Topic: SL SR Joy Con Rail Problem / Fix

Hi folks,

I had a Right Joy Con issue that I didn't see reported elsewhere... and I kind of hashed together a decent enough fix, so I'm sharing it here for those who might not know what's up!

I know Joy Cons have myriad problems, so here's a lesser known one for ya.

My launch Switch Right Joy Con rail stopped working recently, as in, the buttons and light failed to come on or register at all. It's actually not a huge issue, when connected everything is fine, and when vertical all is OK too, but when you want to play local multi (as I usually do) and 2 Joy Cons are required horizontally, you need to press SL SR to register that, so you're stuffed. (Yes I know horizontal has it's own issues as well!)

Anyway, using some 10€ Nintendo Screwdrivers, I opened the thing up, and found that the ribbon cable is simply folded too tightly, it's flat, and the fold has eventually meant that the connection is severed... stupid design actually, and presumably the problem will surface elsewhere a lot, as mine have been really carefully looked after and still, it's done.

It is fiddly as anything, but I made a makeshift splint for the cable, and using fine strong tape, put solid but thin plastic tabs over the fold in the cable, and made a softer fold myself, by hand, gently pressing in a new fold just above.

The cable is wont to pop out, so you may need to lock the connection back in with tweezers, and the end result will make the Joy Con fatter by about 2mm, as there's NO spare space for that plastic I put in, even though it looks like there might be. Anyway, once all the tiny screws were back in, I had a fully functioning Joy Con and SL SR rail once again! You can easily press a button as you fix it, to see when the light comes on and the cable is responsive once more...

Fiddly, and perhaps not a long term solution, but perhaps interesting for some of you anyway!

Take it easy

Nice! Thanks for sharing! This is good as another option for folks.

Did you try to update the joy-con before disassembling it? That might be a DIY but unless that is the last options shouldn't be the first option.

@SwitchForce Yeah, tried everything... due to the bad folding design, the physical cable connection was broken, so no updates would do it. The "input test" was handy though, you could clearly see that SL and SR had no response. I took some pictures of the steps actually, might try to put them up somewhere...