I finally converted my UHK v1 to USB C. The mini usb port had annoyed me for a long time so I opened it and did the mod myself. I used one of those tiny usb c adapters and wired it through a 4 pin connector so I can still take it apart. The wires aren’t short and the inside is kind of scrappy, I even used clear tape in the cable bay.
I had to dremel the case for the port and also shave a bit of the bottom case to get more room to work. It was kind of a mess while I was doing it but it came together and the port alignment ended up way better than I expected.
It’s way more convenient for me now and I think it looks nice. If anyone wants to try it I can share the parts and what I learned.
I’m a complete novice at soldering (everything I know is basically from YouTube), but I really enjoyed doing this project. I have two UHK v1 boards, so I finally got the courage to try the mod knowing that if I messed something up badly I still had a backup.
Desoldering the mini USB was the hardest part. What helped the most was taking my time, using plenty of flux, and going with hot air instead of only the iron. The soldering itself wasn’t terrible, but the pieces are tiny and the space is tight.
Something that helped me a lot was checking the schematics posted here:
Being able to see the actual pinout from the mini USB pads made it way easier to understand what I was doing and gave me a lot more confidence before wiring anything.
Using a JST connector is, in my opinion, the key to keeping the whole thing serviceable, since the USB-C socket and the PCB live on different parts of the enclosure.
Now that this one went well, I’m going to do the same mod on my second UHK v1. Hopefully it comes out cleaner, and I’ll document the whole thing this time (like trimming the enclosure, opening the hole for the USB-C port, etc).
