iFixit - Active Questions With Device "Nintendo Switch"

Nintendo Switch: How do I remove a stripped screw from the Joy con rail?

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:42:56 -0700

Idk how to get it out

⟐ Answered juli 12, 2026 at 23:42 MST

Nintendo Switch: Missing SMD component near Joy-Con rail FPC connector

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 22:09:16 -0700

Hi everyone,

I recently successfully replaced the M92T36 IC on a Nintendo Switch motherboard using a hot air station. The console now boots up and charges normally. However, I am now facing an issue with the Right Joy-Con.

When I slide the right Joy-Con into the rail, the console does not detect it as attached (it stays on wireless mode). I opened up the console again to inspect the area and noticed that the ribbon cable and the FPC connector look perfectly fine.

However, upon closer inspection of the small SMD component cluster right next to the FPC connectors, I noticed that one SMD component at the very bottom of the row is completely missing (likely blown away or knocked off accidentally during my hot air rework of the M92T36).

I have attached a micro photo of my board showing the missing component's empty pads, alongside some reference screenshots from the iFixit teardown guide for comparison.

My questions are:

1. Is this missing component a resistor (in-series) or a filter/bypass capacitor (to GND)?

2. What is the exact value/specification of this missing component (looks like a 0402 package)?

3. If it is a resistor on a data/detection line, can I safely bridge the pads with solder or a jumper wire to restore the detection functionality?

I have a multimeter, soldering iron, and hot air station ready to fix this. Any guidance or schematic insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Nintendo Switch: Switch is days charging but still shows low battery after battery swap

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:56:17 -0700

So, a while back I bought a cheap broken v1 Nintendo Switch hoping to fix it myself. The seller said that the issue was that it was put away for a long time and when they picked it up to play it didn't turned on, for me it looked like a tell tale sign of a dead battery

I finally bought a replacement battery and swapped it, at the start it just showed the Nintendo logo and went black but I left it to charge overnight and when I checked it, it showed the low battery icon which I thought it was a good sign. It is as of now 4 days straight charging (more than 100hs) and it is going back and forth between showing nothing unless I try the hold the power button for 20 secs hard reset and showing the low battery icon

When I opened it I saw it has part of a mod chip soldered to the board, I didn't knew about that and the seller didn't tell me either. I was worried it might have some board issue, but I don't fully know. I gets warm so I think it is charging, but still no sign of life

I mostly would like to know if there is some quirk about swapping batteries that I might be doing wrong, I heard that the charging time of a fully drained battery was long, but is it this long? Or if there might be a board issue and it's an unfixable Switch

Sorry for the long text, but I thought context might be needed and it's my first time messing with a Switch (also, English isn't my first language)

⟐ Answered juni 30, 2026 at 23:56 MST

Nintendo Switch: Volume up button still not working after repairs

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 02:06:52 -0700

I've replaced the power button board two different times and every time, the power and volume down buttons would work but the volume up button still isn't working. I think it's some kind of software malfunction or something like that but I also tried factory resetting my switch and that didn't work. This person (Power button not working after replacing power button board) asked a similar question 3 years ago and never got an answer so I think this problem is a lost cause.

⟐ Answered juni 30, 2026 at 2:06 MST

Nintendo Switch: Volume up Button not working

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 02:05:45 -0700

I'm trying to repair a Nintendo Switch where the volume up (+) button is not responding. Volume down (-) and Power are working fine.

I allready replaced the flex cable.

Same behaviour. Vol + not working, Vol - and Power are working.

Any idea, what could cause this problem?

⟐ Commented juni 30, 2026 at 2:05 MST

Nintendo Switch: Stripped middle screw on Nintendo Switch shield plate - No extractors or power tools

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 01:27:53 -0700

I am following the Nintendo Switch Battery Replacement guide and have encountered a stripped screw on the shield plate (specifically the middle screw). I do not have a screw extractor set and I am not comfortable using a rotary/cutting tool on the device. I have already tried the rubber band method and using different sizes of screwdrivers without success. Does the community have any non-destructive "household" tips for removing a small, stubborn stripped JIS screw in this specific location?

⟐ Answered juni 14, 2026 at 1:27 MST

Nintendo Switch: right joy con randomly disconnects

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 11:10:37 -0700

when playing in handheld mode the right joy con disconnects at random even though its still attached to the switch I will be playing then it just randomly disconnects then I have to take it off the switch then reconnect it to the console

⟐ Answer accepted juni 13, 2026 at 11:10 MST

Nintendo Switch: Is my battery swelling? Please help :(

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 04:09:55 -0700

The crack in the shell near the battery is slightly bigger than the crack near the audiojack. Do you guys think the battery might have started swelling? I have been using my switch since 2018 and I have never repaired it. There were periods of time when it would lay in its case for months due to no free time, but since January I have been playing it a lot (Persona 5 Royal is very fun). I can fit the corner of my nail and move around the dirt inside (sorry for the nasty description ). Any help would be greatly appreciated

⟐ Answer accepted juni 02, 2026 at 4:09 MST

Nintendo Switch: Switch Dock Charging But Not Displaying on TV

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:26:51 -0700

So, I've had a bad habit of leaving a game running on my TV and walking away from it. This hasn't caused any problems in the past until yesterday when I left the switch running animal crossing and stepped away to do some chores which took longer than expected. I came back a few hours later and found that when I went to turn on the switch again, the TV just showed a black screen.

The switch seems to be okay and it still charges when I attach it to the dock. I've tried just about every version of turning it on and off/unplugging and plugging back in, and the screen still seems to be black.

I don't have the resources to pay for nintendo to fix it and would like to do the repair myself.

Any idea how to fix this?

⟐ Answered juni 01, 2026 at 9:26 MST

Nintendo Switch: Weird signal issue on right joycons

Sun, 31 May 2026 08:56:52 -0700

I have a weird issue with my switch 1 v2. Right joycons have very low range, I have tried multiple joycons. Left joycons work even at 7-8 meters but right joycons start acting up after 2 meters or so. It doesn't disconnect, but the inputs are delayed and sometimes a button press appears on screen after 2 seconds.

Wifi connection also has no issues.

What I have tried.

factory reset / update, switch, dock and controllers.
Removed all paired controllers, and added just these.
Tried different joycon sets (about 3 all are original).
Tried a temporary antenna cable for bluetooth (the white one near the gc reader).

Hope someone here can give me an insight.

Im leaning towards motherboard issue, (maybe the wireless chip?!!) but what stumps me why just the right joycon.

⟐ Commented mei 31, 2026 at 8:56 MST

Nintendo Switch: Crashes when not plugged in, works fine when charging or on dock.

Mon, 18 May 2026 22:26:54 -0700

my brother switched out the batteries for both my switch and his switch light, his dosent have this issue but mine will crash when playing a game or show the low battery signal when it says its at 100%, but only when its not plugged in or on the dock. when not plugged in, it crashes in at least 30 seconds and has been doing this for about a year, (from what I remember) with on and off playing I havent noticed it because I mainly play it docked, but I got tomodachi life and need to use the touch screen for a lot of things. I can still play it plugged in but I would just like my switch to not be broken <3 no ammount of Reddit or internet searching has given me an answer or even another case of this problem so Im not sure what to do :( anything helps, thank you <3

⟐ Commented mei 18, 2026 at 22:26 MST

Nintendo Switch: Getting the 2162-0002 error message when microSD card is inserted

Fri, 15 May 2026 01:25:46 -0700

If a microSD card is inserted I get the error message 2162-0002. With the microSD card slot empty everything works normally. I tried to switch the microSD card module, without success. The module works in a different switch and a working module give the same error when connected. This is a picture of the connector as I was not able to identify any faults myself (unless this spec in the middle on the left hand side has any meaning?).

Edit:

Was able to clean it with a toothbrush. Still getting the same error

⟐ Commented mei 15, 2026 at 1:25 MST

Nintendo Switch: Which sensor rail do I need

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:13:03 -0700

I need a new LEFT sensor rail for my switch mod# HAC-001(-01) starting letters of my serial# XKW I can use the standard or do I need OLED?

⟐ Answered april 24, 2026 at 0:13 MST

Nintendo Switch: Can anyone help me identify where this pad lead to?

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:30:38 -0700

I tried (& obviously failed) to swap the display flex ZIF socket in the original first-gen Nintendo switch and tore a solder pad off. I’m pretty confident that I can fly a wire out from that remaining bit of solder pad, but I need to check whether I did the job properly. Can anyone tell me where this particular pad(10th from the left not counting the large one) lead to so I can check it with a multimeter or smth?

Thanks in advance!

Nintendo Switch: No output to TV on Nintendo dock. But ok on third party dock.

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:12:00 -0700

My Nintendo switch (non OLED) all of the sudden stopped showing on my TV. It charges on the dock and the Switch screen goes black when docked. The dock little light also goes green.

Tried numerous things:

Checked HDMI.

Plugged power source directly to the wall.

Followed the correct way to connect the dock.

Tried different TVs.

Finally decided to buy another dock and got a third party option from AliExpress. It works fine. However I was not happy with it because the USB-C connection is a lot tighter compared to the Nintendo dock. So I decided to buy the Nintendo dock that comes with the OLED version (has a LAN port).

To my surprise it has the same issue as my original Nintendo Dock... No output 🫠.

Has anyone had a similar issue?

⟐ Answered april 16, 2026 at 0:12 MST

Nintendo Switch: My iFixit battery for my Switch is draining quickly - why?

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:30:59 -0700

I have a Nintendo Switch, from about 2020. This is the model with the detachable joycons so I can put it in the cradle and see it on TV. I just replaced the battery last night with the new one I bought from iFixit. After completing that, I turned it on to be sure everything was working, then off. I was in my shop, so I left it off - I thought I had powered it down, but I guess not. 3 hours later I took it up to the house to plug it in and give it that first full charge. It showed 1% charge at that point!

I've charged it for over 6 hours and the next morning I left it in sleep mode, but pulled out the charge cord. Just sitting there, not used, in sleep mode, it's going through about 8-10% of the charge per hour! After about 4 hours, it's down to 62%!

Again, it is just sitting there, asleep, but not plugged in and it's draining that quickly.

Is this normal? I read that I needed to charge it up, then play and use it until the battery was low, then charge it again. I thought i had powered it down - guess not, so that's why it was in sleep mode after I put the new battery in, but today, after a full charge, and just sitting in sleep mode for ±4 hours, for it to be at only 60% does not seem right for a new battery.

⟐ Commented april 15, 2026 at 22:30 MST

Nintendo Switch: Loose LCD connector ribbon?

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:08:11 -0700

I had been using it normally, until these very fine vertical black lines appeared all over the screen. The colors of the pixels would then start to 'bleed' out, forming these bright horizontal bands. I've hopped between a few forums, and apparently a few others have had similar issues. Commenters said that it was a potentially loose LCD connector ribbon cable, so:

I'd like to know if this is the case for my device, and if so, how exactly should I fix it. Would disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbons suffice?
If it isn't just a mere loose cable, could it possibly be an issue with the LCD itself? If so, would it be better for me to take it to a repair shop?

⟐ Commented april 14, 2026 at 2:08 MST

Nintendo Switch: Lines on screen with "clear circle" in middle after LCD replacement

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:03:18 -0700

I am experiencing persistent display issues on my Nintendo Switch. There are lines running through the screen, and interestingly, there is a circular area in the middle that seems less affected by the lines.

I have already replaced both the LCD and the digitizer, but the problem persists. The symptoms are slightly different with the new screen: the lines appear whenever a new page or image loads, but if I leave the console on a static screen for a few minutes, the lines mostly fade away. As soon as the image changes, they return immediately.

I have checked and reseated the LCD ribbon cable multiple times. Is this likely a faulty replacement part, or could this be a motherboard/GPU issue (like a failing display IC or capacitor)? Any advice on what to check next would be greatly appreciated.

⟐ Answered april 14, 2026 at 2:03 MST

Nintendo Switch: Will the switch boot without an LCD

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:01:34 -0700

I bought a Switch v2 that has no LCD installed whatsoever, i checked for shorts or damage and found none. Then charged the console up to 4V and tried powering it up.

I expected some sound effect while it booted, but nothing ever happened. The speakers "hum" slightly for 10 seconds after i press the power button and then stop.

I do not have a docking station or any sort of usb c adapter to try plugging HDMI through.

So my question is if a switch can even be powered up fully with no LCD connected? AI chatbots claim it should power up normally.

⟐ Answer accepted april 14, 2026 at 2:01 MST

Nintendo Switch: Discoloration, horizontal, and vertical lines on switch lite.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 22:24:00 -0700

Was watching youtube and they suddenly showed up. What could the issue be? I see some people say ribbon cable, and i wanna try reseating it but can’t find videos about it.

⟐ Answered april 08, 2026 at 22:24 MST