am I experiencing joycon drift?

[ranch]

hey guys, I know joycon drift has kind of been in the spotlight lately thanks to that class action lawsuit about it, but I'd never experienced it personally...until maybe this morning? I'm still not 100% sure that's what's going on though, so I'd really appreciate some input before I go out and buy a whole new joycon.

what's happening:
- something about my movement in-game feels...off, somehow. like there's some kind of resistance that wasn't there before
- when I'm just walking (not running), and especially when I'm walking in a downwards direction, my speed sometimes changes, slowing down when I haven't changed the amount of pressure or angle of the control stick
- once or twice, I continued walking upwards for a few steps after I'd taken my thumb off the control stick
- similarly, on one occasion I was glancing upwards to look for DIY balloons (it's sakura season for me), and the camera angled itself back down again on its own

what I've tried:
- cleaning any external dust off of the control stick area with a dry paintbrush
- going into the controller settings and attempting to recalibrate the control stick - notably, the button was indeed displaying a "+" even when not in motion, and there was a certain...twitchiness? to the movements as they appeared on the calibration screen? the little dot kept doing subtle little hops upwards

it sure sounds like how I've heard joycon drift described...what do you think? can I salvage this or should I just cut my losses and get a new left joycon?

 

[saucySheep]

hey guys, I know joycon drift has kind of been in the spotlight lately thanks to that class action lawsuit about it, but I'd never experienced it personally...until maybe this morning? I'm still not 100% sure that's what's going on though, so I'd really appreciate some input before I go out and buy a whole new joycon.

what's happening:
- something about my movement in-game feels...off, somehow. like there's some kind of resistance that wasn't there before
- when I'm just walking (not running), and especially when I'm walking in a downwards direction, my speed sometimes changes, slowing down when I haven't changed the amount of pressure or angle of the control stick
- once or twice, I continued walking upwards for a few steps after I'd taken my thumb off the control stick
- similarly, on one occasion I was glancing upwards to look for DIY balloons (it's sakura season for me), and the camera angled itself back down again on its own

what I've tried:
- cleaning any external dust off of the control stick area with a dry paintbrush
- going into the controller settings and attempting to recalibrate the control stick - notably, the button was indeed displaying a "+" even when not in motion, and there was a certain...twitchiness? to the movements as they appeared on the calibration screen? the little dot kept doing subtle little hops upwards

it sure sounds like how I've heard joycon drift described...what do you think? can I salvage this or should I just cut my losses and get a new left joycon?

I've experienced BADDD joycon drift before on my Right joy-con, so... yeah... I know what joycon drift is, lol. Unfortunately I believe you do indeed have a case of the cursed joycon drift - but it's not bad. Honestly some people would probably still play with joycons like that because it's not very super noticeable and it doesn't affect the game all too much. BUT. It will - most likely - slowly get worse, that's what happened in my case and my friend's case. Joycon drift is caused by an internal issue with the metal used to create the joycons on the actual inside of the controller, so.... you're going to have to buy a new set of joycons.

Of course, it may NOT get worse, in which case you could just use those. But I recommend getting new ones because it will become increasingly annoying... and hey, you can get some fun colors <3 (I chose the neon yellow and blue)

Hope this helps aye aye

 

[ranch]

oooh, it seems to be as I feared, then...
thanks for the input!! I think at this stage I might keep playing for a while and see how much it irritates me...worst comes to worst, at least payday is coming up on tuesday! XD

 

[Peach_Jam]

yeahh that sounds like joycon drift ;;u;; it only gets worse and worse which sucks honestly. mine is at a point now where doing even simple things is driving me crazy. I cannot make my rep stand still for the life of me

 

[saucySheep]

...yeah.
Well, glad we got to the source of the cause lol. Sucks that getting new joycons costs 70 f r e ak i ng b u ck s but aye, if it's ruining the enjoyment of the game, it's best to get new ones

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

Have you tried using a cotton swab and alcohol and cleaning underneath the joystick? Sometimes the dust/grease build up can cause it. I frequently clean off the dust and grease so it doesn't build up underneath and go inside. It's a preventative though so if it's already drifting, I'm not sure it can solve it. But perhaps it can prevent it from getting worse?

 

[Peach_Jam]

Have you tried using a cotton swab and alcohol and cleaning underneath the joystick? Sometimes the dust/grease build up can cause it. I frequently clean off the dust and grease so it doesn't build up underneath and go inside. It's a preventative though so if it's already drifting, I'm not sure it can solve it. But perhaps it can prevent it from getting worse?

honestly this is a good method to try, and it worked at first for me. the drift was basically non existent afterwards. but for some reason, the drift slowly came back and when I tried using this method a second time it just..didn't help

 

[ranch]

Well, glad we got to the source of the cause lol. Sucks that getting new joycons costs 70 f r e ak i ng b u ck s but aye, if it's ruining the enjoyment of the game, it's best to get new ones

$90 NZD for one joycon and $150 NZD for the set, woof
like I'll pay it if I gotta but if there's an easier way then yes please lol

Have you tried using a cotton swab and alcohol and cleaning underneath the joystick? Sometimes the dust/grease build up can cause it. I frequently clean off the dust and grease so it doesn't build up underneath and go inside. It's a preventative though so if it's already drifting, I'm not sure it can solve it. But perhaps it can prevent it from getting worse?

hmmm...I'm heading out in a bit to run my weekend errands, so maybe it'd be a good idea to pick up some alcohol and try this! thanks for the tip!

 

[saucySheep]

$90 NZD for one joycon and $150 NZD for the set, woof
like I'll pay it if I gotta but if there's an easier way then yes please lol

oh. i got mine at wallyworld for 70 bucks

 

[ranch]

looked it up and I think wallyworld is a north american thing? sadly my retail options in new zealand are somewhat limited and overseas shipping is often the cost of the item over again lol. it's no biggie though, NZ currency just isn't worth much compared to USD!

 

[saucySheep]

looked it up and I think wallyworld is a north american thing? sadly my retail options in new zealand are somewhat limited and overseas shipping is often the cost of the item over again lol. it's no biggie though, NZ currency just isn't worth much compared to USD!

oh yes, i'm in usa - and sorry to be unclear lol. wally world is walmart, i just ... call it wallyworld lol

 

[Bugs]

Sounds like the start of joycon drift, mine are completely unusable now and it started out when I was playing mario odyssey, he would continue a few steps very slightly after I stopped moving and it all went downhill from there. Like I said, completely useless now.

I use a wired controller instead cause joycons are expensive, sucks that I can't really play it in handheld mode any more :/

 

[Matt0106]

The jittery walking speed was something my left Neon-Yellow Joy-Con was suffering from. Made it a pain to play, so I had to switch to my other pair. Now, I've somehow gotten very lucky, and the issue for the most part just disappeared. I was about to return them, but for now I'll hold on.

You have a couple of options though! One is to send them into Nintendo; they'll replace them for free, but I've heard people who got back completely different colours rather than the one they sent. Second option is to buy a new controller, whether it be Joy-Cons, Pro Controller, or a third-party controller. Don't buy third-party Joy-Cons unless it's been verified by Nintendo, like Hori. The last option (I think) is to repair them yourself. I'm not the biggest wiz in repairs, and I was able to repair my original pair in about 30 minutes; it's pretty simple with an online tutorial. With that said, doing this voids the warranty, and if you screw up and break a cable, you're stuck with a broken Joy-Con. So if you don't have much confidence, don't try it.

Sorry to hear about your Joy-Cons though Really sucks how it's been three years and Nintendo refuses to just fix the issue.

 

[Hilbunny]

Made a post about this earlier this week! It’s a huge issue. Nintendo is actually facing a few law suits over it.

If your switch is in warranty they are repairing them for free if you go to their website. I just submitting my help ticket, super easy.

 

[Khaelis]

If your joycon is getting a pink mini turbo boost, I think it might be experiencing a bit of joycon drift.

sorry not sorry

I'd probably get a repair ticket sent in, you're definitely getting some bad drift.

 

[tajikey]

Curiosity: Is it possible to buy something from the US Amazon or Wal-Mart site and have it shipped overseas?

 

[Sgt.Groove]

It is possible to do that but it's expensive as all heck :<

 

[sleepydreepy]

hey guys, I know joycon drift has kind of been in the spotlight lately thanks to that class action lawsuit about it, but I'd never experienced it personally...until maybe this morning? I'm still not 100% sure that's what's going on though, so I'd really appreciate some input before I go out and buy a whole new joycon.

what's happening:
- something about my movement in-game feels...off, somehow. like there's some kind of resistance that wasn't there before
- when I'm just walking (not running), and especially when I'm walking in a downwards direction, my speed sometimes changes, slowing down when I haven't changed the amount of pressure or angle of the control stick
- once or twice, I continued walking upwards for a few steps after I'd taken my thumb off the control stick
- similarly, on one occasion I was glancing upwards to look for DIY balloons (it's sakura season for me), and the camera angled itself back down again on its own

what I've tried:
- cleaning any external dust off of the control stick area with a dry paintbrush
- going into the controller settings and attempting to recalibrate the control stick - notably, the button was indeed displaying a "+" even when not in motion, and there was a certain...twitchiness? to the movements as they appeared on the calibration screen? the little dot kept doing subtle little hops upwards

it sure sounds like how I've heard joycon drift described...what do you think? can I salvage this or should I just cut my losses and get a new left joycon?

If you do determine you have joy con drift, if you live in the US or Canada you can send your joy cons in to Nintendo to to repair for free!!! I can tell you more info if needed, I did this with my joy cons this summer and it was great! (warranty doesn't matter, and my switch was purchased December 2018)

 

[Wookaru]

That sounds exactly like what I started experiencing too. I've had my Switch for a few years and figured it wouldn't happen to me. I notice my character moves ever so slightly forward after my thumb leaves the joystick every once in awhile. It happens when I'm positioning myself to clear a cliff block in construction mode too. Guess it's just the weakest link in Nintendo's hardware. I've tried all the cleaning methods suggested as well to no avail so when it gets super bad I'll try sending it in.

Sorry to hear it is happening to you though! Never fun to go through being how expensive these peripherals are. Especially in NZ. Good grief that's a lot of moolah for a pair of controllers.

 

[Livia]

That sounds exactly like what I started experiencing too. I've had my Switch for a few years and figured it wouldn't happen to me. I notice my character moves ever so slightly forward after my thumb leaves the joystick every once in awhile. It happens when I'm positioning myself to clear a cliff block in construction mode too. Guess it's just the weakest link in Nintendo's hardware. I've tried all the cleaning methods suggested as well to no avail so when it gets super bad I'll try sending it in.

Sorry to hear it is happening to you though! Never fun to go through being how expensive these peripherals are. Especially in NZ. Good grief that's a lot of moolah for a pair of controllers.

that happens sometimes to me too. I didn’t know it was joycon drift. Now I’m worried about it getting worse.