Hey, NL people. This is a troubleshooting post, that exists purely for documentation purposes, for people that might stumble upon this with the same issue that I have.
I have a 2017 OG Nintendo Switch model. I've been playing it consistently ever since. But last week, the battery started doing a weird behavior all of a sudden. Not what a normal 7-years-worn-out battery would do.
When undocked, the battery drains from 100% to 0 in about 12 minutes, even on low brightness and only showing the main menu, with no game opened. When charging, the battery will slowly charge to 5-7% and straight go to 100% in 10 minutes. Weird, even for a used up battery. It makes the switch unusable undocked.
I tried the official Nintendo article about wrong % displayed (can be found here: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Support/Nintendo-Switch/Troubl...
They say to repeat this procedure 6 times, but after 2, I see no improvement. I will update here if it changes anything on further attempts.
Meanwhile, because I strongly doubt this fill and drain method will refresh the battery's memory, I ordered a new battery and see if it changes something. I'm in Canada, so I purchased this one: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B088P1TFNS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_a...
I will also update about the swapping process and if it solves the issue. I read that there is a specific process to follow with a brand new battery, if I found a solid guide for that, will share it too.
Godspeed.
Update #1: While reading more on the subject, I found the process to calibrate a brand-new battery: "Charge it to 100%, and keep charging it for at least two more hours.
Use your device until it shuts off due to low battery.
Charge it uninterrupted to 100%."
This was an Ifixit.com article: https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Battery_Calibration
I also found out that the back cover of the Nintendo Switch act as a heat spreader for the cooling systems. It means that every time you open the Switch's cover, thermal paste (for heat transfer between the copper cooling pipe and the back cover) need to be replaced. And this type of material combination requires a more viscous paste than the standard PC CPU one. It was suggested to use the K5 Pro paste: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0851NLK48/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_a...
Update 2:
I received the battery and the thermal paste.
I have done the swap following the iFixIt guide (that do not mention how freaking strong that double-sided tape under the battery is). I had to slowly break the bond with a credit card for over 30 minutes. But I got the battery out.
The swap was easy.
Removed the old thermal paste with Isopropyl Alcohol 70%.
Applied the new one, around 1 mm thick, spread the paste myself. This thick type of paste is not suitable to be spread ONLY by pression when putting the heat spreader/shield back in place.
I put the switch back together and followed the battery calibration process. Everything works now.
Really a strange behavior for a dead battery. Never seen that in my life and I feared it could be more serious than that.
Luckily, it did the trick. Voilà.
Update 3, Final:
Everything is good now. Battery calibration is a real thing, don't skip on that. After my first full charge of the new battery, it was draining pretty fast, a bit concerning even. Went down to 1% after 1h45. Then stayed on 1% for 3h30. When it shutdown, I waited 30 minutes like the Nintendo post says about this and plugged it in for the night. This morning, the battery is draining at a very normal rate now.
In the end: weird worn out battery behavior. Never seen that in all my IT career. But still, I'm glad it was ONLY the battery and not another more complicated system of the whole motherboard.
I need my Switch OG in top shape if Metroid Prime 4 becomes available on the Switch 1 first. I need to be prepared for every scenario for this game.
Update #1: While reading more on the subject, I found the process to calibrate a brand-new battery: "Charge it to 100%, and keep charging it for at least two more hours.
Use your device until it shuts off due to low battery.
Charge it uninterrupted to 100%."
This was an Ifixit.com article: https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Battery_Calibration
I also found out that the back cover of the Nintendo Switch act as a heat spreader for the cooling systems. It means that every time you open the Switch's cover, thermal paste (for heat transfer between the copper cooling pipe and the back cover) need to be replaced. And this type of material combination requires a more viscous paste than the standard PC CPU one. It was suggested to use the K5 Pro paste: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0851NLK48/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_a...
doomgc --> "The right thing... what is it? I wonder, if you do the right thing, does it really make everyone happy?"
Child on the Moon - Majora's Mask
@WoomyNNYes Thanks for the emotional support lol. I will document the progress. The switch still work ok when docked, obviously. But for now, can't "switch it up", like a certain Sabrina Carpenter would say.
doomgc --> "The right thing... what is it? I wonder, if you do the right thing, does it really make everyone happy?"
Child on the Moon - Majora's Mask
Update 2:
I received the battery and the thermal paste.
I have done the swap following the iFixIt guide (that do not mention how freaking strong that double-sided tape under the battery is). I had to slowly break the bond with a credit card for over 30 minutes. But I got the battery out.
The swap was easy.
Removed the old thermal paste with Isopropyl Alcohol 70%.
Applied the new one, around 1 mm thick, spread the paste myself. This thick type of paste is not suitable to be spread ONLY by pression when putting the heat spreader/shield back in place.
I put the switch back together and followed the battery calibration process. Everything works now.
Really a strange behavior for a dead battery. Never seen that in my life and I feared it could be more serious than that.
Luckily, it did the trick. Voilà.
Update 3, Final: Everything is good now. Battery calibration is a real thing, don't skip on that. After my first full charge of the new battery, it was draining pretty fast, a bit concerning even. Went down to 1% after 1h45. Then stayed on 1% for 3h30. When it shutdown, I waited 30 minutes like the Nintendo post says about this and plugged it in for the night. This morning, the battery is draining at a very normal rate now.
In the end: weird worn out battery behavior. Never seen that in all my IT career. But still, I'm glad it was ONLY the battery and not another more complicated system of the whole motherboard.
I need my Switch OG in top shape if Metroid Prime 4 becomes available on the Switch 1 first. I need to be prepared for every scenario for this game.
doomgc out.
doomgc --> "The right thing... what is it? I wonder, if you do the right thing, does it really make everyone happy?"
Child on the Moon - Majora's Mask
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Topic: Battery issue on Nintendo Switch 2017 (part HAC-001)
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