discarded Australian Switch Lite. Broken joystick (thumbstick)

[wamble]

What are the best joysticks (thumbsticks) to buy for the Switch Lite? I can buy from Amazon or Ebay. If I am going to risk opening up the unit, I'd like to get both replaced. I would like top of the thumbsticks to be white, as they are on my green (turquoise) Switch Lite, but I suppose I won't mind so much if that is not possible. The listings I have looked at are black.

LONG STORY
I never wanted to buy a Switch or Switch Lite, but having recently found a discarded unit with the left joystick (thumbstick) snapped off, I guess I am happy to accept. The unit was bundled in a plastic bag with the broken thumbstick too but I am assuming that super glue would not be a permanent (or ideal) solution?

Apparently the Sega Dreamcast controllers use magnetic Hall Effect sticks. Then I discovered that they are still not using hall effect sticks on the Switch 2, but I am told this is due to the magnets used to secure the joycons to the console, which would interfere with hall effect sensors. So it seems they have a legitimate reason, even if I think that their priorities are still wrong.

After seeing some YouTube videos, I discovered that many manufacturers are now making Hall Effect Switch replacement sticks, just like the Sega Dreamcast controllers use. To say that I am delighted would be an understatement. Then I discovered that there are Chinese manufacturers making gaming controllers with hall effect sticks too. Exciting. This just makes me feel as if Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are giving us a very bad deal.

 

[worm28]

I bought these for my four joycons and i love them drift is gone they even have replacement white caps i have noticed that the black thumbsticks that come with them are a bit slippery but the replacement thumbsticks are more grippy i use the white ones on my switch. https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Repla...-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Good superglue can fix that.
But replacing the stick with a hall effect stick will set you back 3~4 USD and you'll never have to worry about drift anymore.

The reason that Nintendo does not want to use hall effect stick is that 3$.
A normal stick costs like 0.3$ so that it 2.7$ extra profit.
Most people never use their Switch so much that drift will occur so replacing the few broken switches is still more profitable than making a good product,

 

[CMDreamer]

Get some TMR replacements. Aknes sells them on Amazon.

I've replaced my Joycons' and they work great. They're the same for the Swtich console.

 

[wamble]

Thanks guys.

DISASSEMBLY
Last night I was able to take apart the Switch case without breaking anything. To my surprise I had the tri-wing and the small phillips screwdrivers and plastic pry thing available already. Those plastic case clips always make me so nervous, but, miracle-of-miracles, I didn't break a clip or mangle the case trying to get it apart. Rare form!

I used instructions from the ifixit article "Nintendo Switch Lite Left Joystick Replacement". I stopped soon after taking the case apart but I think the rest of the instructions sound fairly straightforward after having nervously taken apart the case successfully. I have some confidence I can do it.

WHITE RUBBER
i managed to take off the rubber cap from my broken thumbstick. This was after an unsuccessful attempt to glue the stick back on the Switch Lite. Very likely poor technique from the user.

At first it didn't look like the rubber was removable but it is. There were some white rubber fragments left in a couple of the grooves of the black plastic stick it was sitting on though. I wonder if these white rubber thumbcaps can be used on any third-party replacements that only come black? The Gulikit comes with different coloured caps, which seems nice but it is kind of pricey in Australian dollars.

I am still unsure which hall effect sticks I am going to buy, but I am in shopping mode. Thanks very much for your responses!

 

[wamble]

success
The surgery at Wamble Hospital was a success. Recalibrated the patient's left thumbstick & managed to put patient all back together without any scarring, which is a minor miracle for me. To say I was nervous doing this was an understatement, but I took my time.

ifixit could improve
The ifixit article detailing how to perform the surgery on the left thumbstick was useful as a reference for which screws go where (I was not keeping track so it saved me), but entirely too complicated because it tells the user to remove the shield plate, which is not necessary at all to replace the left thumbstick on the Switch Lite. Luckily for me, I watched some YouTube videos giving clearer, better instructions.

cheap and cheerful
Not quite sure why I could not find a cost-effective white thumbstick, but let that be what it is. I ended up getting a set of (what they claim are) hall effect sticks on ebay, and they are black. They are about half the price of the Gulikit. I saw a video by Blunty on youtube. He basically said that Gulikit lied to him about an (unrelated) Gulikit controller that they said they fixed. They didn't fix their bad design. They lied. So I decided I would not support Gulikit or any of the more expensive hall effect sticks. They basically cost as much as a new controller, which I felt was unjustified for just some parts.

Is there a way to verify they are hall effect without taking them apart? I have one still in its bag, because I bought 2 and only replaced the left stick so far.

 

[wamble]

Is there a way to verify they are hall effect without taking them apart? I have one still in its bag, because I bought 2 and only replaced the left stick so far.

I am answering my own question.

I simply put a magnet to the left thumbstick and yes, it moves in-game. Placing a magnet near the right (Nintendo) thumbstick doesn't influence the movement of the stick in-game, because the stick does not use magnetic sensor technology. So this is a decent way to determine if you are using hall effect sticks.

conclusion
The unbranded ebay thumbsticks that describe thenselves as Hall Effect actually are Hall Effect. Yay!
Hopefully that helps someone.

 

[wamble]

So I found out how to determine whether your replacement sticks are actually Hall Effect Sensor designs, this time without having to install it first and test in-game movement with a magnet.

I ended up buying another thumbstick from another supplier, and it's interesting to see the different designs and to test that they actually are hall effect sensor designs.

A) Nintendo's craptastic part (with remnants of glue showing in the top view from a failed attempt at gluing the thumbstick part back on)
B) ebay Hall Effect Sensor thumbstick replacement from supplier 1
C) ebay Hall Effect Sensor thumbstick replacement from supplier 2
D) metal disc (from discarded cardboard box)
E) magnet (from discarded cardboard box)

a source of magnets
Some manufacturers make items that come in boxes containing magnetic closing flaps. It's a wasteful practice that means the box isn't actually recyclable unless those magnets and metal discs are are removed first. You can guess how many people remove them before throwing them out, can't you? Anyway, this wasteful practice can be a good source of magnets (to test if you are using hall effect sensor sticks when the stick is already installed in the console, and for many other uses).

verifying hall effect sensor thumbsticks
You remove the magnets (and the metal discs the magnets stick to) from these cardboard boxes containing magnets. You centre the metal disc on the base of the thumbstick and see if it sticks. If it is a hall effect sensor design, it will stick (very weakly). If it isn't a hall effect snesor design, it won't. The original NIntendo part doesn't stick to the metal disc at all. The hall effect sensor designs do.

It's important to remove any glued cardboard remaining on the disc by soaking it in water for a few minutes and then rubbing it off.

You can probably test magnetic attraction with other metal objects like small screws, but I had these on hand.

conslusion
This is a good way to immediately test whether your newly-arrived brand new Nintendo Switch stick replacements are actually Hall Effect Sensor designs. I hope it helps someone