Topic: Wii U Pro controller won't charge

I had a Wii U Pro controller for about 7 months before it stopped working. It was lightly used in that time span so I figured it was just time for the battery to get a full charge. Plugged in into the console using the provided charger cord and nothing. No "charge" light, nothing. Next I thought maybe the battery was no good, so I ordered a replacement battery, original Nintendo one, same battery model # as the original. Again, nothing when I go to charge it, it does not light up as charging. Any thoughts?

Did you ever charge it with an USB charger on a power socket? A power spike might have fried its insides. Either that, or it's faulty.

No, I have only plugged into the Wii U console itself.

If the controller sits too long without charging, it will die completely. That happened to me. I bought a replacement on eBay for $20 or $25 bucks. I now just leave it plugged into my PS3 (which gets used daily because I use it for Netflix, I don't play anything on it though) so I know the controller will always be charged lol. But yeah, same thing happened to me.

Try putting in some water that might fix it

Or you could put it in a microwave that always charges my iphone

@isaiahhoyt Well we know what the root of your problem(s) are.

@rachelhale And the Wii U is ON while charging the battery?

@jariw Yes, the Wii U console is on while attempting to charge.

[quote=DefHalan]If the controller sits too long without charging, it will die completely. That happened to me. I bought a replacement on eBay for $20 or $25 bucks. I now just leave it plugged into my PS3 (which gets used daily because I use it for Netflix, I don't play anything on it though) so I know the controller will always be charged lol. But yeah, same thing happened to me.[/quote

Really? I hardly use my tablet controller. Should i rather get the battet out?

I've never heard of batteries dying by not being used. Sure, they will lose their charge, but as long as they're not deep discharged - this happens if they are exposed to cold temperatures - you should always be able to recharge them.

But the problem you're having sounds more like another issue that I had. I once bought a second, cheap Pro Controller which barely was able to charge up. Eventually I sold it as defective. The buyer opened it up and found out that it wasn't an original, despite it looking exactly like my other Pro Controller from the outside. So maybe you've gotten one of those fake originals, too?

@shani I know that wasn't the case for me. My first Pro Controller I bought new from a store, and that one died. The second one I bought from eBay and didn't fully trust the price but that Pro Controller has been amazing lol

@DefHalan Wow, didn't know that was possible. Not only did that never happen to me, it also contradicts what I once learned about batteries. Guess I was wrong. Makes me wonder about the quality of Nintendo's built-in batteries though. ^^

@shani I mean, I did have the first Pro Controller not charging for about a year. The second Pro Controller is most likely offical Nintendo too. It looks offical Nintendo and everything, just got it for half price lol

My pro controller left analog stick has gone bad. It basically just registers up and down and not left and right.

Any do it your self fixes for such an issue or do I just have to replace it?

I know this is an old discussion, but I just had the same problem too because I wanted to beat Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U before doing it on the Switch, so I tried to power on my Wii U pro controller and of course it wouldn’t turn on. Turns out that you need a special kind of usb ac adapter that I think charges more than a standard one, plus it’s licensed by Nintendo. Here’s a link to it: https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-USB-AC-Adapter-Switch/dp/B07J...
As soon as I used that, my controller started charging and I even ran some experiments with some different chargers to come up with this conclusion: you do need a special usb ac adapter, but the charger that connects the adapter to the controller doesn’t matter (I’m pretty sure). Anyways, if anybody actually reads this I hope that it helped.

Same, i buyed a Pro Controller from eBay. For like 10 days it charged, but noew doesn't! First he was charging, but now doesn't. I checked the voltage of the battery was in and it was with 2.49 Volts. I tried with an original battery, and the Wii U says the icon of "charging" but the controller doesn't. I think this is an original controller. I have a fake one and look like there's a lot of difference and i think it's original from the Bluetooth, it say "Nintendo RVL-CNT-01-UC" and with my PC it connected with WiinUsoft

Bootleg Wii U Pro Controllers were commonplace (Presumably the counterfeiters initiated it before the realization that the Wii U was commercially going to be a failure). So I suspect several of the problem controllers in this thread were like the one that Ethanmraz sold. Especially if it was purchased used or online from something like a 3rd party seller on Amazon, such controllers are suspect.

Without even opening it up, there's some good visual indicators on at least some bootleg Pro Controllers. A generic black charging cable instead of one with the typical Wii gray color is the most obvious evidence of a fake. Other telltales that people have posted about in the past are "device" being misspelled on the battery door, the code embossed into the plastic controller casing directly below the battery door being absent, and a generic silver screw securing the battery door instead of a black screw.

And just like GBA cartridge labels, the sticker on the battery door of the Pro Controller often isn't machine applied on bootleg products such as these. If it's crooked or off center a bit, that means it was applied by hand and that you have a counterfeit Pro Controller instead of a genuine Nintendo accessory.