Mod your Wii sensor bar to go wireless for $8
by Ryan Block 
posted Nov 29th 2006 at 9:18AM
For those Wii owners with abnormally large living rooms, projector TV setups, or a particular penchant for tricking out their console just 'cause, take heed. Without the need for candles, IR hacks, PCBs, soldering, or even (visibly) voiding your warranty, you to can hack that Wii sensor bar to make it wireless for $8 (or less). Simply head to Radio Shack and snag:- Five-pack of 9V battery snap connectors (~$2, part #270-325)
- Twenty four-pack (single pack) of 22-26 gauge wire butt connectors (part #64-3073)
- 9V battery
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bungmale @ Jun 12th 2008 12:19PM
I don't think Victor is a moron. Many companies have failed in the engineering department. Thus making many mistakes. If the dude wants to upgrade his Wii's unreliable fan more power to him. My Wii's fan randomly starts with the Wii and randomly not. Even when the fan is on my Wii gets fairly warm on the outside. I can't imagine the core temp. Hopefully his 12v mod works!!!!
mr.obvious @ Aug 13th 2008 7:24AM
HELLOOOOO, dont any of you know that argos ar selling wireless wii sensor bars now? hate to be stop all of your skeptical comments but, tah dah! i found the answer!?!
prb @ Dec 31st 2008 10:04PM
Yes, but $30 vs $3.
Pick your own battles people, if you can spend 1/2 hour to save $27, do so. If not, buy the wireless bar.
Donielle @ Nov 29th 2006 10:00AM
humm is it worth doing this i love the idea that it can fry my crappy bar
omega @ Nov 29th 2006 10:02AM
Damn they have the radioshack SKUs!!! A wireless wii bar is nice and all but couldn't you just use a 9vDC adapter?
Matt @ Nov 29th 2006 10:11AM
They could omega, but then it wouldn't be wireless.... ;)
Andir3.0 @ Nov 29th 2006 10:23AM
...but is it truly wireless with a 9-volt battery hanging out the back on a wire? :p
TVGenius @ Nov 29th 2006 10:24AM
Does Nintendo even sell spare sensor bars (at least this soon)? I'm thinking a bunch of wannabe modders are going to end up with a busted sensor bar.
tiuk @ Nov 29th 2006 10:34AM
According to the post that the "Read" link takes you too, Nintendo has replacement bars in stock and shipping for $10.
Does the fact that it's called a "sensor bar" strike anyone else as odd? It really does no sensing.
Kevlar @ Nov 29th 2006 11:10AM
It's called a sensor bar, because it is a bar for the sensors to sense. Not because it has sensors or it senses.
Josh @ Nov 29th 2006 10:47AM
You can get the replacement here: http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1¤cy=USD&ignoreCrumbs=N&crumb1=&crumb1Ignore=&crumb2=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527X%2527%252C%2B%2527ChooseView%2527%252C%2527%2527%252C%2B%2527%2527%2529%253B%2522%253EWii%253C%252FA%253E&crumb2Ignore=&crumb3=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527C%2527%252C%2B%2527CategoryDisplay%2527%252C%252762707%2527%252C%2B%2527N%2527%2529%253B%2522%253EParts%2B%2526%2BAccessories%253C%252FA%253E&crumb3Ignore=&translateFrom=%C8%C9%C7&translateTo=EEC&usrSearchText=&searchText=&selSrchType=&page=&view=&productId=117713&categoryId=62707&lastAction=ProductDisplay&orderTotal=null
on Nintendo's site. I'd say go for it.
Frank @ Nov 29th 2006 11:27AM
www.tinyurl.com
Meltz; @ Nov 29th 2006 12:45PM
that is one big ace link
Tavis Veighey @ Nov 29th 2006 11:07AM
I would not use a 9volt. They do not last that long! I would probably measure the voltage from the Wii, then use the proper number of rechargable AA batteries to make that voltage. Remember that rechargable batteries are 1.2 volt and not 1.5! So if the Wii bar needs 9 volts then you would use 9/1.2 and that would meanyou would need 7.5 batteries. You can round that down to 7 AA Batteries.
Yes they make rechargable 9volt batteries, but they do not last that long, and they take FOREVER to recharge. You can get several brand of AA rechargable batteries that charge in 15 minutes. Or you can get a 1-2 hour fast charger for all the less expensive batteries.
JCA @ Nov 29th 2006 2:50PM
9V is such a weird value with which to power these LEDs. If we are talking about standards here then I'm more likely to believe its 3.3V, 5V or 12V.
Im not saying it won't work with 9V but if the current bar is designed to run off of 5V (for example) then it means you are going to waste a lot of current with a 9V battery. You will also shorten the life of the LEDs.
If it were designed to work with 12V then a 9V battery would mean that you aren't ever going to get the full output from the LEDs that Nintendo specifies.
Find someone with a voltmeter and measure the voltage that the sensor bar "sees" when it is plugged into the Wii. Then choose your battery setup accordingly.
abigsmurf @ Nov 29th 2006 3:11PM
It wouldn't suprise me if the sensor bar takes five watts. You could likely just use two rechargable AAs (it's easy to get battery holders for two AAs). 9V is a lot of power for two LEDs which draw very little current. The sensor bar almost certainly has a voltage regulator in it but it's not a good idea to test it too much.
jordan @ Dec 2nd 2006 12:51AM
Umm, do you mean 5 *VOLTS*, and not *watts*? And even if you meant 5V, that's most likely not true either. Most likely it will be 1.2-1.5V. Parallel a few of these bad boy AA's, or series, I forget which one keeps voltage the same, and you should have a working sensor bar.
But, honestly, if you want a wireless hack, cut a piece of wood the width of your TV, mount 3 IR LED's from Radio Shack on it (model #: 276-143, $1.79 each), and put together some AA's (model #: 23-873, $3.99 per 4-pack). Total cost (assuming you have a piece of wood lying around and some wire to connect the LED's and batteries): $9.36. Now you don't have to worry about breaking your existing sensor bar.
Tom Gabriele @ Nov 30th 2006 1:05AM
well aren't two candles wireless too? cheaper too.
NOAMattD @ Dec 1st 2006 11:09AM
Just plug the snipped cord back into the Wii and hook a voltmeter up to it. Problem solved.
Gamechaser001 @ Dec 1st 2006 10:48PM
Not that they are used, but aren't there 4 LEDs?
And jordan, I don't think that making the custom sensor bar the size of the television would cut it, now if the Wii were permanentally in the given location, or if you made one tailored to a specific television, it may work, though the Wii Remote might not be able to pick up all the lights if you are too close, also that bar would be compatible with smaller televisions
jordan @ Dec 2nd 2006 12:56AM
Re: Gamechaser01
I thought there were only 3 LED's used, but I'm not positive. But yes, once you get too close, the sensor bar would probably freak out a little, but you would have the same result with the normal sensor bar. All spreading out the LED's is doing is giving you more distance to work with, hopefully. Personally, a longer bar would work better, as we're farther away from the TV. My triangulation studies aren't really up to par, but I figure that if you have the LED's the actual width of the TV, your triangulation will end up being more precise as you're no longer pointing to an area outside of the LED's on the bar.
Gaernin @ Dec 23rd 2006 3:12PM
The Wii puts out 12 volts to the Sensor Bar. I had to burn the ends of the stripped wires because they are microcoated. I also used a power brick so I could plug it into the wall with the TV instead of use a battery. I mean, its not like your TV isn't next to an outlet. I did have a problem finding a proper power brick. I cut up a 12 volt one first, and it was putting out 18 volts, then I did another 12 volt one from a different device and it was putting out 16. So I got a final 9 volt one and it was putting out 12.8 which I decided was close enough to the Wii's 11.75. It works great.
Butch @ Jan 22nd 2007 10:39AM
Hi,
I don't mind that the sensor bar is wired, but I need to extend the cable by about 10 feet. Can I simply cut the cable and insert a 10 length of new wire and splice it together?
If so, what kind of wire should I get?
And if not, does anyone know what kind of connector is at the end of the cable? I wonder if I could buy/make and extension cord for the cable...
Thanks!
rob @ May 29th 2007 4:02PM
did you find a solution to getting an extension to the cord? I need one also and can't seem to find anything
Rick @ Jan 28th 2007 12:10PM
Hey everyone, thanks for all the advice. Just to confirm, is there any limit on the distance the sensor bar can be from the wii unit? I think not, but friends keep telling me they need to be fairly close.
Thanks.
gormster @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:55PM
Yeah, you have to be within about eight-nine feet; less in bright conditions, more in dim conditions. It's enough, really; you just have to watch out for phantom IR sources.
Omair Quraishi @ Jan 30th 2007 12:29AM
Alternatively, if you are looking for a solution where you want to plug your Wii Sensor bar into the wall elsewhere instead of into the Wii you can go to Radio Shack or the source. Pickup a AC-DC adapter with adjustable voltage (3V - 12V) running at 800mA. Strip a bit of the sensor bar down put the orange into the positive end and and red into the negative end, clamp on the universal adapters, set the voltage to 9V and your done.
I did not want to deal with even more batteries going the wireless route mentioned above. I have a project setup where the sensor bar was originally mounted to the roof but length limitations really hampered play. I found very limited mobility with the Wii-Remotes. I ordered a second sensor bar from the Nintendo site, got the adapter I mentioned above and am set now.
I got the adapter from the Source Circuit City the part number is: 2731667 and it cost me $30.00 CAD.
James @ Feb 1st 2007 7:58AM
FYI - the sensor bars runs on 12v
Wiibly @ Apr 1st 2007 11:59AM
Yeah, I know I'm coming into this discussion late, but I'm not feeling the need to get rid of that tiny little wire that's never done anything to me just to add on a big 9V battery that the cats will likely find fun to bat around.
This is one piece of whacking I'll avoid.
Zac @ May 3rd 2007 5:50AM
If I did this I would make it so it could be EITHER WIRELESS OR WIRED
Basically I would make some sort of port on the sensor bar so that the wire to the wii would be detachable from the sensor bar and I would make the mod where I have the voltage going to the sensor bar.
GooGs @ May 10th 2007 7:40PM
Yeah, I thought using the candles was pretty awesome, but I dont want any parts of my T.V melted. My mom was vacuuming today and she accedentally caught a piece of the wire and all I hear is tHKASFJKHGHKGF RIP! There goes my sensor bar, I could use wireless stuff, this looks perfect.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/pre-built-wireless-wii-sensor-bar-for-sale/
wazuupster @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:53PM
ok, couple o things, firstly, when making it, you can use a digital camera to see what the sensor bar is doing, it's hard to explain but go and point a camera at the wii sensor bar wen its switched on normally. 2ndly, Ive done this wi mine by opening it up and removing the wires to it and replacing that with my batteries. 3rdly, nintendo mush have specified an optimum screen size for the remote to work with and then it works it out using that so if you find out how big that tv is and then scale the distance between the center of the top o the tv n the end of the sensor against the center of the top n the edge of the top to get the right distance for projectors and big ass tv's. And last but not least, zac, mine was both wired and wireless during construction but I have removed the wired bit now.
Just a point aswell, it might be wise to put a switch on it as when you're not on the wii its just a waste of battery.
Has anyone tried using two remote controls aswell that works
Victor @ Aug 27th 2007 10:52AM
I would like to upgrade the fan to a 12v 40mm fan. Is the Wii's sensor bar 12v a good source to run the fan? I would be replacing the little 30mm 5v fan....Thanks for any replys....
curtos @ Nov 23rd 2007 10:00PM
moron, they designed it with a 5v fan for a reason. Do you think they spent all that time and money just to throw some random freakin fan in the system? NO!!! You are trying to reinvent the wheel, and not doing a very good job of it either.