Digimon 1997 Backlight Mod Tutorial

[shanli90]

VPet V2 1997




Tutorial (Physical Switch)

Tools Needed

• Slider Switch/Any Switch you prefer
• 100 Ohm Resistor
• Wire Wrapping Wires
• Wire Stripper
• Backlight (Can be any but I am using this https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...klight-8bit-parallel/1110377_32810209038.html)
• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Dremel (Or some cutting tool)

1) Disassemble the back case (4 Screws), the circuitboard (2 Screws).
Keep the sponge and the small plastic that holds the glass.




2) Use a dremel or some tools to cut away half of the border (Highlighted in red) to make room for the backlight.




3) This is how it looks like after cutting.




4) Separate the glass from the backlight, after that cut the backlight using the reflective background as a guide.
Leave some spacing between the background and the black tape, this is to let the light spread more evenly.




5) Solder wires to the 2 points. Anode = Positive, Cathode = Negative




6) Put the backlight back to the digimon. Reflective part facing you.
Remember to put the sponge back. The plastic that holds the glass you won't need it anymore, keep it somewhere safe.




7) Put back the circuitboard and screw it tight. Below is a diagram where to solder for the switch.
Resistor is 100ohms. If you feel its too bright, you can use a bigger value.




8) The red area is where I keep my components since there is a lot of space there.
For the switch position it depends where you want to put, I will leave it to you.
Since I am not using a physical switch, I don't have a picture for that.




Video

 

[MarcFBR]

Certainly an interesting mod.

Is there a potentiometer internally so that if you ever wanted to you could adjust the backlight without having to redo work?

Also, what did you use for the backlight? It looks reasonably uniform.


Best of luck on doing it on the 20th. That'll be a treat when/if you are able to do it.

 

[shanli90]

Certainly an interesting mod.

Is there a potentiometer internally so that if you ever wanted to you could adjust the backlight without having to redo work?

Also, what did you use for the backlight? It looks reasonably uniform.

Not that i know off. Unless I put in more components for that.e

Due to space limitations everything I used would be smd versions. Might need to use button A & B combination to change the brightness level. Too much work

For now I am experimenting with different level of brightness to see which is the most acceptable in the long run so I can just use that for all my devices.

I ripped out the backlight off a lcd display for phone. U could basically ripped it out of any small lcd display. It will be evenly spreaded.

 

[DraCat]

Awesome! I believe this will need some soldering skill, no?

 

[shanli90]

Awesome! I believe this will need some soldering skill, no?

Definitely need soldering. For the C buttons need microchip programming + some basic electronics.

 

[DraCat]

Awesome! I believe this will need some soldering skill, no?

Definitely need soldering. For the C buttons need microchip programming + some basic electronics.

That mean it'll be out of my ability to mod it

 

[xdifferentx]

I was actually coming up with a plan to add a backlight to the 20th. I was going to give the light it's own tiny 500 mAh lipo battery so it would work separately from the vpet, drill out a couple holes in the left side for a charging port and a on/off switch.

 

[shanli90]

I was actually coming up with a plan to add a backlight to the 20th. I was going to give the light it's own tiny 500 mAh lipo battery so it would work separately from the vpet, drill out a couple holes in the left side for a charging port and a on/off switch.

Can u manage to do it without a external battery pack? Seems like the the whole board is drawing the battery full potential so the light is flickering.

 

[xdifferentx]

I was actually coming up with a plan to add a backlight to the 20th. I was going to give the light it's own tiny 500 mAh lipo battery so it would work separately from the vpet, drill out a couple holes in the left side for a charging port and a on/off switch.

Can u manage to do it without a external battery pack? Seems like the the whole board is drawing the battery full potential so the light is flickering.

I haven't bought the parts yet but the battery is pretty tiny. It might work, though I wouldn't be surprised if I had to cut away extra plastic inside the back.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1578

 

[Thebigboss1206]

Can you make a tutorial, please?

 

[shanli90]

Can you make a tutorial, please?

I will post 1 soon like the points to solder etc after I complete it on the 20th. But it will be a simple on off switch.

I was actually coming up with a plan to add a backlight to the 20th. I was going to give the light it's own tiny 500 mAh lipo battery so it would work separately from the vpet, drill out a couple holes in the left side for a charging port and a on/off switch.

Can u manage to do it without a external battery pack? Seems like the the whole board is drawing the battery full potential so the light is flickering.

I haven't bought the parts yet but the battery is pretty tiny. It might work, though I wouldn't be surprised if I had to cut away extra plastic inside the back.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1578

I went to this site to look for batter before. 500 mah seems too big even if u gotta cut away parts.

 

[xSHiNOx]

pretty cool mod. that light will suck the cr2032 dry
just wish bandai would make a app for the v-pet for ios/android. i know they got one for tamagotchi but still

 

[shanli90]

pretty cool mod. that light will suck the cr2032 dry
just wish bandai would make a app for the v-pet for ios/android. i know they got one for tamagotchi but still

I add a external battery for the vpet 20th, so it wont eat the cr2032 hahaha. I just updated a video with the vpet 20th at 1st post.

 

[Tiger_vii]

I'm having trouble cutting the backlight, do I cut the hard plastic as well or just the thin white reflective plastic sheet?