Replacing your drifting joystick! (My experience)

[moonolotl]

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

 

[5cm/s]

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

 

[Neechan]

I had to replace my left one and haven’t had any issues since (took 2 hours to repair though) it was sooo nerve-racking as I didn’t want to break nothing, better then spending 70 dollars for new ones (though I may get a new pair eventually)

 

[moonolotl]

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

definitely! mine weren't super bad, like it wasn't completely unplayable, but even for me it felt so much nicer, especially since i did it myself! lol
I definitely recommend fixing them yourself, although only if you feel confident that you can do a decent job at it. You can save tons of money doing it and it's definitely an accomplishment.

I had to replace my left one and haven’t had any issues since (took 2 hours to repair though) it was sooo nerve-racking as I didn’t want to break nothing, better then spending 70 dollars for new ones (though I may get a new pair eventually)

I'm hoping i wont have any more issues!
I was pretty shaky the whole time I was doing it which was a pain but I still managed not to break anything (at least, nothing I could see)

 

[Sholee]

I have drifting issues with my left joycon, it does seemed to have fixed itself once I used a Q-TIP and rubbing alcohol to clean the insides but if it gets worse, i'll definitely look into this method. Do you know how long the kit took to ship to you?

 

[moonolotl]

I have drifting issues with my left joycon, it does seemed to have fixed itself once I used a Q-TIP and rubbing alcohol to clean the insides but if it gets worse, i'll definitely look into this method. Do you know how long the kit took to ship to you?

I'm in the uk and i believe my specific kit came from spain. It only took about 3 days off amazon! It will obviously depend on where in the world you live and where the kit is coming from
Re-calibrating and cleaning are definitely the first things you should try but im pretty sure most of the time the issue will be the joycon wearing down and so having to repair or buy a new one is kind of inevitable, sadly. It sucks but its also good the repair is pretty straight-forward for those who want to try it themselves.

 

[Dewasa]

Here's the million dollar question, did it fix it? Seemingly it's caused by dirt and since the design is the same, wouldn't it be just a matter of time before the same thing happens to your replacement joycon?

I've been cleaning mine with iso alcohol and it has helped 1 pair (OG grey from 2017). I haven't really done it on the 2nd pair as it's newer and haven't had issues until recently. Will eventually replace it but I can't see how it'll prevent dirt from getting back into it. Maybe there's just gunk from 2017 and on that can't be cleaned out?

 

[moonolotl]

Here's the million dollar question, did it fix it? Seemingly it's caused by dirt and since the design is the same, wouldn't it be just a matter of time before the same thing happens to your replacement joycon?

I've been cleaning mine with iso alcohol and it has helped 1 pair (OG grey from 2017). I haven't really done it on the 2nd pair as it's newer and haven't had issues until recently. Will eventually replace it but I can't see how it'll prevent dirt from getting back into it. Maybe there's just gunk from 2017 and on that can't be cleaned out?

I heard that its apparently the actual mechanism itself wearing out, not just dirt and such. And it takes at least a year for the joycon to wear out (2 years in my case), so it would be a matter of time but its still a permanent fix technically
I did try my best to clean it and it didnt work for me

 

[Blueskyy]

The Q tip worked for a day for me. I’m not handy though and my joy cons are 4 years old anyway. I have a pro controller coming lol

 

[elphieluvr]

Ooh we might try this. We have some joy cons with severe drift (they were bought from the first release of switches so pretty old at this point) and since the Nintendo repair center is currently shut down, they’re just sitting in a pile.

I use a pro controller most of the time anyway but it sounds like a fun challenge to try to fix haha.

 

[cheezu]

Yaaay! That's such good news!
I'm happy that this video came in handy.

 

[moonolotl]

Ooh we might try this. We have some joy cons with severe drift (they were bought from the first release of switches so pretty old at this point) and since the Nintendo repair center is currently shut down, they’re just sitting in a pile.

I use a pro controller most of the time anyway but it sounds like a fun challenge to try to fix haha.

this was exactly my situation! I would've just bought new ones anyway and I have a pro controller and so I thought why not try and salvage the ones I've got for cheap? especially since I don't have the money to buy new joycons yet and so I'd have to wait a long while, and the challenge definitely sounded kinda fun (and it was, although also kinda scary haha)

 

[FantasticHaxorus]

Joycon drift can be easily solved with a bit of electrical contact cleanser. I bought a can of it about a year ago and I've still barely used it-just squirt a bit into the hole the stick goes into on the controller, underneath the rubber cover. I suggest anyone here having trouble gives it a try before outright replacing anything.

 

[Dewasa]

Gotcha is going to be on the Switch Lite. I have one coming and dreading this issue. Assuming electrical contact cleanser will help.

 

[moonolotl]

Joycon drift can be easily solved with a bit of electrical contact cleanser. I bought a can of it about a year ago and I've still barely used it-just squirt a bit into the hole the stick goes into on the controller, underneath the rubber cover. I suggest anyone here having trouble gives it a try before outright replacing anything.

I agree, definitely try whatever else you can before completely replacing the stick, especially if you dont own another controller/cant afford to risk breaking your joycons.
Replacing the stick is normally a last resort kind of thing, or some people might prefer it. Depends on them i guess. I've heard sometimes contact cleaner doesn't work permanently either so some may not want to bother

 

[elphieluvr]

this was exactly my situation! I would've just bought new ones anyway and I have a pro controller and so I thought why not try and salvage the ones I've got for cheap? especially since I don't have the money to buy new joycons yet and so I'd have to wait a long while, and the challenge definitely sounded kinda fun (and it was, although also kinda scary haha)

yeah, it’ll take me back to the days in middle school when my dad and brother and I installed a new case on a DS lite that cracked. We couldn’t afford a new one anyway so we thought, why not? Very scary but super rewarding.

 

[moonolotl]

This is very helpful in explaining why joycon drift happens and why most other 'fixes' are generally temporary

 

[Cheallaigh]

I heard that its apparently the actual mechanism itself wearing out, not just dirt and such. And it takes at least a year for the joycon to wear out (2 years in my case), so it would be a matter of time but its still a permanent fix technically
I did try my best to clean it and it didnt work for me

it's the graphite inside wearing out and grooving that causes the issue, which does leave some residue... but it doesn't take a year, thought i better correct that assumption. got my switch in feb, a few weeks after AC opening i knew i had an issue with drift, ended up replacing mine as i couldn't find any kits, and was propping my switch up while using my pro... lol.

 

[Sephiroth]

I found a guy near me that repairs the drift and refurbishes your joycons for 50 bucks. Even gives a 1 year warranty. He just repaired my left joycon that sadly broke apart. Even adjusts the coding to reflect the new case colorings on the switch if he doesn't have the coloring of case on hand, which is what he had to do with my original Mario Odyssey joycon.

 

[Matt0106]

it's the graphite inside wearing out and grooving that causes the issue, which does leave some residue... but it doesn't take a year, thought i better correct that assumption. got my switch in feb, a few weeks after AC opening i knew i had an issue with drift, ended up replacing mine as i couldn't find any kits, and was propping my switch up while using my pro... lol.

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...