S lite left and right hinge issues....the source is actually the right side??

Hi,

Has you DS lite devloped an issue that requires you to take it apart? Has your shell/ housing/ casing becomed damaged or is scratched? Have you broken the hinge and want to replace the relevant parts? This guide is for you.

N.B. - It is lengthly but thats because it is an indepth guide to make it suitable for even the most novice of people.

For this process you will need a few tools (all avaliable on ebay):
1) A precision cross-head "+" screwdriver.
2) A precision tri-wing screwdriver.
3) A pair of tweezers.
4) A craft knife or scalpel.
5) A flat-head "-" screwdriver or cutlery/ butter knife.

To begin you need to remove the battery, unscrew the battery compartment with the cross-head screwdriver and then lever it off with the knife. Next remove the battery by levering it out, you will see a small lip on the right hand side near the top, lever it up there. Now you need to remove the remaining 3 cross-head screws, their locations are:
1) Top right of the battery compartment.
2) Under the rubber foot next to the left shoulder button, lever the rubber foot off with the knife.
3) Under the rubber foot next to the right shoulder button, again lever the rubber foot off with the knife.
Screws 2 & 3 are of a gold colour whereas screw 1 is silver in colour.
Note there is another cross-head screw that is visible in the battery compartment, we will leave this one for now.

Next you need to remove the 4 tri-wing screws, these are located:
1) Top left of the base of the DS lite, just under the right shoulder button.
2) Bottom left of the DS lite, below the stylus slot.
3) Bottom right of the DS lite, its tucked right in the corner of the battery compartment.
4) This one is a little harder to see and a lot of people miss it... It's located at the top of the slot -1 port as you can see it is black and shorter than the others.
Now you can remove the back, gently pull it away from the top first and then lever it off at the bottom taking care not to lose the springs and rods found on the shoulder buttons. Take off the shoulder buttons and take a good look at how the springs are positioned as this is crutial to the performance of the button, take a photo of them if you have to.

To remove the motherboard you'll need to disconnect the wi-fi cable (black in colour) located on the wi-fi module (the extra piece of PCB* board attached to the motherboard) use tweezers to do so and then remove it from under the slot -1 component. Again using the tweezers, disconnect the microphone cable (white in colour) which is located on the motherboard directly diagonal to the top left corner of the wi-fi board, labled "p12".

Now remove the 2 screws holding the motherboard into place, they are located:
1) On the left hand side about 1inch above the headphone socket.
2) On the right hand side about 3/4inch above the volume switch.
Flip the motherboard up and over taking care not to put any strain on the top and bottom screen ribbons.

Disconnect the top screen by lifting the securing flap (if you have trouble use the knifes blunt side to lift it) and pull the ribbon away. Remember to put the flap back down after to avoid breaking it. This will now fully free the motherboard from the DS lite shell. If you need to, disconnect the bottom screen by again lifting the flap of the connector and pulling the ribbon free and then remove the touch screens ribbon using the same method, It's connection is located just above the wi-fi board. Remember to put the flap back down after to avoid breaking it.

If you need to replace the buttons or pads you can do so now, you will also see that you cannot put the buttons back in the wrong place because they are unique to their respective places. When replacing the pads make sure that the "black dots" are visable i.e. face up.

You will see 2 cross-head screws located at the top left of unit, if you unscrew them you can pull away the hinge which in-turn losens up the other hinge, but before you part the top from the bottom slip the top screens ribbon through the slot to release it and feed through the wi-fi and microphone cable. Now you can seperate the top from the bottom and if you need to, replace the hinge barrel and ring by pulling them away from the body of the DS lite and fitting the new ones in the reverse of the removal.

Now for the top half of the DS lite...

Firstly you need to remove the 4 cross-head screws, they are hidden under square, colour co-ordinated plugs and are located near each corner of the inside top half of the DS lite. To remove the plugs use the knife to lever them out but take great care as they are easily marked/damaged. Once the screws are removed you need to turn the unit over so that you can see the DS symbol and have the hinge side nearest to you. Place your thumbs on the top and your fingers on the bottom, now push away from you with your thumbs so that the top slides forward around 1/5th of an inch, you can now take the top off to reveal the insides.

Take note of how all the items are placed or take a photo if you need to. Firstly you can feed the top screen ribbon, wi-fi cable and mic cable through the hinge hole. The speakers are not stuck down and are held into place by the plastic housing so are easily lifted/ levered up. The wi-fi PCB* board is secured in much the same way and so removal is identical.

You need to loosen the screen in order to remove the microphone cable as it is held under the bottom of the screen, you will need to use a moderate amount of force to unstick the screen from the housing, use a flat-head screwdriver or cutlery/ butter knife to lever the screen out and away from the housing pull the microphone out of the housing either with tweezers or gently pulling on its cable.

Congratulations!!! you have now fully disassembled your DS lite! Give yourself a pat on the back.

To re-assemble the DS lite simply reverse the process. Tip- when putting the springs back make sure you put the end back into the slot so that it is taught and the shoulder button returns to its resting position after being pressed.

*PCB - Printed Circit Board

I hope that my guide has helped.

I take no responsability for any damage that may occur whislt following my guide, tips and tricks.

Regards,
SOD69