Hardware 2ds and 3ds circlepad swap

[woolywoods]

Is the circle pad interchangeable between o2ds and o3dsxl?

Edit 12/5/21: Yes.

My 3ds's circle pad broke (seems to be a common problem) and a friend is giving me their broken 2ds for parts. Was curious if this had been tested before. Didn't see anything on any searches.

If I manage to do the swap I'll update with results and photos (?)

Edit 12/5/21: https://gbatemp.net/threads/2ds-and-3ds-circlepad-swap.600561/post-9681662 <- Here is the link to some photos! there are minor differences but they shouldn't pose a problem.

 

[KimKong]

I'm not sure, but I suspect it wont fit..
Arent they a different build..?

 

[woolywoods]

I'm not sure, but I suspect it wont fit..
Arent they a different build..?

Possibly, they are two different models, but I'd only be using the circle pad component.

I took a quick glance on the ifixit teardowns and they look similar enough that it might be possible. I can't imagine they would make a unique circlepad for every model of 3ds, tho it's def possible.

 

[WG481]

Possibly, they are two different models, but I'd only be using the circle pad component.

I took a quick glance on the ifixit teardowns and they look similar enough that it might be possible. I can't imagine they would make a unique circlepad for every model of 3ds, tho it's def possible.

I think they wouldn't. It's easier to keep the same hardware or you may as well release a new console.

 

[RookieKid]

Where is a good place to buy replacement circle pads for New 2ds XL if you want one as close as the original? I just want to replace the rubber pad on top.

 

[woolywoods]

Where is a good place to buy replacement circle pads for New 2ds XL if you want one as close as the original? I just want to replace the rubber pad on top.

This is offtopic, but if you find out lmk because that's the reason why I'm using a broken 2ds to replace it in the first place. Difficult to buy parts for the 3ds. It might just be easier to hop on ebay and look at for parts 3ds's than to search for a circle pad.

 

[doubles92]

Hey, yeah you can use a nintendo 2ds circle pad in a nintendo 3ds xl, i've done the swap myself and works well. Only from the "new" console types may have part swap issues.

 

[CMDreamer]

They look the same to me with little diferences in the build design:

Nintendo 2DS 3DS 3DS XL
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Deal4GO-M%C3%B3dulo-anal%C3%B3gico-pulgar-Nintendo/dp/B092LKV2SC

Nintendo New 2DS XL/New 3DS XL/New 3DS
https://www.amazon.com/Deal4GO-Joystick-Thumbstick-Replacement-Nintendo/dp/B092LLJXKG

 

[woolywoods]

Finally got my hands on the circle pad and the time required to do the swap. It is feasible, however there ARE actually differences (interesting!)

The only one I personally noticed is that the ribbon cable for the 2ds is smaller than the ribbon cable for the 3ds XL. I didn't see anything else, but here are pictures. If you see any other differences feel free to comment on them.

On the left is the 2ds circle pad and on the right is the 3ds circle pad.

Because the only thing that was broken was the pad itself and not the electronic components, I just replaced the pad and used the 3ds xl circle pad for the electronic part. The ribbon cable being shorter shouldn't pose a problem though if you need to do a full replacement.