Replacing your drifting joystick! (My experience)

[Twinsouls1145]

aah congrats on fixing your joycons! mine have MAJOR drifting issues, but i ended up just buying a new controller (i considered repairing like you, but i wanted a new controller anyway, so it works out? i'll just wait until repair centers are open to fix my joycons probably ;; ). if i do decide to fix my joycons myself, i'll definitely follow this guide! tysm!
it's such a relief to have functional joycons, right? when my controller came i was amazed at how easily i could move lmao

i did the same thing as you and you know what happened? now my new controllers are drifting lol. at some point you just gotta cave and fix em in my experience.

 

[Cheallaigh]

Well usually, it actually depends on the intensity of the games you play. I was using my original red and blue pair with Splatoon 2, and in 6 months they were drifting. Then I got my Pro Controller and my yellow Joy-cons, and by using my Joy-Cons only for games that didn’t require any difficult and quick motions, they lasted a year (they would’ve lasted longer if I didn’t break them by dropping them and cracking the joystick but I got a new pair); I left Smash Bros and Splatoon up to my Pro Controller and so far *knock on wood* that too has been running well. You probably got a bad batch, which is very possible because I’ve heard similar situations, but they don’t all drift in just a few weeks lol.

And if anything, the relation of a game’s intensity to how early the Joy-Con drifts makes sense; the mechanism is bound to produce more dirt when it’s moving around rapidly compared to if it’s moving around more calmly. But I’m no scientist, sooooo...

i'm totally blaming the AC addiction combined with quarantine... lmao.

 

[Matt0106]

i'm totally blaming the AC addiction combined with quarantine... lmao.

Tbh understandable I've put 400+ in NH already and I've been playing a lot in handheld mode so I'm hoping that my delicate use won't have them drifting any time soon...

 

[Cheallaigh]

Tbh understandable I've put 400+ in NH already and I've been playing a lot in handheld mode so I'm hoping that my delicate use won't have them drifting any time soon...

yeah um... i don't sleep much, and since i'm severely asthmatic etc... i haven't gotten out much for several months(besides we had snow just over a week ago)... i was 450 2 weeks ago, not long after my replacement bright green joycons came, and i'm being more cautious, using the pro about half the time since who knows when the repair centres will open again. ironically my hubby got his switch about 3 days after we got the first one(mine), they came from two different locations, (mine from EB games, his online), but they're both the newer version so in theory they should be better than say a 2017... he's not had any issues yet, but since he still runs our auto repair garage, he has less time to play and he plays on the tv using the pro far more since he finds the screen rather small.

i did try the whole cleaning with a q-tip method, but it got so bad it no longer worked doing that.

 

[Druidsleep]

First off, I'm aware this isn't specifically animal crossing related but I thought if I post it here instead of one of the other sections I'd easily reach more people who are thinking of replacing their joysticks. I'm making this thread to share my experiences, and to help anyone who was thinking of doing this!

Someone recommended me a video in an older thread (i checked and it was @cheezu who replied with the video, thank you!) that shows how to replace your joycon's joystick with a new one. My joycon had just started drifting and i was absolutely terrified of it becoming a huge issue and so I ordered a kit online with stuff to repair it. I was being a little bit fearless since I owned a pro controller and was prepared to buy new joycons if i couldn't fix it, as well as I was almost excited to try and prove to myself I could work on a project like this. Keep in mind I'm in no way an electronic whiz and this is my first thing doing anything remotely repair-like.

Fast forward to today. The kit arrived! About an hour after i woke up i was already opening up the tutorial (LINK HERE) to try and fix my joycons, and about half an hour later I had a new joystick installed!!

What I learned?

• First, pick the right kit. You'll DEFINITELY need tweezers and screwdrivers and so either buy the right ones separately or buy a joycon-repair kit that comes with them. I didn't think I'd need the tweezers but you really, really do. I have relatively small hands and even I couldn't live without them. I got a kit that included a buunch of stuff as well as 2 joystick replacements for only £15 ($18)
• Be gentle and patient. I dropped one of the tiiiiny screws and lost it for about 5 minutes until my dad moved something and it fell out, and even then i barely noticed it. - Make sure you have a clean workspace and an area (like a bowl) to put all your screws in (you can mix them up since i believe there are only 2 types used in the joycon and they're noticeably different)
• Test everything before and after you put the last screws in. Test it in a game AND in the calibration settings. My joycon was working perfectly before i screwed the back plate in but as soon as i did it was registering input when there wasn't any, and it turns out it was because I'd put one of the screws on too tight. It gave me a heart attack if im honest, I was worried id broken something lol
• It's really not as hard as it looks! You need to be gentle and you need to carefully follow instructions but if you're careful its super easy. If you click on the youtube link further up you may see what i mean. Most of the unplugging he does is entirely optional. I didn't even unplug the battery or the middle plate and, as long as you make sure you can work around them, its super easy to do!

Let me know if any of you have had experiences repairing your drifting or broken joycons, or if anyone else here has anything to add! I'm by no means an expert, especially since this was my first time lol

Here's a lil thing that's my switch does, first both Jc drift now (three years) secondment they drift to the side aswell as up now, so it kinda top left drift or top right drift. Weird huh

 

[5cm/s]

i did the same thing as you and you know what happened? now my new controllers are drifting lol. at some point you just gotta cave and fix em in my experience.

oh man, i hope my new controller doesn't fail me haha! i bought a 3rd party one, because i've heard really good reviews about this one, so hopefully i don't run into the same problems
so sorry your new controllers are drifting- must be so frustrating :c

 

[Matt0106]

yeah um... i don't sleep much, and since i'm severely asthmatic etc... i haven't gotten out much for several months(besides we had snow just over a week ago)... i was 450 2 weeks ago, not long after my replacement bright green joycons came, and i'm being more cautious, using the pro about half the time since who knows when the repair centres will open again. ironically my hubby got his switch about 3 days after we got the first one(mine), they came from two different locations, (mine from EB games, his online), but they're both the newer version so in theory they should be better than say a 2017... he's not had any issues yet, but since he still runs our auto repair garage, he has less time to play and he plays on the tv using the pro far more since he finds the screen rather small.

i did try the whole cleaning with a q-tip method, but it got so bad it no longer worked doing that.

Yeah I tried compressed air and I swear, it did nothing lol. Kind of ridiculous how far some of us have to go to get them to work again.

 

[Twinsouls1145]

oh man, i hope my new controller doesn't fail me haha! i bought a 3rd party one, because i've heard really good reviews about this one, so hopefully i don't run into the same problems
so sorry your new controllers are drifting- must be so frustrating :c

yeah it sucks. at least my best friend is a tech god, she's been helping me get a good kit to fix it myself ^.^

 

[R. Planet]

The Q-tip and alcohol method fixed all three of mine. Nice to know that it isn't that hard to straight up replace though.

 

[moonolotl]

The Q-tip and alcohol method fixed all three of mine. Nice to know that it isn't that hard to straight up replace though.

this is why trying everything is always the first thing to consider! i see it as normally temporary, but sometimes it might just be enough

 

[Meira]

Is the drifting bound to happen to all joycons?

 

[R. Planet]

Is the drifting bound to happen to all joycons?

Yes. It's a design flaw that allows dirt and dust to accumulate under the stick. It happens to all of them eventually.

 

[Meira]

Yes. It's a design flaw that allows dirt and dust to accumulate under the stick. It happens to all of them eventually.

Oh no that's a shame because my sweaty hands tend to clog things up quite fast ^^;
(My trackball mouse, I clean every week or so D ; )

 

[Katarzyna]

Joycons have a permanent recall from nintendo for this issue. I've had mine fixed twice for free. They even pay shipping. Just if you don't want to do a diy fix haha.

 

[Dewasa]

Joycons have a permanent recall from nintendo for this issue. I've had mine fixed twice for free. They even pay shipping. Just if you don't want to do a diy fix haha.

I've always wondered about this, do they actually fix your joycons or do they replace it? One of the joycon that is drifting is the super mario red joycon and I didn't want to get a swap out to some random color or even the grey one if I was to send it in for repair.

 

[Matt0106]

I've always wondered about this, do they actually fix your joycons or do they replace it? One of the joycon that is drifting is the super mario red joycon and I didn't want to get a swap out to some random color or even the grey one if I was to send it in for repair.

I'm pretty sure they just replace the stick rather than replacing the whole thing. It's a free service because it is such a wide spread issue, so I don't think they would be willing to replace every person's Joy-Con with a new one.

 

[Loubelle]

I'm starting to consider a replacement joystick for my joy con, but idk what kit would be the best for use :/ i've been looking at the bad reviews, which i understand are a relatively small portion of all the reviews, but for ones I have seen it says that the drift is worse than before they replaced it, or that the ribbon cable isn't even the same size and length as the original one, and this seems to be a common theme for all the replacement kits, so I'm not sure what kit to do :[ If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know D; Also, I would consider buying new joycons, but I'm scared they will start drifting really quickly and I don't want to waste money on new joycons if they're gonna start drifting really fast :c

 

[dragonair]

I've always wondered about this, do they actually fix your joycons or do they replace it? One of the joycon that is drifting is the super mario red joycon and I didn't want to get a swap out to some random color or even the grey one if I was to send it in for repair.

If they don't have the color that you've sent in (like the Mario Red or SSBU Edition ones) they would be replacing it with a color they do have unfortunately, but I believe they'd reach out to you first iirc. This is only in cases where they would need to replace the Joy-Con though. They do try to get the original ones back to you, it just depends on what they find.

 

[Lisha]

I'm scared mine will start drifting because they're the ACNH ones. Kinda shocked at how badly designed these things are.

 

[MrPolarBear]

I'm scared mine will start drifting because they're the ACNH ones. Kinda shocked at how badly designed these things are.

I refuse to use my ACNH joy-cons for that reason . They are tucked away right after I get another red/blue pair from the store.