parallel as possible to the main PCB. Leave no gap.
Trim two pins as flush as possible to the PCB.
Solder the two trimmed pins onto the PCB.
Start trimming the rest of the unsoldered pins. Make sure the 3 pins marked in yellow are as flush as possible.
Solder all pins in. Note there is one non-plated via that you cannot solder onto. That is by design.
Using a side cutter, cut into the plastic holding the pins together. Then, remove the plastic from the two sides.
Note the unsoldered pin will naturally fall off.
Now using the plug PCB, trim all the pins on the other end so they are flush to the plug PCB.
The 3 pins in this picture MUST be flush or the assembly will be crooked and make it impossible to fit into the shell.
You can mark the pins with the cutter first, then remove the board and cut the pins slightly shorter than the mark to make sure they are flush.
Place the RCA jack and the 3.5mm jack flush to the plug PCB.
Trim the pins so they don't protrude the PCB by more than 1mm.
Then, solder the RCA jack and the 3.5mm jack in.
The PlayStation AV plug must be perpendicular to the plug PCB. Solder on only 2 pins first,, then check if it's perpendicular. Adjust by remelting the pins if necessary.
Then, solder the rest of the pins.
The vias for the PS plug is quite tight since I wanted very little play. You might have to keep the soldering iron on the pins for a bit longer than normal until you see the solder starting to go down into the vias. Flux is highly recommended for helping the solder flow.
If the solder ends up in a ball shape and stayed on the tip of the pin, it's likely the via is not wetted and connection is not guaranteed.
Place the VGA port on the main PCB WITHOUT soldering it on. Then put the two PCBs together. And place everything into the shell 2.
Make sure all pins are trimmed.
Solder in at least two pins to fix the assembly in place. Note the right most 3 pins will have to be soldered from the back. However it never posed as a problem to me.
Take the assembly out of the Shell 2 without soldering the rest of the pins. If you solder all the pins while the shell is on, the heat may deform it.
Solder in the rest of the pin headers.
Check the orientation of the red switch against the marking on the PCB, if your configuration required one.
Make sure it's flush to the PCB, then solder it in place. If you did not trim the 3 pins flush, the switch will be slightly crooked. Annoying, but shouldn't be a big issue.
Insert the VGA port into the main PCB, then solder it in place.
Install the assembly into the shells. The fitment will be quite tight. Make sure the assembly is going in straight. If you try to shove it in crooked, it will catch on the sides of the shells and never go in.
Close up and secure them using the two sets of M2x20mm screw and nut.
And the assembly is finished!