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Topic: Are Joy-Con drift repairs worth it?

Posts 1 to 20 of 34

Nintendone

So I've owned my Nintendo switch four about four months now, and both pairs of my Joy-cons had started drifting to varying degrees. Most notably (and most bothersome) both of the left ones. I play on my switch very often so this is rather frustrating and makes most games hard to play at best while near impossible at worse. I've heard that Nintendo will now repair the Joy-con drift issue for free which sounds great! But something did come to mind. How many Joy-cons are you allowed to do at the time? And, do the repairs actually solve the problem entirely or do they just replace the stick meaning the drift will inevitably happen again and I'll have to do this every so often? I don't have the kind of cash to just go out and buy two brand new Joy-cons, especially if there's the possibility of the drift just happening again. As a last resort, I may just have to do so if Nintendo ever releases a pair of Joy-cons without the issue. If someone could share their experience with the stick repairs I would appreciate it very much. Thank you

Nintendone

Benjoo

@Nintendone your switch will still be in warranty if its 4month old. Im sure nintendo will fix it free if it is and pay for p&p. here is the link to nintendos repair website

www.nintendoservicecentre.co.uk

My switch was about 18 month old when mine started drifting. I had 2 options. Send it back and get nintendo to fix it (I predicted it costing about £30-£40) or fix it myself. Like yourself I didn't want to fork out £70 for a new pair that might break again on me.

I decided to fix it myself and have had great success. I had no prior experience dismantling controllers I just used NL's repair guide for drifting. (Here's the Link https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/08/guide_how_to_fix_a_...

I tried the first few steps like updating the controller, calibrating, but only fixed the problem for 3-4 days. I knew it was probably wear and tear. So my last option was to do it myself. Bear in mind will break your warranty if you tamper with it.

On ebay/Amazon you can find all in one repair kit giving you everything you need to fix it. I enjoyed the process actually and have a fully function joy con again. Good luck and if you need any help just ask!

Edit: typos

Edited on by Benjoo

Benjoo

Illusion

@Nintendone I sent two left joycons in and they repaired both in just more than a week. 1 came with my launchday switch and the other I bought the same day as a spare set so they were pretty old. both broke down april 2018 and I held onto them hoping a free repair would be offered one day. only had to pay shipping which was like $5.

Illusion

bezerker99

I first noticed my joycons drifting about a month or so ago when I was finishing up FFVII. Strangely, they seem to be working just fine now. I'm hoping they stay this way but I won't hesitate to call Nintendo and setup a repair. Hopefully other regions besides NA will offer free, out-of-warranty repairs on drifting joycons.

SwitchForce

Nintendone wrote:

So I've owned my Nintendo switch four about four months now, and both pairs of my Joy-cons had started drifting to varying degrees. Most notably (and most bothersome) both of the left ones. I play on my switch very often so this is rather frustrating and makes most games hard to play at best while near impossible at worse. I've heard that Nintendo will now repair the Joy-con drift issue for free which sounds great! But something did come to mind. How many Joy-cons are you allowed to do at the time? And, do the repairs actually solve the problem entirely or do they just replace the stick meaning the drift will inevitably happen again and I'll have to do this every so often? I don't have the kind of cash to just go out and buy two brand new Joy-cons, especially if there's the possibility of the drift just happening again. As a last resort, I may just have to do so if Nintendo ever releases a pair of Joy-cons without the issue. If someone could share their experience with the stick repairs I would appreciate it very much. Thank you

Warranty repairs or go back to where you bought it and exchanged Joy-Cons or send Joy-Cons in to Nintendo and get new ones. Only so far for USA consumers so contact Nintendo as this is a Warranty request repair.

Edited on by SwitchForce

SwitchForce

redd214

I sent mine in at the beginning of August, they were delivered on the 5th, and were finally just processed yesterday after multiple calls. Says it's going to be another 9 to 11 business days until they ship back out. If you're going to send them anytime soon be prepared to perhaps have to wait a month for them tk come back!

redd214

ALinkttPresent

After both my Joy-Con broke, I got a replacement pair. The new left one broke after only 3 weeks. I'm planning on sending them all in for repairs.
Any Nintendo product you purchase, Nintendo will fix for free for the first year if it breaks.

ALinkttPresent

R_Champ

Just sent mine in a few days ago. I'm in the USA, so I don't know what other regions are offering, but it was pretty easy and didn't have to pay shipping or anything (just go to the Nintendo support website and fill out a ticket). Now it's just a waiting game. Not in too much of a hurry because I play with the pro controller 90% of the time. Plus, I'm planning to get the Daemon X joy cons in October so I won't even use the original joy cons much after that...just want them working whenever I want to bust out 1-2 Switch. Hopefully the Daemon X controllers don't drift

While I was researching the issue it was pretty funny reading comment sections on some of these articles. There are 3 types of people in the same order every time.

1) Angry fan mad about their joy cons and referencing the lawsuit
2) Loyal fan happy they are doing the repairs
3) Hardcore Sony fan who obviously doesn't even own a Switch commenting on every thread about how Nintendo is corrupt and Sony is amazing.

Pretty funny actually.

Nintendo & Steam ID: R_Champ

nintykid

Any feedback from you guys who were waiting to get your joy con back from Nintendo? Has it started drifting again or is it behaving? I'm afraid that I'll send it in, won't have my controller for a month or so and then will get it back fixed only temporarily until it starts drifting again... I'm even thinking of getting a third party controller that doesn't have this issue. Pretty embarrassing for Nintendo, but dunno what else to expect...

nintykid

aresius

i used a electric contact spray to clean the joy con , and it's work perfectly for 3 month i had not drift at all(before it was horrible it was running my dark soul run(making me die a lot just because of it), just one week ago i notice something different like the movement in game was much slow like the joystick was causing some resistance, i think probably new dirty graphite was accumulating again in the circuit board, i used the spray again and they start to work fine for the second time, i will probably continue with this method until the completely break and i will buy new ones or the new Nintendo console will be release it and i will just do the jump strait a way

Edited on by aresius

aresius

chardir

@nintykid I sent mine for repair. It does take a few weeks so if you don't have another controller it would be quite frustrating. As I see it, the only way Nintendo will acknowledge it's a widespread problem is if they have to repair a lot of joy cons. You get a 12 month warranty on the repair so there's no worry they will drift again as you can just get it repaired again.

Friend Code: SW-1014-2011-3950 (Switch name: Dii)
Mario Maker 2 Maker ID: LMR-JBK-RWG

Krull

@nintykid I sent a left joy-con in for repair last summer, just inside the one-year warranty. Took about a week, and it seemed OK when I got it back. It started drifting again within six months. Maybe less. However, it drifts less than my other left joy-con, which hasn’t been repaired, for what it’s worth.

Switch ID: 5948-6652-1589
3DS ID: 2492-5142-7789

nintykid

@Krull
Well, even if it’s not a definitive solution, it’s still cheaper than getting a new pair... Guess that’s what I’m gonna do until we get a new model of joy cons without these issues.

nintykid

C-Chakra

I have two sets of joy cons and they all drift big time. Been that way for about a year and half now and I've just become used to it by this stage. Curious about the repairs but i'd say it would likely be more trouble than it's worth for me, being in Australia. Anyone from Aus gone through the process? If so how long did it take and how much did it cost?

Switch Friend Code: SW-8045-4533-8325

nintykid

@C-Chakra can’t say much about Australia, but I live in Brazil and Nintendo is offering free repairs through a third party. So I’m sure it should be simple in Australia!

nintykid

Zeldafan79

I would say probably not. I had two sets of Joycons that i was almost certain were a lost cause as the drift was getting really bad. I just recently decided to try contact cleaner on both of them and almost like magic they are working fine with no drift at all. Seriously try that first before doing anything rash. You just slightly lift up the little thin plastic piece around the stick and give it a squirt. You might need tweezers to lift it. Trust me this works!

Edited on by Zeldafan79

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" Optimus Prime

nintykid

@Zeldafan79
Did you dry it with a qtip later? I’m afraid of keeping the area under the plastic wet

nintykid

Ryu_Niiyama

For me not so much. I had a set that I sent in before the lawsuit and they started drifting again about 2 weeks later. So I'll just repair my current drifting set myself.

Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
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I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.

3DS Friend Code: 3737-9849-8413 | Nintendo Network ID: RyuNiiyama

Zeldafan79

@nintykid
The contact cleaner dries pretty fast. Just don't completely drench the stick and maybe let the controller sit for a while before trying to use it again. Just a single spray then work it in there by moving the stick in a circle a few times.

This method worked for me. Unless your joy cons have bigger problems than simple dust. it should do the trick.

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" Optimus Prime

SwitchForce

As long as they are offering to fix or replace your Joy-Con then replace it. You probably have to pay to ship it to them but that is far better then buying a new Joy-Con. So you have choices DIY or send to fix or replacement.

SwitchForce

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