Gaming Left and Right buttons on D-Pad not working properly on NDS Lite.

[Smash_Brothers]

The L button is not working neither.

I mean, it does work, but only if I press really hard and only 50% of the time, making it unbearable to play. How do I fix it?

Thanks

 

[Rocc0]

Sounds like my old Lite, I'm afraid it might be just wear and there is nothing you can do. How old is the console?

It could also be dirt/dust under the buttons, you could try cleaning the buttons with some kind of alcohol (preferably isopropyl alcohol as it does not damage the plastic) or contact cleaner. You probably have to open the console in order to clean the buttons effectively this way.

If you can't/don't want to open the console, you could try to just blow into the buttons with compressed air and see if that does anything. You could also try blowing into the buttons with your mouth, although you don't want to do that too often as it builds moisture inside the console and will eventually damage the parts inside.

One more thing that comes to my mind, is trying to brush with toothbrush around the buttons (that is an official Nintendo fix apparently, it might be worth a try).
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/dslite/en_la/trouble_stickybuttons.jsp

I had issues with the shoulder buttons on my DSi a while ago, and cleaning with alcohol or blowing into the console did not fix it permanently. What did fix it was pouring some sewing needle oil into the shoulder buttons, and it has been working fine since then (about 4 months now) and the sewing needle oil did not damage the console in any way. Probably don't try this thought unless you are sure about it, I might have been just lucky not breaking my console.

 

[Smash_Brothers]

Yeah, it's pretty old now. I think over 6 years, I heavily used it for at least 4 years. I think I'm just getting a 2DS and a DSTWO to play my NDS games.

Will try the blowing and toothbrush methods and update here though.

Edit: yeah, it didn't work. I think it's retirement time

 

[Sizednochi]

I mean, it does work, but only if I press really hard and only 50% of the time

Sounds like either the rubber parts are dead, or the contacts in the PCB are dirty. You have to make force for it to get a contact, makes sense. They're cheap to replace though.

I sold my DS Lite a while back and actually got a 2DS like you said. I'm glad I did so.

 

[Smash_Brothers]

Sounds like either the rubber parts are dead, or the contacts in the PCB are dirty. You have to make force for it to get a contact, makes sense. They're cheap to replace though.

You know how I can replace it? Is it easy to find the parts and to actually replace?

 

[Sizednochi]

You know how I can replace it? Is it easy to find the parts and to actually replace?

Chinese websites or mercadolivre. Look for DS Rubber Parts or something like that.

To replace... It's not that easy if you don't have experience with it. It's rather complicated because of the DS's hinged design. You can look for tutorial videos around the internet.

It's a sad thing DS Lites have such poor build quality. My GameBoy Color has been working for more than 15 years now...

 

[Rocc0]

I sold my DS Lite a while back and actually got a 2DS like you said. I'm glad I did so.

I got 2DS as well recently and I think it is excellent. Hopefully I do not run into shoulder button issues any time soon with it.

 

[Sizednochi]

I got 2DS as well recently and I think it is excellent. Hopefully I do not run into shoulder button issues any time soon with it.

Even if you do it'll be much easier to replace, given the design. It's literally just taking out the back cover and you have access to everything inside of it. Besides the triggers feel a lot like the ones on the Original GBA, and I have my OG GBA working good since 2003.