u/johnnypage91

Just finished a USB-C Charging Mod and wanted to share something that would have saved me a lot of headaches.

Following some YT guide, I fully disassembled the motherboard to avoid stressing the shell during soldering. Huge mistake. Reassembly was a nightmare, and the risk of accidentally tearing a ribbon cable is far greater than the risk of slightly bending the shell.

Here's the key insight I found out the hard way: of the 6 pads you're supposed to solder, only 2 signals actually matter — 5V and GND. That's it. The other pads are electrically redundant (see this post by u/ImpalaBBQ).

Practical takeaway:

• Skip any pad that's awkward to reach — especially pad 5, which is a pain regardless
• The remaining pads are accessible enough without full disassembly
• Do NOT take apart the whole board for this mod

Seriously, a slightly deformed shell is nothing compared to a dead ribbon cable. Work around the shell, not against it.