Someone Thinks They've Resolved Nintendo's Joy-Con Drift Problem With An Incredibly Simple Fix

[0078265317]

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/07/someone_thinks_theyve_resolved_nintendos_joy-con_drift_problem_with_an_incredibly_simple_fix

[ClassicGMR]

Considering all of the systems in my house are well past warranty I will be doing this to my wife's Switch and any others in the future. I replaced my first set with a new set from Walmart - so far no problems - and her Switch Lite hasn't developed the drift yet thankfully.

 

If it continues to be a problem even after the cardboard implant then I will go back to looking at replacing the joycon directly. This, for now, is a much cheaper and immediate solution.

[digdugnate]

1 hour ago, ClassicGMR said:

Considering all of the systems in my house are well past warranty I will be doing this to my wife's Switch and any others in the future. I replaced my first set with a new set from Walmart - so far no problems - and her Switch Lite hasn't developed the drift yet thankfully.

 

If it continues to be a problem even after the cardboard implant then I will go back to looking at replacing the joycon directly. This, for now, is a much cheaper and immediate solution.

I've read that the Lite joycons/buttons seem to hold up better than regular joycons, though I'm not sure that there's much difference between them and the regular ones.

 

I've sent many many sets of mine and Mrs. Digdug's over the last few years- the turnaround was like two weeks beginning to end.

[Asaki]

I don't know why they don't just fix this in software...I'm pretty sure that just adjusting the deadzone a little bit would fix this 100%.

[Rick Dangerous]

Well after having my switch since launch day (5 years now?) i'm finally getting some of the dreaded joy-con drift.  

 

I'm debating fix it myself or send into nintendo.   What would you guys do now in 2021? 

 

The repair kits are like $20 on amazon, but TBH the Joy-cons look like a pain to take apart with a bunch of small ribbon cables etc.  

 

Weighing options, thanks for anyones 2 cents. 

[Downland1983]

24 minutes ago, Rick Dangerous said:

Well after having my switch since launch day (5 years now?) i'm finally getting some of the dreaded joy-con drift.  

 

I'm debating fix it myself or send into nintendo.   What would you guys do now in 2021? 

 

The repair kits are like $20 on amazon, but TBH the Joy-cons look like a pain to take apart with a bunch of small ribbon cables etc.  

 

Weighing options, thanks for anyones 2 cents. 

I've gotten drift on a couple of my older joycons.  I've always just sprayed Deoxit into the thumsticks, no disassembly required.  It usually eliminates the drift for several months at a time until dust/dead skin reaccumulates inside it and needs a fresh spray out.

[Rick Dangerous]

48 minutes ago, Downland1983 said:

I've gotten drift on a couple of my older joycons.  I've always just sprayed Deoxit into the thumsticks, no disassembly required.  It usually eliminates the drift for several months at a time until dust/dead skin reaccumulates inside it and needs a fresh spray out.

So the "Compressed Air" method mentioned here:

 

How to fix Joy-Con drift on the Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite | iMore

[Tanooki]

Yeah compressed air isn't going to cut it, not sure why that article says that, because what's there is WD-40 Electrical Contact Cleaner that gets blown out with a blast of air to do it.  That'll eat up, clean off, and flush away any gunk that creates the problem.  The article is quite fair about it too, no blame game, it's a handheld and stuff builds up.  The design works, but given that rubber flap is all that is there to stop funk, funk can creep in after time so a little light maintenance will do it.

 

Doing the actual work of opening them is easy, to a point.  THe issue isn't the screws, it's the exceedingly fragile plastic snaps in the slot the very teeny/thin ribbons drop into.  Getting them in kind of sucks, and the little ultra thin pivoting snap to lock it in place, if that pops out or cracks at all, you're screwed.  I had a joycon after 4years have that plastic crack/fail, somehow, so it was just done and replaced my set earlier this year over it.  I have never had the drift issue and mostly using it as a handheld I guess I just am more picky about funk, or got lucky, both.  It's not like I take it out of this room its in much anyway.

[digdugnate]

18 hours ago, Rick Dangerous said:

Well after having my switch since launch day (5 years now?) i'm finally getting some of the dreaded joy-con drift.  

 

I'm debating fix it myself or send into nintendo.   What would you guys do now in 2021? 

 

The repair kits are like $20 on amazon, but TBH the Joy-cons look like a pain to take apart with a bunch of small ribbon cables etc.  

 

Weighing options, thanks for anyones 2 cents. 

If you're in the US, have a spare set of joycons, and don't mind waiting two weeks, send them in to Nintendo.  No muss, no fuss, it's free.

 

That being said, if they're 'special' joycons, I'd think twice because Nintendo will send you a default color pair if they can't fix them.  (It's in the fine print when you setup the repair).  Mrs DD's Animal Crossing joycons are drifting and she doesn't want to send them off because she wants to make sure she has them still.  I'll likely end up repairing those myself.

[roots.genoa]

I also got the Switch on launch day and began having (slight) drift issues some time ago (August maybe?). I used compressed air and it fixed it for a while, even though it (kinda) happened again recently, but not for long (I just had to touch the stick to make it stop). I bought the Zelda Joy-cons in case I needed to change them, but haven't yet.

I probably said it a million time elsewhere, but I got a pro controller early on (because I had the other drifting problem, the one that only affected the left Joy-con of the first models and was caused by WiFi interference) and favor the d-pad as mush as I can, so I guess that's why I haven't got the problem until recently.

[NE146]

Is Nintendo not just fixing them anymore?  I've had 2 set of joycons go bad with drift over time.. I just ended up sending both of them to Nintendo (not at the same time) and they sent them back working no problem.  Last time I did this was a year ago on Nov. 2020.

 

https://joyconrepair.nintendo.com/

Edited November 18, 2021 by NE146

[Rick Dangerous]

Oooo yeah will send them to Nintendo for sure since i have a second set.  I updated and recalibrated them and that seemed to help; but why not take advantage of a new/refurb set while Nintendo is offering because i'm sure they won't forever. 

 

I do have 2x pro controllers; but i play my switch as a portable probably 98%+ of the time i use it.   

[Tanooki]

I've got about a year ago spare set of red/blue I kept when I just passed on my old Switch to someone else.  Thankfully they didn't want the joycons, they do repairs and have many others.  I intend to likely just not use the white ones on the OLED model since they foolishly don't sell them alone and mess with those.