VitaC installation guide - USB C on the PS Vita

Draft 4, revised 11 Feb 2022

This guide is under development and more pictures can be added for further clarity. For the
time being, the guide below should be enough for those experienced with soldering to get
the mod installed, though you are free to ask questions.

Step 0: Assemble the mod kit (if applicable)

If you chose to save a few dollars and you are assembling the mod board yourself, now is
the time to do so. Solder on the USB C port, then the pair of 5.1k resistors. Should be
straightforward and take less than 10 min.

Step 1: Disassemble the motherboard from the Vita

Remove the motherboard from the Vita. I could put a guide here, but why bother when a well
detailed guide was made by iFixit?
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PlayStation+Vita+Motherboard+Replacement/8115
Step 2: Desolder the old Vita port
The old Vita port needs to be removed to make room for the new USB C port!
I strongly recommend using a hot air station to remove the port, though it is possible to do
with just a soldering iron and some low temperature solder. When you are done, it should
look like the image below
If you elect to go the iron route, I strongly suggest getting the lowest temperature solder you
can get your hands on (<100C).
https://youtu.be/TfXELQKGHlQ?t=21

Bonus: if you are skilled with an iron and you film yourself removing the port with just an iron
(keeping the pads mostly intact), you can send me the video to post for others to see. If you
do, I’ll give you a full refund as a means of me paying you for the video. You may request for
audio to be muted prior to posting. I have a hot air station and I will use it every time; there
isn’t a reason for me to use an iron for the port removal. I will award the first few people for
the video while this paragraph is still in the guide.

Step 3: Clean the pads of the old solder

Using some flux and desoldering wick, clean the pads and thru holes. The pads should be
cleaned and flat to ensure no shorts exist. The thru holes don’t need to be completely
cleaned out, as seen in the picture above. If you run your finger overtop, you should not feel
a bump.
Step 4: Line up the mod board

Vertical alignment
Take the mod board and drop it in from the same side the battery connector is located, as
shown. Push it right up against the back of the board cut out.

The usb c pins (golden yellow in the figure below) will sit on the blue Vita pcb, and the black
plastic on the back of the usb c connector will sit right against the edge of the vita board.
The mod board will sit at a slight angle because of the usb c pins (exaggerated in the figure)
but this is intended.

If you had xray vision, you would see something like this. Note that the golden pins are
sitting on top of the Vita’s blue pcb. They barely sit over the Vita’s pcb, but we need that last
0.3mm so the usb c board doesn’t stick out the bottom
Horizontal alignment
You can horizontally centre the mod board in the slot with the help of the two white vertical
lines printed on the mod board.

Step 5: Holding the mod board in place

Now with the knowledge of how to align the board, you can begin to solder the board in
place. Add a small drop of solder to one of the 4 corners of the board.

In the left image below, the bottom right corner is soldered (hard to see)
In the right image, the bottom left corner is soldered.

Turn the board over and verify that the mod board is aligned both vertically and horizontally..
If it is not aligned, remelt the corner and shift the board while the solder is liquid. Repeat until
the board is aligned.

Step 6: Secure the board in place

First, verify again that the mod board is well aligned -- if the board is pushed up all the way,
the usb c port will stick out the bottom edge of the vita when assembled. If the board is not
centred horizontally, well… that’s less important since that’s an aesthetics issue and it can
be overlooked.
Once everything is aligned, solder the 3 other corners to hold the mod board securely in
place. Remelt the first corner at the end to relieve any stress built up in the solder joint from
torsional forces (if you forced the board into place).

Step 7: Jumper wires

Jumper wires are used in soldering to connect different parts of the board together. They are
often used to repair traces that are damaged, or to fix design flaws in the pcb. We will be
using them to connect up the usb signals from the mod board to where the Vita expects the
signals to be.

Here is where the Vita expects the signals to be, and therefore where we will need to
connect the signals from the mod board. Apologies to the colour blind -- let me know if it is
not clear to you.

A video example of using jumper wires by Louis Rossmann:

https://youtu.be/T6Tz_jTy0w4?t=42m09s
Jumper wires: Data+ pin
The process to solder the Data+ pin begins by exposing a few mm of the magnet wire. Tin
the wire, and then if you have too much wire exposed, I like to fold the wire onto itself, but
you can choose to cut it to length instead. Solder one end to the doubly large pad as shown
in the image above. Once secured, mark the distance to the D+ pad, and scratch away the
coating at that area. Solder to the pad and break the wire to length.
https://youtu.be/TfXELQKGHlQ?t=8m21s

Jumper wires: Data- pin

There are several options of how to connect the Data- pin.
● Solder to the pad beside the Data+ pin. I find this to be overly difficult and tedious to
do.

● Solder to the inductor. Not a horrible option, but you run the risk of desoldering the
inductor off the board if you heat it up too much. You will likely find it challenging to
 solder back on if you don’t have a hot air soldering station.

● Solder it onto the trace. I think this will be the least-bad option for most people
because the target is relatively large, there is little chance of knocking a component
off the board, and the wires end up well spaced from each other!

Soldering to the trace

Before you start, know that I have a practice board available if you don’t have experience
exposing copper traces. You get 18 tries to practice scratching the solder mask. I only
replicated the 2 traces that matter to keep it compact. The board measures 30x10mm.
How useful is the practice board? I really don’t know; if you’re one of the first one people to
add it to cart, I will likely refund you the cost of the practice board and ask you to tell me
what your experience is like with it.
How do you solder to the trace of the Data- pin?
You first need to expose the copper of the trace by scratching away the solder mask.
Scratching lightly with a pair of sharp tweezers will slowly reveal the copper. TAKE YOUR
TIME and don’t scratch through the copper and don’t scratch the other nearby copper.
If you don’t have tweezers, you can also use:
● Sewing needles
● Thumb tack or push pin
● Mathematical compass
● Straightened paperclip
● Mechanical pencil with a metal ferrule

You only need to expose 1~3mm. More is easier to work with but more is also more
opportunity for you to mess up the scratching process.

Now that the copper is exposed, add a small bit of flux, and “tin the trace”, meaning, apply
some solder to coat the copper with tin. The exposed area should now be completely silver
and no copper colour can be seen
Take the tinned end of a length of enamelled wire, line it up with the tinned trace, and apply
heat. The wire should stick to the trace, and this step should take less than 1 second of
heating. Anything more than 2 - 3 seconds of heating is probably too much.

Feed the enamelled wire through the hole, scratch away the enamel coating, solder in place,
snap to length.
Jumper wires: 5V pin
The 5V pin is easy: Solder it to the bottom pad of the fuse. The fuse is the “S” component in
the image above. Your fuse may have a different marking on it such as “SB” and that’s ok.

If you’re wondering where the ground connection goes, you already connected it when you
soldered the four castellated holes.

Step 8: check the jumper wires with a multimeter

You should check your work but I suppose it’s not a strict requirement.

You should check for continuity using a multimeter by checking between the solder pad on
the mod board, and the other side of the fuse or inductor, as shown below. Testing this way
will better ensure the wires are soldered correctly.
Step 9: Trim the back casing
The thickness of the pcb will occupy the same space as some of the plastic ribbing on the
rear case. These 4 plastic ribs need to be trimmed to accommodate the thickness of the
casing.

I used a pair of side cutters, but a hobby knife should do the trick too. It doesn’t need to be
neat, but it can be done neatly.
After trimming:
Step 10: Reassembly the vita
You’re nearly there!

Slide the 3d printed bezel piece over top the usb c port. Reassemble your vita, and
enjoy your USB C modded Vita!