Recently bought a used Switch 1 as people were getting rid of them to buy the new one, but I found out that mine came with an insane amount of drifting.
Opening it up was a pain in the ass and pretty scary, but I managed to fix it by putting a card over the metal plate on the left (to apply pressure under the joystick as many people online instructed)… And it worked!
It used to drift all the way to the left whenever I let go of the analog stick, but now it snaps firmly back to the center. Just wanted to put out a PSA that if your Joycon is drifting, it’s very fixable. All you need is the right screwdriver and being very careful when lifting up each piece.
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You should have gone with Hall effect replacements since that’s a permanent fix. Not knocking on your effort, it’s a delicate work and you’ve got some practice in for the time you’ll have to go back to do that :)
Yeah I’m aware of the hall effect replacements which are pretty cheap, but this fix was essentially free and should last me at least a few months until the sticks degrade. Once it really stops working I’ll look into opening it again and fixing it for real.
They have the added bonus of the joystick caps being able to just pop off and replace, which is great because the original sticks can just spontaneously fucking melt.
I’m still mad.
Oof, how did that happen? Left it out under the sun?
I genuinely have no idea. I’ve read online that it could be because of
- Skin oils
- Lotion
- Alcohol
- Other detergent
Skin oils seems ridiculous because I’m not oilier than your average person, and it’s literally meant to be used with your fingers so if it can’t handle skin oil from your fingers without breaking the fuck down that’s a massive design flaw.
I basically just left it in its case for ~9 months or so, closed in the TV bench. There’s no way UV reached it and broke down the plastic.
The fact that a ~€20 pack of 2 replacement switches are mechanically better, and also designed to have the caps be removable so you can replace them is criminal, given that the controllers themselves cost like €80 by default. I’m definitely not buying the Switch 2.
This looks like a case of rubber reversion (also why old rubberised stuff on phones and such gets super sticky). What sort of temperatures were there in the TV bench? If it got hot from other equipment inside or external heat, that could significantly accelerate the damage. Either that or during the production process the rubber wasn’t produced properly (chemical stabilisers not working properly, so on) which is entirely likely considering the disaster that is the Joy Con 1.
I believe it’s an original switch. Bought it quite long ago. The temps shouldn’t get very high on account of it not being in the sun and also there being no other equipment there.
They probably screwed up the rubber making then. For some reason, early Joy Con 1s in particular have even more defects than most of them, possibly due to sloppy and rushed production. It’s a shame this happened though, because you should reasonably expect this to not happen on a product you buy for hundreds.
My previous mouse pad’s rubber had been breaking down due to the oils and sweat and my palm pressure.
These things tend to do that.I have added this one additional consideration on frequently touched devices that I own.
Got a mouse, bought the plastic finish version instead of the rubber finish one. Got headphones, considering (-ing because that was the thing that made me start considering and I didn’t consider it before) ear-pad replacement options. Got a torch with a rubber-like cover: well that’s an outdoor thing made for light rain, so hoping it is rugged enough.
Damn, that sucks. What case is that?
Official Nintendo case for the Switch, I believe.
I think that TMR is now the preferred tech. It is more of a direct replacement than hall effect, resulting in less potential latency and maintaining the advantages of magnetic, contactless sticks.
I would probably find this out when Hall effect sticks died but they simply refuse to. Good to know though, thanks.
Are there hall effects joysticks you can buy to replace them? Do you have any exaples of parts that you would recommend?
I used GuliKit NS40 which is available on Amazon and other places. Get a kit with tools if you don’t have tri-wing screwdriver yet. I was replacing joysticks every couple of months until I got those but haven’t had to since then.
Excellent! I changed mine already with similar replacents and haven’t had problems since, thankfully.
But if it happens again though, I’ll know what to look for. Thank you!
I installed one of those and had to RMA it within a couple weeks. Not saying don’t “upgrade” but apparently there’s no silver bullets here.
RMA due to drift? That’s rather unheard of, I’d be more inclined to suspect that you got a fake.
Not drift. Replacement just stopped working. Double checked connections and even put back in the old joystick (in case a cable was damaged).
I did exactly that with gulikit hall effect parts 2 years ago. It’s surprisingly easy and indeed fixes drift issues once and for all.
I tried this but eventually it got drifty again. I then swapped the joysticks for the Gulikit hall effect sticks and resolved the issue permanently.
Also, I think the design of the joycon is good. It was much easier to repair than the gen1 quest controller. When I attempted to do the same shim fix I broke some ribbon cable clip rendering it unusable.
Nice job, nice to see people being able to fix their stuff 🌞
Bloody tiny ribbon cables…
My sister would hammer the shit out of the sticks - not abuse but just near constant usage. Needed to get a spare con for each side to hot swap for when the inevitable happened. I can do stick swaps pretty quick these days, all done in the palm of the hand.
She’s just had the Switch 2 delivered so I’m just waiting for the call now 😬
Bloody tiny ribbon cables…
Yeah… They’re sturdier than they look but it’s still scary that pulling on one of them could completely ruin the joycon. My bigger problem was the battery connector, I intended to remove the battery completely but after trying to disconnect it twice, I gave up and just moved it aside. I was too worried I’d break it.
I do the same thing :) The less I need to unplug and upset, the better.
You can switch them out for hall effect some would say that would be Nintendos job but eh. Good job I hope it lasts
I don’t know. Spraying wd40 in (yes really) seems much easier and also easily redone when needed.
Also purchasing an 8bitdo ultimate.
