iFixit - Active Questions With Device "Nintendo Switch"

Nintendo Switch: Which sensor rail do I need

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:13:03 -0700

I need a new LEFT sensor rail for my switch mod# HAC-001(-01) starting letters of my serial# XKW I can use the standard or do I need OLED?

⟐ Answered 4월 24, 2026 at 0:13 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Can anyone help me identify where this pad lead to?

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:30:38 -0700

I tried (& obviously failed) to swap the display flex ZIF socket in the original first-gen Nintendo switch and tore a solder pad off. I’m pretty confident that I can fly a wire out from that remaining bit of solder pad, but I need to check whether I did the job properly. Can anyone tell me where this particular pad(10th from the left not counting the large one) lead to so I can check it with a multimeter or smth?

Thanks in advance!

Nintendo Switch: No output to TV on Nintendo dock. But ok on third party dock.

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:12:00 -0700

My Nintendo switch (non OLED) all of the sudden stopped showing on my TV. It charges on the dock and the Switch screen goes black when docked. The dock little light also goes green.

Tried numerous things:

Checked HDMI.

Plugged power source directly to the wall.

Followed the correct way to connect the dock.

Tried different TVs.

Finally decided to buy another dock and got a third party option from AliExpress. It works fine. However I was not happy with it because the USB-C connection is a lot tighter compared to the Nintendo dock. So I decided to buy the Nintendo dock that comes with the OLED version (has a LAN port).

To my surprise it has the same issue as my original Nintendo Dock... No output 🫠.

Has anyone had a similar issue?

⟐ Answered 4월 16, 2026 at 0:12 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: My iFixit battery for my Switch is draining quickly - why?

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:30:59 -0700

I have a Nintendo Switch, from about 2020. This is the model with the detachable joycons so I can put it in the cradle and see it on TV. I just replaced the battery last night with the new one I bought from iFixit. After completing that, I turned it on to be sure everything was working, then off. I was in my shop, so I left it off - I thought I had powered it down, but I guess not. 3 hours later I took it up to the house to plug it in and give it that first full charge. It showed 1% charge at that point!

I've charged it for over 6 hours and the next morning I left it in sleep mode, but pulled out the charge cord. Just sitting there, not used, in sleep mode, it's going through about 8-10% of the charge per hour! After about 4 hours, it's down to 62%!

Again, it is just sitting there, asleep, but not plugged in and it's draining that quickly.

Is this normal? I read that I needed to charge it up, then play and use it until the battery was low, then charge it again. I thought i had powered it down - guess not, so that's why it was in sleep mode after I put the new battery in, but today, after a full charge, and just sitting in sleep mode for ±4 hours, for it to be at only 60% does not seem right for a new battery.

⟐ Commented 4월 15, 2026 at 22:30 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Loose LCD connector ribbon?

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:08:11 -0700

I had been using it normally, until these very fine vertical black lines appeared all over the screen. The colors of the pixels would then start to 'bleed' out, forming these bright horizontal bands. I've hopped between a few forums, and apparently a few others have had similar issues. Commenters said that it was a potentially loose LCD connector ribbon cable, so:

I'd like to know if this is the case for my device, and if so, how exactly should I fix it. Would disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbons suffice?
If it isn't just a mere loose cable, could it possibly be an issue with the LCD itself? If so, would it be better for me to take it to a repair shop?

⟐ Commented 4월 14, 2026 at 2:08 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Lines on screen with "clear circle" in middle after LCD replacement

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:03:18 -0700

I am experiencing persistent display issues on my Nintendo Switch. There are lines running through the screen, and interestingly, there is a circular area in the middle that seems less affected by the lines.

I have already replaced both the LCD and the digitizer, but the problem persists. The symptoms are slightly different with the new screen: the lines appear whenever a new page or image loads, but if I leave the console on a static screen for a few minutes, the lines mostly fade away. As soon as the image changes, they return immediately.

I have checked and reseated the LCD ribbon cable multiple times. Is this likely a faulty replacement part, or could this be a motherboard/GPU issue (like a failing display IC or capacitor)? Any advice on what to check next would be greatly appreciated.

⟐ Answered 4월 14, 2026 at 2:03 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Will the switch boot without an LCD

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:01:34 -0700

I bought a Switch v2 that has no LCD installed whatsoever, i checked for shorts or damage and found none. Then charged the console up to 4V and tried powering it up.

I expected some sound effect while it booted, but nothing ever happened. The speakers "hum" slightly for 10 seconds after i press the power button and then stop.

I do not have a docking station or any sort of usb c adapter to try plugging HDMI through.

So my question is if a switch can even be powered up fully with no LCD connected? AI chatbots claim it should power up normally.

⟐ Answer accepted 4월 14, 2026 at 2:01 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Discoloration, horizontal, and vertical lines on switch lite.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 22:24:00 -0700

Was watching youtube and they suddenly showed up. What could the issue be? I see some people say ribbon cable, and i wanna try reseating it but can’t find videos about it.

⟐ Answered 4월 08, 2026 at 22:24 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: How can I remove stuck Y000 screws?

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 14:14:42 -0700

The screws on the back of my Switch (original - the one that can fit in the cradle to display on a TV) are super-tight. One came out, but the next one is so tightly in that when I tried using the iFixit toolkit's Y000 screwdriver, it just stripped the slots on that screw.

I know I can find replacement screws, but how can I get these screws out? (The other two are in there tight, but I haven't fully mangled them yet.)

I should add that I've removed stripped screws before, but never this small and the screws are recessed enough that makes many of the "normal" options for removing them hard to use. (Also, considering the rubber band method - that's a problem since the slots are so tiny that I don't see how the screwdriver blades could do anything with the slots through the thickness of rubber.)

I used a different screwdriver and that worked.

The iFixit Y000 bit I was trying had a bad angle on the end that didn't really fit well into the screws: Here's a simple (and lopsided!) illustratoin:

The screwdriver tip was at a sharp angle, so the blades really didn't fit into the slot enough to actually do anything. It just wasn't designed well. I found another screwdriver with the same size bit and with a better profile to match the screw slot.

⟐ Commented 4월 06, 2026 at 14:14 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Why won't my Switch stay working when unplugged?

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 02:17:29 -0700

For some history: I've had this Switch since 2018. I've done my best to take good care of it as for most of its life it was played docked and left on the dock plugged in. About 4 months ago the Switch started behaving weirdly and dying randomly around 48% charge unlocked as I've been playing handheld more recently. One day I tried pushing the battery by turning it back on when the switch would die around 48%, until one time where the switch crashed similarly to how my Wii used to with a loud ringing and the screen going black. I opted to replace the battery and went through the slow process of replacing the battery myself. With a blow dryer and some patience I was able to do so with no trouble and no damage to the switch as far as I'm aware. Now, with the new battery, I can't even play a game on the switch without it being plugged in, and recently it started acting up more and will put itself to sleep even when plugged in. Is there anyone who could help me figure out what's going on?

⟐ Commented 3월 31, 2026 at 2:17 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: joy con not charging or detected

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:21:01 -0700

So my right side joy con is not being charged or detected when pluged in but it works wirelessly. I have tried with another set of controllers but nothing. So what is the part called that I need to fix this and where can I find it. or isit just better to get a seprate charger for joy cons 😅

⟐ Answered 3월 30, 2026 at 7:21 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Nintendo switch is charging insanely slow

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 13:10:18 -0700

I am having a problem with my switch and I was wondering if there's a chance you guys could be of assistance at all.

So I have a nintendo switch that is giving me some issues. It's never been used on any 3rd party dock or chargers, only the official supplied chargers. I hadn't played it for about a day or so, and when I came back and tried to turn it on it was dead. When I plugged it in it would show the battery symbol, but never charge up enough to get it to boot. I googled around for about an hour and tried everything possible with no success.

I then booted the switch into RCM mode and was able to boot to Hekate. Through hekate I can see that the battery capacity is 100% of the original capacity, but the current capacity is somewhere around 3%. From there I tried a battery fix tool that is built into Hekate, that did not solve the problem. After that, I rebooted the console through Hekate. This time, to my surprise, it actually booted all the way through. My profile loaded up and everything came back. The problem now is that the switch still is not charging. The device will stay on, but it is currently stuck at 2%. If I turn the device off and leave it charging it will now charge incredibly slow, and eventually deplete again when turned on. The good news is that the device will now turn on if left on the charger for an hour or two.

I have a few years of experience repairing electronics and soldering devices, so I figured I would open it up and take a look. I did a lot of googling and gathered all the info I could, and then went to work. The charge port seems to be working fine, currently the switch is pulling .47A at 4.97V. I am checking this using a little dongle and a 3rd party cable. As far as I can find, this means that the device is charging correctly. When I check pin 5 on M92T36 I get 3.29V. According to a few people on the internet (which may or may not be accurate), this means that M92T36 is not the problem. I believe this is one of the most common problems with the switch right now, so I was surprised to see that it is (again, I could be wrong) working fine. From here, I tested BQ24193. On both VBUS pins (1 and 24) I am getting 4.8V, and as far as I can tell this means that power is getting to the chip. All of these readings are while the device is plugged in. After this, I turned off the device while it was plugged in and left it for around 30 minutes. I then booted back into Hekate, it told me that the battery was at 10%. So the console is getting power, but it's charging very slowly.

I just tested the battery to make sure that was working as well. While plugged into the system (the battery, the charge cord is unplugged) I'm getting 3.5V from both of the positive power lines. With the battery unplugged I'm still getting 3.5V from each positive power line. The battery says it has a 3.7V output, so this is close enough. I believe the battery is fine based on these measurements.

With all of that said, is there any chance you guys could provide any assistance to me? If I could be pointed in the right direction I could keep trying to figure it out, but at the moment I'm stuck. I can't seem to find any more info as far as what I need to check to see if everything is receiving the correct amount of power. From what I can find everything is testing fine, so there must be something that I need to check that I can't find any info on. If you guys could provide me with any info that would be amazing.

Thanks

⟐ Commented 3월 25, 2026 at 13:10 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Freezing for a few milliseconds and music glitching in game

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 11:39:35 -0700

My switch 1 has been freezing andcthe music has been glitching for about 2 weeks, it's random but especially bad playing Pokémon sword, the music is non stop pausing and glitching, and the screen will freeze for about half a second but it's been getting worse. It's not the games because my switch 2 plays them fine. I'm thinking the Emmc has an issue. Thanks in advance

⟐ Answered 3월 22, 2026 at 11:39 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: How to hold replaced Switch 1 battery in place?

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 19:12:34 -0700

I had my Switch 1 battery replaced in January 2026. A few weeks ago I noticed what sounded like something being knocked around inside my Switch whenever I moved it. I was recently able to open the Switch again and confirmed that the adhesive strip attached to the battery has failed, leading to the battery becoming unsecured.

Aside from buying a new adhesive strip, is there anything that can be done to secure the battery in place? I've seen some switch batteries have some foam attached to them for this purpose, but mine doesn't. Is it possible to buy something similar to keep it in place?

The battery itself seems healthy, so I'd like to avoid buying another battery if possible.

⟐ Commented 3월 17, 2026 at 19:12 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Joy-con stuck on nintendo switch and broken.

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 08:38:39 -0700

My Joy-con is broken and it is stuck on my Nintendo Switch… Is there any way to remove the remaining part of my Joy-con from the Switch?

⟐ Commented 3월 12, 2026 at 8:38 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: micro sd card reader not working even after replacement

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 05:16:25 -0700

my micro sd card reader wasnt reading sd cards. so i purchased a replacement and repair kit from this website. followed directions and it still doesnt work idk what could be the issue but nintendo online repair is closed still and im just really annoyed things just cant work.

⟐ Commented 3월 12, 2026 at 5:16 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Joy-cons don't stay on rails

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 05:47:45 -0700

When playing in handheld mode, both of my joy-cons don't say on the switch rails. They slide out even when I don't press the unlock button to do so. How can I fix this and can I do it without the need to open up my joy cons?

⟐ Commented 3월 11, 2026 at 5:47 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Is my battery swelling? Please help :(

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 02:38:04 -0700

The crack in the shell near the battery is slightly bigger than the crack near the audiojack. Do you guys think the battery might have started swelling? I have been using my switch since 2018 and I have never repaired it. There were periods of time when it would lay in its case for months due to no free time, but since January I have been playing it a lot (Persona 5 Royal is very fun). I can fit the corner of my nail and move around the dirt inside (sorry for the nasty description ). Any help would be greatly appreciated

⟐ Answer edited 3월 09, 2026 at 2:38 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: No display and changing pi3usb

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 10:47:28 -0700

Was given a switch. No charge , no display

Found a short on the PI3USB , changed the chip and the short went away

battery is charging , using a fluke on the pins showing 4+ volts

Still no battery charge symbol on the display an no display at all

Liquid indicator looks like a Petri dish

Pictures enclosed

⟐ Commented 3월 07, 2026 at 10:47 GMT-7

Nintendo Switch: Replaced battery, and now LCD is not working.

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:06:39 -0700

I replaced my Nintendo Switch battery using an iFixit kit. The battery seems to work but now the LCD has stopped working. Works fine on the cradle, and the touch screen seems to respond, but no picture appears on the LCD when undocked.

I opened it back up and didn't seen any obvious damage to the LCD connector, but I'm not sure.

Can someone please advise me on next steps?