Sensei to Xai Mod
Here is a little bit about how this came about. I have been using the Steelseries Xai for over 2 years now. I liked the shape, feel and weight of the mouse a lot and had got rather accustomed to it. About 2 years in, which I consider very good for a mouse , the cable started to become unreliable and began to disconnect infrequently. As a replacement I was bought the Xai's Successor; a Sensei for my birthday. It boasted an improved sensor with no negative acceleration as found on the Xai.
I played for several weeks to get used to the Sensei before deciding it wasn’t for me. I loved the mouse technically but the slippery top just didn't cut it. So I got in contact with the lovely guys at Steelseries who happily sent me an old defunct Xai to play around with as my xai case was rather worn out at this point.
This was my Solution its very simple, it just takes the Sensei guts and giblets and places them within the much more comfortable and grippy Xai casing.
Here is what you need.
- Screwdriver
- knife
- Corepad Skatez Replacement Mouse feet
- A Xai Case/ Old Xai mouse
- A fully functional Sensei
Rubber Gloves2 Pieces of hose cut in 14†sectionsA washing up Liquid bottleSome googly eyes
Step 1:
To access the base of the Xai you will first need to take off the Mouse feet. Be careful not to Damage or scratch the base of the Xai as we are using the Whole Xai case for the mod.
Tip: You will get more glue off by Lifting the corner of the pad with a knife and then slowly peeling it off with your fingers.
It should now look like this:
Step 2:
Take a screwdriver and undo the 4 screws
Now turn the mouse back over as if you are playing with it. The bottom should simply fall out. If it doesn't give it a light tap!
The Xai has one wire connecting the top to the bottom, sisconnect this.
The Sensei has 3 wires connecting the top to the bottom, disconnect these.
The Xai:
The Sensei:
Picture of the Sensei Wiring for reference:
Step 3:
Take the Top Section of the Xai/ Sensei and flip over. Basically unscrew everything! (If you are just transferring the Sensei Innards into a Xai you do not need to do this. Just remove the board in the top of the mouse and the Sensitivity switchers clear plastic for the light so you can replace it with the Sensei's Switcher plastic which is clouded slightly and gives a better effect with the sensei colour LED )
Xai:
there are also three screws underneath the Board (you do not need to remove these if you are following my mod)
Sensei:
One screw for the Logo LED. (the mouse functions fully with this unplugged, and my mod removes it)
Step 4: Full Dismantle (skip to part "" to continue with the mod)
Remove the side buttons, there are tiny clips on the xai and the Sensei side buttons just slide out easily.
Xai:
Step 5: Removing the LED Plastic:
Pull the clip back and poke from underneath with your screwdriver to avoid snapping it.
Step 6:
After unscrewing all the Screws! (Identical for both mice)
Lift the back of the mouse away from the bottom section, Don't pull hard or you will snap mouse 1 and 2 clean off, you will see why in the next step.
Step 7: Pinch the clips holding the front of the mouse down like so:
That is the Full mouse dismantle. The chipboard on the base of the mouse has 2 screws in it and another 2 screws for the LCD screen, after this is undone it simply pops out.
Edited by Sketch, 15 May 2012 - 10:05 pm.
