Topic: Charging the Switch without the official adapter?

Hello,

I tried to charge my Switch today with my S9's USB-C charger, when I plugged it in nothing was happening, I actually thought the Switch was dead and almost had a heart attack because in my head I was 100% sure it would work, that and I hadn't used my Switch since summer 2017, after panicking for a little, i placed it to the dock and it started charging

So what's going on here? does the Switch reject any adapter that isn't an official one? Because I heard rumors here and there that non-official adapters can fry your Switch or something

I don't really have a problem with using the official adapter, but when I travel it would be nice to only have one adapter for both my phone and the Switch

@myronas16 Was your Switch battery dead at the time? Sometimes when the battery has completely run out you won't see a charge indicator when it first starts recharging.

Try it again when your battery is at 50% and see.

I use other chargers.

@myronas16 Good morning,

The problem with adapters frying the Nintendo Switch is mostly related to third party docks, this is because the Nintendo Switch uses a non-standard code/USB language when it's in console mode. When the Switch is on handheld mode your S9 adapter should be absolutely fine, I've charged my Switch from a battery pack using my S9 adaptor a few times and it's been fine.

There are a couple of reasons why it may have seemed dead, one of which was simply the length of time since you'd last used it - electrical hardware can be funny, especially batteries... when you put it in the dock it made the Switch draw power faster & kicked it back into life. Secondly, it could have been a glitch & it's timing was a bit scary! Mine has glitched out & not started the first couple of times with nothing to do with charging. :/

Hope this post helps a little!

@gcunit Haha, that's the benefit smaller posts... helps get you in there before people with the same idea.

Thanks everyone, the Switch charges just fine now, after charging it for a while on the dock, it charged just fine on my Samsung power supply, time to play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and see what it's like (haven't played video games for alot more than a year, hence why the Switch was on standby for so long)

Thank you again!

I would also recommend using a more expensive usb c wire. Or use one from Nintendo accessories like the pro controller. I find that these work much better

My USB-C cable is fine, it came with my Galaxy S9 which is a pretty expensive device so the cable must be good enough to do it's job correctly, thanks anyway!

Well I mean don't buy cheap chargers in general

Anytime a battery reaches below levels for charging it might take longer to reach that charge level to show up on the display.

You are in for a treat with Xenoblade.

With Nintendo staying with their charger is the smart route to go here. You can buy but make sure the USBC cable and adapter can output the matching voltage and amps otherwise you are asking for problems.

I use my iPad charger and Pro Controller cable. Seems to have been working fine for more than a year.

Probably because it has more or equal to the power requirements output to work. But I bought custom wall charge and auto charger that matches the Switch requirements and so far it worked fine as well. But I did so some homework to find the specs of them as well and they weren't cheap to say.

I bought a 30,000mAH for about $45 (U.S.) and never had an issue as yet, and it wasn't a 3rd party Switch accessory, it was just a simple, portable Li-ion battery pack, it wasn't even USB-C, it is USB-B (mini-USB), I went and bought a teeny adapter for $2 at a pharmacy, so it was REALLY not meant for the Switch, so it's not some embedded hardware/firmware issue

Used my S9+ charger over the weekend and it worked pretty well. Charged up to full overnight.

@jhewitt3476 @SwitchForce The issue with charging is pretty much known now. When in docked mode the Switch uses a non-standard USB-C specification when drawing power & it's this that's frying the Switch. If you only use third party charging solutions when in handheld you should be safe. Though i would still advise using good quality cables.

The main thing is, do not use third party docks - even if you plug the world's most expensive cable into a third party dock, the Switch could fry itself trying to draw power in Nintendo's odd propriety way.

I thought my Switch is broken when I tried to charge it with newest OnePlus charger and I only get X indicator next to batterylife. So how come it won't charge, even with the fastest charger available?

@myronas16 I've used some phone chargers with the Switch that don't work or work slower. Not all chargers are created equally. Also depends, was the charger the kind where you can disconnect the wall adapter and have it be USB instead? Sometimes the wall adapter is the problem. I have a couple old USB to wall adapters that don't work.