3DS problem!

[Baroque]

So, I bought one of those new Pokemon Sun & Moon N3DS because I thought they looked cool, transferred everything from my old 3DS and, for about a day, everything worked great... until I noticed something.

When I move the Control Pad down, it gets stuck eeeeeever so slightly.

This causes, for example, my AC character to walk very slightly downward or, for many other games, the selection will scroll down its options without me doing anything. It's a minor annoyance... but I really don't deal well with those, especially when I play so much AC. Here's a short list of things I already tried:

-Recalibrating the control pad (Done about a dozen times in various ways. Does nothing)
-Pulling it a little
-Applying pressure a little
-Trying to clean under it with a toothbrush
-Wear it out through random flailing

Nothing worked. I'm at the end of my wit, here, and I really don't want to send it to Nintendo for repair since they take FOREVER to fix stuff and I'd absolutely miss the Pokemon Sun & Moon release, which would not be pleasant.

Can anyone help? I'm rather desperate, here.

 

[mayortash]

I haven't had this issue but a quick google search has come up with someone using a TEENY amount of WD40 on a q-tip and very carefully rubbing it on the bit of the circle pad to make it more lubricated.

 

[Baroque]

I read about that yesterday too. WD40 is some sort of lubricant, right? I have no idea where I could find that sort of stuff XD

May as well give it a shot, though. Thanks ^_^

 

[Burumun]

I read about that yesterday too. WD40 is some sort of lubricant, right? I have no idea where I could find that sort of stuff XD

May as well give it a shot, though. Thanks ^_^

The Home Depot page for it is one of the first links that comes up when you google it, so I would check the nearest hardware store. Or just go with Amazon, if you can't find it near you and are willing to wait for them to deliver it.

Good luck fixing it!

 

[Baroque]

Turns out my father had some in his basement, so I snatched it I'm letting the WD dry right now, see if that helps ^_^

 

[Baroque]

Well, the lubricant didn't help much at all... any other ideas? XD

 

[Tobiume]

): Maybe you could contact Nintendo not to send it in for repair but see if they offer any troubleshooting tips for the problem you are having?

 

[Katie1313]

Control pad or control stick? I had that problem a lot with my control stick on my old 3DS XL. It resulted in me trampling flowers in New Leaf, and jumping into voids in Triforce Heroes. Sadly, it ended with my rubber coming off, and a broken stick that doesn't always want to move. Eventually I just got a new 3DS. Do you have a warranty? I think you automatically get one for a year. If I were you, I'd transfer my stuff back to the other 3DS, and try to get that one repaired or replaced in the meantime.

 

[Salananstra]

Control pad or control stick? I had that problem a lot with my control stick on my old 3DS XL. It resulted in me trampling flowers in New Leaf, and jumping into voids in Triforce Heroes. Sadly, it ended with my rubber coming off, and a broken stick that doesn't always want to move. Eventually I just got a new 3DS. Do you have a warranty? I think you automatically get one for a year. If I were you, I'd transfer my stuff back to the other 3DS, and try to get that one repaired or replaced in the meantime.

I agree with this, you ought to take advantage of the very limited warrenty. That sounds like a minor, yet extrememly inconvenient fault in your 3DS. I sure hope you get it resolved!

 

[mayortash]

What was the result after the WD40? Hope it worked!

 

[lolita.x]

if ur gonna use the wd40, please be careful bc its VERY strong stuff and too much will definitely f up ur control pad even more

 

[Baroque]

Welp, unfortunately, the WD40 didn't work... the problem is still there Thankfully, I hadn't parted ways with my older 3DS yet so I can still use it to play AC and, eventually, Pokemon Sun & Moon. Since it was new, the warranty was, like, super fresh, so I'll just ship it back to Nintendo so they can (hopefully) fix it.

Nonetheless, I'd like to thank everyone who tried to help ^___^

 

[Mars Adept]

Using that stuff on it probably destroyed the warranty, but I wish you luck in getting your 3DS fixed.

 

[Baroque]

Ehh, I'll pay for a replacement if I have to, but how could they detect the WD40? Chemical analysis? XD

 

[the mayor]

If they were serious they could dismantle the DS and see something got into the controls.

But I doubt they'll go that far. They'll probably just send a new one.

 

[Baroque]

Well, the girl on the phone didn't seem so sure of that, since it's a Pokemon Sun & Moon edition 'n all

 

[Baroque]

Well, for anyone who might be wondering, my N3DS came back from the Nintendo repair center with a letter basically saying 'Well, we couldn't find anything wrong with your console, so we sent it back' which would really disappoint me if that's all they did...

...Except it's fixed. The control pad no longer sticks down with each minor pull, it's basically brand-new. My theory is that, when they opened it up to look inside, they didn't see anything wrong, bolted it back up but did it more tightly, fixing the control pad issue. Thanks again to everyone who suggested things to fix the problem anyway =D

 

[Le-Vane]

Huh, that's weird. Glad to hear it's fixed though!