Since I’ve heard of a few stories of people ripping off pads, and destroying their wiimotes trying to perform the Player Indicator Mod, I’ve made a quick write up to show an easy way to remove the LEDs from the wiimote. One of the things to note is that the LEDs are not salvagable using this method, this method will destroy the LED but is fairly simple to do with the basic soldering irons on the market. Another thing to note is to try and use flux if poosible, it’ll make your life alot easier and be cleaned up with isopropyl alcohol once complete.

What you’ll need:
A Triwing Screwdriver
Soldering Iron and Solder
Desoldering braid

Start off by following the first 2 instructions of the Player Indicator Mod.

Step 1:
Once you’ve located the LEDs you’re about to remove, first start be removing the excess solder around the electrodes with the desoldering braid.

Step 2:
This step is where the damage occurs. Use your soldering iron to melt and “scrub” off the transparent lens of the LED.

Step 3:
At this point, add flux if you have it. If you don’t have flux you can melt a tiny bit of solder onto the tip of your iron, most solder these days have a bit of flux running in tubes within the solder wire itself. You can determine if the solder you’re using has is a flux core solder by snipping an end off with a pair of scissors or X-acto knife and looking at the center of the solder wire, flux is usually a light brown colour similar to maple syrup.

You’ll now have to lay the iron flat on the LED, you’re trying to make contact with both ends of the now destroyed LED. Give it a bit of time to heat up (roughly 5-10 secs) and start to gently slide the LED from side to side until it comes off the pad. DO NOT use excessive force while sliding, otherwise you may end up with a ripped pad on the wiimote PCB.

Step 4:
Finally this shows the LED removed and cleaned. I used isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) with a q-tip to clean the mess caused by the burning flux.

Overall:
And here’s all four steps on the wiimote.