Soft Pad Mod /W Pictures

KickTheCan · Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2003 5:35 pm Post subject: Soft Pad Mod /W Pictures

If any moderators see this, i did not post it in the soft pad discussion post because it would not be seen and it is REALLY long. In addition, it is easier for people to find it here. Here it is.

My Pad Mod

GO HERE FOR PICTURES AND A COPY OF THIS POST IN TXT FORMAT: HERE

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU SCREW UP YOUR PAD DONT BLAME ME I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE!!!

This mod will fix bad pad response, and will stop your pad from moving while you play. this makes the pad have GREAT response, mine registers easier and better than the arcade pads. The only thing missing is a way to make it the arrows feel concave like in the arcade but if you guys have any ideas let me know.

I know there is allot of pad mods out there especially for the "cheepo" pads or the non ignition pads, but here is mine. I got 2 Cypher Games regular pads with the non slip bottom off of Ebay for about $15 2 years ago (btw, they are still about that same price). The first pad started to crap out after about 2 months of play, it still worked but it became "sticky" and the arrows did not want to register, so I decided to mod it. I did and it is still holding up working just fine to this day. The second pad I modded about 2 months ago but then the cord or plug messed up and that screwed it up however the arrows and still connect and make the lights come on so I know that the mod did not mess it up. This is how I did my mod. I know this sounds like the mod where you cover the pad with the chairmat, but its not so read it first!

Materials needed: Duck Tape
Wood
A chair mat or the like
2 Soft pads

As long as your pads still work this mod should work even if they are used before hand as mine were. When I modded my pads I did not want to go out and buy the chair mat or hardwood floor covering so I used linoleum, the stuff on the floors in kitchens. I used this because we had ours recently re-covered and had leftovers that i could use, it is basically the same as a chair mat but probably a little softer, however either should work. The wood I used was some plywood that we had used to cover our windows for hurricanes however it worked fine. So all I had to buy was the duck tape and then i got to work.

Note: When i say "tape it down" i mean go around the edges with tape to hold it to the board.

1. Cut the boards out to the same size as your pads plus one inch on all sides. This is so you have room to tape around it. It also nice to put tape around the edges of the board to avoid splinters and hurting your floor.

2. Tape the top of the pad down to the the board and make sure it is stretched out not to tight but not loose. Also tape part way down the side, where the select and start button area is.

3. CAREFULLY! take a box cutter and go around and cut the threading that holds the black or green border on to the side of the pad. ONLY CUT THIS OFF OF THE BOTTOM PART OF THE PAD THE AREA WITH THE ARROWS NOT THE SELECT START AREA! Then cut the border material off from the remaining with scissors. Look at the pictures if you are confused.

4. You now should have the layers of the pad revealed, the bottom non-slip area, the saran wrap like sensor sheet, the swiss cheese foam, the second sensor sheet, and the top cover. On my pads there were staples that held these together, pick them out.

5. Tape down the bottom non-slip layer stretch it out so it is tight this will prevent it from bunching up.

6. Tape down the first sensor sheet tightly but be careful not to rip it, where the thread holes were it is vulnerable to tearing.

7. Start with the triangle button, cut out the part of the swiss cheese foam that covers the button. Tape it down over the button tightly so that it does not bunch up. Now do this for the down arrow, square, left arrow, right arrow, X, up arrow, and circle. DON'T MESS WITH THE START SELECT AREA. Also you do not need the foam in the middle its useless just make sure its over each button exactly.

8. Running from each button you should notice that there is larger black lines in the sensor sheet that run to the control box on the pad. These need to be covered or else if they touch they will register button presses on the pad so tape over all of them.

Note: This is a good point at which to test your pad just lay the top 2 layers on, and steep on each button to make sure it registers properly. Don't play on it cause the sensor sheet might get messed up just steep on it to make sure there is no bad registering. If you get buttons that are constantly registering make sure you followed step 8 and that all the lines are covered.

9. Now tape down the next sensor sheet, tightly once again.

10. This is where you use the chair mat/linoleum or whatever similar. Cut it out to cover the whole sensor sheet and tape it down on top of it duck tape should be enough to hold it down just fine.

11. Now tape down the cover of the pad and you are done.

These are some other small mods that you can do to make you pads even better.

This one I saw on the soft pad forum posted by Boogery_Boy so thanks to him for the idea. I have not tried it but it sounds good, although I don't know if it would be good on carpet, anyway this is what he said. Go to you hardware store and get some of that non slip grip material made to set under things to prevent them from sliding then tape it on to the bottom of your board, this should stop it from sliding around.

This simple mod keeps the pads together while playing double but also lets you take them apart if needed for storage. Go to the hardware store once again and ask them where the Velcro is go and find some that says industrial strength that can stick to stuff i got a pack of it that gave you 3ft. of it and it was only $10.00 they had smaller packs so get that if you prefer. Take the loop side of the Velcro and cut out 4 1.5 inch pieces, it does not have to be exact, then put the on the top and bottom of the inside corners of the plywood. Then cut out 2, 3 inch pieces of the stringy part and use this to hold the boards together. I personally did this and it works great so I know it works.

If you have any ?'s or ideas feel free to ask or tell.
_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

KickTheCan · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2003 11:35 am Post subject:

No one has any comments and ideas? 54 views with no replys seems odd. Please tell me what you think of the mods.

_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

KrakenGuy · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2002 Location: Edmonton

Its creative, but its not something I am going to be doing anytime soon, not with my Ignition pad anyways. This is kinda like that other guys modification, except yours has the lienoleum. Err however you spell it. How does it work for you?

KickTheCan · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:24 am Post subject:

The mod is not made for ignition pads looks like u did not read. However on regular soft pads it is very good and improves response greatley.
_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

KickTheCan · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2003 2:27 pm Post subject:

Im trying to keep my post alive it has not had any replies and got bumped into the secondary pages of the forums. It would be nice if an admin would sticky it so that people would be able to get to it and read and use it. Some people have been trying it cause i had a question from someone who had used it.

_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

ddrpg · Basic Member Joined: 08 Aug 2003

This seems interesting, it's the DDR version of heart surgery.. I will probably have to mod mine soon, all the doubles play (on soft pads that aren't secured with anything) will soon take its toll.

I find it more fun tryin to guess where to land everytime I hop from one pad to the other (due to all the shifting) but then again, I'm a PSYCHO!!!

KickTheCan · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2003 4:46 pm Post subject:

The mod really is not that hard take a look at the pictures if you dont believe me. At the bottom of the instructions in the last paragraph is a way to keep your pads together when playing double take a look if you want to see hope it helps.
_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

KickTheCan · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2003 4:49 pm Post subject:

The mod really is not that hard take a look at the pictures if you dont believe me. At the bottom of the instructions in the last paragraph is a way to keep your pads together when playing double take a look if you want to see hope it helps.
_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

KickTheCan · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 6:12 pm Post subject:

Has anyone used my mod so far? If so let me know how it turned out.
_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"

eryk · Trick Member Joined: 25 Jul 2003 Location: Toronto

I might try it.

You need a better layout of the site, cuz i hate clicking on links over and over.

KickTheCan · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 6:47 am Post subject:

I will work on it i just wanted to get it up an gonig to start with. I am in a web publishing class in school so i will work on it in there.
_________________

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
"I am Jack's cold sweat"
"I am Jack's raging bile duct"
"I am Jack's broken heart"
"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"