Hacking F-G Joycon Mod: MagnetHax Switch Edition

[TapNorX]

Thats how i did it with the reed switch. Works well, using Pin 1 & 10. Took the opportunity to replace the old housings with transparent ones.
wires could be bit shorter and the solder point from pin 1 is not perfect i know, but works anyway.

Spoiler: reed switch on rail

 

[Assasin1990]

@TheCyberQuake thx for the tip, it's awesome and works great.

 

[Zumoly]

That's definitely cool! I wish I had the tools to do this... I don't even have a proper screwdriver to properly open my joycon! Which makes me ask this question (sorry if asked already somewhere): can I just use the metal part of the right joycon where the pins are? I soldered an old one (and I had to open it by force) and now I only use it to enter RCM. Since I intend to carry it around (I am on 4.0.1) can I disassemble it that way?

 

[TheCyberQuake]

@TheCyberQuake

Were you able to figure out pin 1's trace pad on the pcb? Also, what kind of magnet are you using? I have a 5 mm cardboard/fake leather shield covering the bottom of my joycon, so I wonder if a refrigerator magnet would work. My reed switch arrives in the mail next week so I won't be able to test it out.

I never did open back up yet to figure out which test point is pin one. I just left it with pin 9 because it will only be momentarily used at boot for RCM, so it shouldn't cause any problems.
As for the magnet, it just kinda depends on the Reed switch. Some are more sensitive than others. For mine a fridge magnet was not reliable enough, so I picked up some neodymium magnets. 1 works without a case, and 2 stacked works through my Mumba heavy duty case.

 

[cybrian]

stuff

I can’t believe how big the font size is on iOS, or the fact that you can’t scroll in this text box, I couldn’t reply to this without deleting your message.

Anyway, if what you’re saying is you ripped open a joy con, and now you only use the joy con to enter RCM a mode and it’s unusable as an actual joy-con… yes, you should be able to make it into a good RCM jig that’s very small. But you’ll want to make sure you don’t solder to pin 9. It’s not a proper GND reference, and you can’t rely on it especially if you remove the rest of the joy con.

 

[Zumoly]

I can’t believe how big the font size is on iOS, or the fact that you can’t scroll in this text box, I couldn’t reply to this without deleting your message.

Anyway, if what you’re saying is you ripped open a joy con, and now you only use the joy con to enter RCM a mode and it’s unusable as an actual joy-con… yes, you should be able to make it into a good RCM jig that’s very small. But you’ll want to make sure you don’t solder to pin 9. It’s not a proper GND reference, and you can’t rely on it especially if you remove the rest of the joy con.

I like the small jig part.
But I don't understand why pin 9 shouldn't be soldered. Isn't it pin 9 and 10 together? As it is I thought only the metal part mattered, not the whole joycon.

 

[cybrian]

I like the small jig part.
But I don't understand why pin 9 shouldn't be soldered. Isn't it pin 9 and 10 together? As it is I thought only the metal part mattered, not the whole joycon.

I don't know if the purpose of pin 9 isn't documented, but it is not actually ground — it just happens to be set to logic low when a Joy-Con is attached, and logic low is referenced to ground. This means that it usually works. But at best it's not guaranteed, and at worst it simply won't work.

Pin 9 is connected to an output on the SoC, and connecting it with pin 10 could be unreliable at best (especially if the rest of the joy-con isn't there to trigger the Switch into setting it low), potentially dangerous at worst. If for some reason it's set to logic high, for instance, that could harm the Switch. And either way, as I said without the PCB from the Joy-Con there to tell the Switch to set pin 9 to low, it probably won't work at all.

You want to connect pin 10 to ground, which will then bring that to "logic low" safely. See the following: https://reswitched.tech/hardware/joycon#joy-con_connector_pinout (note that this page is out of date and doesn't mention that pin 9 is not a safe ground output, nor does it mention that pin 10 is used to enter RCM mode)

So if you solder pin 10 to either of pins 1, 2, or 7, you'll be safely pulling it low without any risk of harm to the Switch's SoC. If you solder it to pin 9, it's not guaranteed that it'll even work.

 

[Pacote]

I can’t believe how big the font size is on iOS, or the fact that you can’t scroll in this text box, I couldn’t reply to this without deleting your message.

Anyway, if what you’re saying is you ripped open a joy con, and now you only use the joy con to enter RCM a mode and it’s unusable as an actual joy-con… yes, you should be able to make it into a good RCM jig that’s very small. But you’ll want to make sure you don’t solder to pin 9. It’s not a proper GND reference, and you can’t rely on it especially if you remove the rest of the joy con.

Based on what you say its not reliable?

I grounded 9 and 10 and it works every single time...

 

[Kise_Ryota]

I also would like to know why not pins 9 and 10. I have seen so many people doing this, and they say it works perfectly.

 

[PolloDiablo]

This is a great idea. I will have to do it when my replacement shells arrives.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

This is a great idea. I will have to do it when my replacement shells arrives.

I would recommend using either pin 1 or 7 instead of 9.
With a switch or shouldn't cause any problems, but it's just the better way to do it.
Also someone else soldered theirs to the pin solder points on the rail and then glued the Reed switch to the shell, which is also a good improvement I'll be making eventually.

 

[metaljay]

I would recommend using either pin 1 or 7 instead of 9.
With a switch or shouldn't cause any problems, but it's just the better way to do it.
Also someone else soldered theirs to the pin solder points on the rail and then glued the Reed switch to the shell, which is also a good improvement I'll be making eventually.

Can you give any more details? Slightly confused by this improvement

 

[guily6669]

He probably simply means soldering to the other pins instead of 10+9 and instead of soldering on the PCB, solder on the flex cable solder pins and then glue the magnetic switch to the plastic housing...

It's just too bad that they reported that it's better not to use pin 9, because I actually prefer a lot soldering on the PCB on the pins he have instead of soldering to the pin solder points from the rail...

 

[Runehasa]

Stupid question but where can i get a open reed switch for a few cents like someone mentioned previously? Home Depot?

 

[metaljay]

Stupid question but where can i get a open reed switch for a few cents like someone mentioned previously? Home Depot?

I got mine of eBay, think it was £3 for 5 switches

 

[usernametaken]

Awesome mod, just installed a reed switch on my joycon, works great. I opted to only remove the battery, battery cage & antenna so it was a bit cramped for soldering but it all worked out.

Using a magnet from an old HDD, just let it latch to the back of the joycon and bam.

 

[PotatisKnug]

That's actually really cool! Wow!

 

[fadx]

Just got my reed switches in today!
I can get the reed switch to activate through the face of the joycon if I stack 3 10mm*3mm cylindrical neodymium magnets on top of each other, anything less than that and I have to trigger it through the back. I might look for some 10mm*10mm cube shaped neodymium magnets since that'll be a lot more convenient for me.

Thanks for the great idea, I ordered magnets and reed switches as soon as I seen this posted.

 

[jellybeangreen2]

I have just ordered al required parts! Delivery tomorrow.

I did have two JIGs but both were defective so this seems the best way without pushing things in to the joycon rails. I will update everyone tomorrow..

 

[jellybeangreen2]

One Q Reed switch: should i have bought “normally open” or “normally closed”

Edit:Answered my own Q.