Topic: Will my 3DS break if I don't use it much?

Hi friends,

I own a 3DS from 2017 that I have not been using much lately since I had my Switch. I have been reading around and I haven't found an ultimum answer to my question.

Will the battery on my 3DS go bad if I leave it shutdown and not use it for a long time?

@tariqyasiin Well, it might Die ya, You just got to charge it every now and then, but leaving it like that for like 2 years will probably kill it.

@Snatcher Well not the 3DS exactly, but the battery will die. Still cheaper to replace the battery than buy a brand new 3DS, and will probably last longer than a used 3DS.

Edit: D'oh I need to stop just paying attention to the thread title and focus on the messages themselves. 😹

@TowaHerschel7 I think so, I'm about 97% So if you charge it every now and then it should be just fine.

Just remove the battery if it's going into storage or charge it twice a year. I checked my Game Boy Advance SP after 8 years and somehow it had plenty of juice! You won't see that with a modern device.

@Kayvoo i have also done this. I had a couple of gba sp and they still power on and I forgot the last time I charged them

@1UP_MARIO
I'm not sure what's happened to battery durability but it used to be much better. Perhaps modern consoles keeping time when turned off uses a tiny bit of energy..

@tariqyasiin What you're really talking about is the lifespan of lithium ion batteries. 3DS uses ithium ion batteries, just like your cell phone, tablets, laptops, or ipods back in the day. All you can do is your best to prolong their life. Not using them for months or years, their capacity degrades. You can charget them to 100%, but it won't last as long as it did when it was new

Nintendo is aware some Switch controllers may sit for long periods without being used. So, to try an prolong their life, they recommend charging them once ever three months (I think that's what it is?). The same logic applies to 3ds battery. Charging it every six months is better than charging it once a year, and the battery will be worse off if its only charged once in two years, etc..

If you can get a nintendo branded battery, they battery capacity & life will likely be batter than off-brand batteries. Also notice, the battery says "Li-ion" for lithium-ion. I don't know if nintendo has an online store like this in your region. Pasting the links, so you can see replacement batteries exist.
3ds/2ds https://store.nintendo.com/battery-pack-nintendo-3ds-nintendo...
3ds xl https://store.nintendo.com/battery-pack-new-nintendo-3ds-xl-n...

@Kayvoo Back in the day, I think nickel-cadmium batteries didn't degrade as much if they weren't used, but they still had limitations. Lithium ion batteries took over the market because of the advantages they had over nickel-cadmium (I think the abbreviation was Ni-Cad). The every day use of cell phone/smart phones is better suited for lithium ion.

I'm not going to pretend I know everything about batteries, but that's my basic understanding.

Better turn my 3DS i guess. Been some time. But all chargeable batteries tend to degrade over time that's a given. Even tried my old PSP charged it's been like 5 years since i turned it on works fine Put full sound on it to test for how long 2h still going.

@WoomyNNYes
Thanks bud, I thought it may have either been due to an industry wide adoption of new tech or planned obsolesence.

I've done some reading on this recently, though more specifically regarding phone use/charging. While there are ways to prolong lithium ion battery life, it will still inevitably degrade. Just charging your 3DS unit up every 6 months or so should be fine. And if it's going into storage for awhile, remove the battery and only partially charge it (50-60%, which I know is hard to gauge with the 3DS since the battery indicator doesn't give an exact percentage).

I have N3DSXL since 2015 September and don't play with it for extra ordinary long periods, but it still works fine almost as good as the moment I bought it, so.

Doesn't matter unless you keep it in a dungeon with mold and stuff. It will work fine as it used to work.

Tested with few phones and even nintendo wii controlers batteries (not the best idea) but it still works fine after a long long time.

Oh PSP died after 5h20min something with full sound turned on. After 5 years i guess it's good (made me revisit MG:Acid1-2 again )

I think it will be fine. I have 4 different 3DS's, and even if I haven't used them for a year or two they have always worked whenever I have recharged them and turned them on.

I've had my 3ds turned off and put away for years back when it was broken.
When I fixed it it works perfectly now battery included. And yes I checked the battery, it isn't warped in any way and it still looks brand new.
So this issue should be the least of your worries. I had no idea this was a concern/issue to begin with.

Probably. Unless, you mean dropping it on the floor a lot. It will. Buy a Nintendo 3DS armor protection case depending on what type of 3DS game system you owned. If you not gonna played your 3DS, then turn it off, and take it off shutdown.

🙄 Now you guys tell me this stuff, as I've got my first 3DS from 2011.

To my understanding, the 3DS system won't break but some games will if you don't play them for too many years.

Nintendo used a type of memory in 3DS cartridges which needs to be accessed in order to refresh the charge in it. If you don't play the game for too many years the data rots and the game cartridge becomes a fancy looking piece of plastic. A Google search will explain this better than I can.

The 3DS uses a lithium battery and like all other lithium batteries it will lose capacity over time. Eventually you'll reach the stage where you can only play with the charger plugged in. To minimise this effect you should keep it stored between 60-80% charged and if you live in a humid environment keep it in an airtight container with a moisture absorber.