Hardware Where can I find an original 10-LED sensor bar?

[jeremy1988]

Nintendo apparently changed the design of the sensor bar at some point, and as a result I can't seem to use the Wiimotes well on my HDTV.

It worked great when I had the old design with 10 LEDs from my oldest Wii, but ever since I got stuck with the new 6 LED design that came with my new Wii and Wii U, the remote seems to jump all over the place no matter what settings I use for it. It might be partly because I'm playing from 7 feet away, but that was never a problem before. I now have to stand right in front of the TV to get it working.

I've looked online, but I'm frustrated because all the after-market designs seem to have followed the same 6-LED trend and have inferior performance. I can't even track down an original bar easily because they're all listed as being the same product as the new one, even though they're technically not.

Even on websites that talk about making your own, a lot of people distressingly choose to settle for 2 or 4 LED designs. I don't understand why everyone is okay with skimping on sensor bar LEDs... am I the only one that actually plays the thing from further than 5 feet away?

At this point, I'm becoming worried that I'll have to actually buy 10 of those IR LEDs and wire it up myself in order to make it work the way I want.

Is there anything else I can do?

 

[migles]

i think the one i have here is the 10 led model, at least when i use my phone i can see 5 lights in each side

model is RVL-014

did you tried to use the model number in your search?

can someone check a 6 LED model number?

 

[Reecey]

They came with the original Wii's they where light grey, quite cheap nasty looking but not black. Actually like he says the Wii one does seem to work better with the Wii remotes then the new designs for some reason.

 

[jeremy1988]

I don't think they changed the model number when they came out with the new one. I think it still says RVL-014.

But in any case, I did get it to work better. For some reason, I had to remove the black lens cover things to expose the LEDs, which solved a lot of the jumping around... and then moved it to the top of the TV, which solved the rest of the jitters.

I guess I got it to work after all. But it's definitely not as user-friendly to a widescreen setup as the old one. Kind of reminds me of how a while back, the new Gamecube models lacked a Digital Out, so I had to get one on eBay to use the cables I already had. Otherwise, my HDTV would look crappy. The support for the best stuff always to get removed or depreciated... rather than enhanced. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[Razor83]

Would changing the Wii Remote sensitivity level in the Wii settings help?

 

[Tom]

You can make your own rather easily with just two leds and some card board.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Would changing the Wii Remote sensitivity level in the Wii settings help?

I was going to suggest this! lol

Also he might look into the aftermarket wireless ones? Not sure if they are better or worse.

 

[migles]

or just use 2 candles and get rid of sensor bar!