Hardware Does anyone know who can repair a switch in the uk?

RitchieRitchie

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
787
Trophies
0
Age
49
XP
762
Country
Hi,

I have a switch which doesn't charge. Nintendo want to charge their standard rate of £175 for a repair, does anyone know of anyone else in the uk who could do this for a lot cheaper?

Appreciate any advice!
 

Jayammi

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
May 2, 2017
Messages
75
Trophies
0
Age
28
XP
955
Country
Not that i know about repairing switches but why not return it where you got it from as it should still be in warranty, if not sell it on gumtree?
 

RitchieRitchie

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
787
Trophies
0
Age
49
XP
762
Country
Not that i know about repairing switches but why not return it where you got it from as it should still be in warranty, if not sell it on gumtree?
It was my own fault (well my son's!) and I've been told i'll have to pay to get it fixed. There is a place in London which is offering to fix for about £100 but I can't afford it.
 

smf

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
6,638
Trophies
2
XP
5,835
Country
United Kingdom
It was my own fault (well my son's!) and I've been told i'll have to pay to get it fixed. There is a place in London which is offering to fix for about £100 but I can't afford it.

What happened to it? What do you think is wrong with it?

Was it an accident that you could claim on house hold insurance?
 

RitchieRitchie

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
787
Trophies
0
Age
49
XP
762
Country
What happened to it? What do you think is wrong with it?

Was it an accident that you could claim on house hold insurance?[/QUOTE
It's not charging and I think the USB-C port was damaged as my son tried to put something in it that shoudn't have gone there. My house hold insurance won't cover it.
 
D

Deleted User

Guest
Hi,

I have a switch which doesn't charge. Nintendo want to charge their standard rate of £175 for a repair, does anyone know of anyone else in the uk who could do this for a lot cheaper?

Appreciate any advice!
I think this is more like a faulty switch they sold you at the store.
There are Videos on Youtube with People letting the Switch fall like a dozen times from different hights and the console still working okay.
If your son smashed the switch with a hammer it would be a different matter of course.
 
Last edited by ,

BvanBart

Gaming addict #2 and some
Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
1,315
Trophies
1
Age
36
Location
Bikini Bottom
XP
1,466
Country
Netherlands
I think this more like a faulty switch they sold you at the store.
There are Videos on Youtube with People letting the Switch fall like a dozen times from different hights and the console still working okay.
If your son smashed the switch with a hammer it would be a different matter of course.

He put stuff in there that should not be in there. Still, did you try another adapter?
 

erikas

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
374
Trophies
0
Age
29
XP
2,008
Country
I would do the repairs myself, just get a replacement port. You could also try to clean it, if he stuffed it with something.
 

RitchieRitchie

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
787
Trophies
0
Age
49
XP
762
Country
I would do the repairs myself, just get a replacement port. You could also try to clean it, if he stuffed it with something.
I looked online - you need soldering skills etc, stuff which I've never done before and I know that if i even try I'll make a mess of!
 

FAST6191

Techromancer
Editorial Team
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
36,798
Trophies
3
XP
28,284
Country
United Kingdom
£100 is not terribly high, especially for London.

Break it down
£10 shipping either way so £20

The connectors I could not get just anywhere but
https://eu.mouser.com/Connectors/USB-Connectors/_/N-88hmf?P=1ylqy95 starts getting there, from a later link I see it could be a bit more custom though.
Call it £5 as it will likely be a special order. If I have to do something like https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/power-socket-charging-port-dock-connector_60680894915.html and buy a minimum of 10 I am not going to expect to do many so be prepared for more

Laptop power jack replacement https://www.alphacomputers.co.uk/laptop-power-jack-repair/ is £69 all in.

That's a laptop though. This is probably closer to a mobile phone, not amazingly different in terms of skills required.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263 says as much if I am looking at it.

Some places seem to be offering £30 or so for phones, one even offering £20 something for a DS port. Interesting twist.

Anyway if it is to go on my bench I would wonder what the damage was. Normally for connectors it is years of abuse or being dropped when charging. Something going in there that should not is second on the list and can be both easier and harder than the former.
Three main scenarios in repair
Straight surface mount desolder and replace. Nothing major.
Trace repair. Annoying if you know what you are doing but nothing too taxing.
Fuse repair. Someone shoves a pin or something in the connector, shorts something out (or causes pins to permanently short) and if there is no fuse/current limiting the fun may never end, or may take a little while as I then get to check components and do a proper test at the end.
My bet is Nintendo would do a motherboard swap in this scenario but that is not a luxury we have at this stage in the game.

Hmm, maybe take it a phone repair shop with a copy of that ifixit link or printout or something and ask.

Complete cowboy option.
Integrate one of those wireless chargers to the battery. Does not skip the issues with fuses and shorted connectors either but if we are playing a cowboy who cares. You would also lose anything that goes through the connector. Such a kit (without the charger anyway) is less than £10 and can be soldered directly onto wires and only requires a minimal disassembly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RitchieRitchie

RitchieRitchie

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
787
Trophies
0
Age
49
XP
762
Country
£100 is not terribly high, especially for London.

Break it down
£10 shipping either way so £20

The connectors I could not get just anywhere but
https://eu.mouser.com/Connectors/USB-Connectors/_/N-88hmf?P=1ylqy95 starts getting there, from a later link I see it could be a bit more custom though.
Call it £5 as it will likely be a special order. If I have to do something like https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/power-socket-charging-port-dock-connector_60680894915.html and buy a minimum of 10 I am not going to expect to do many so be prepared for more

Laptop power jack replacement https://www.alphacomputers.co.uk/laptop-power-jack-repair/ is £69 all in.

That's a laptop though. This is probably closer to a mobile phone, not amazingly different in terms of skills required.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263 says as much if I am looking at it.

Some places seem to be offering £30 or so for phones, one even offering £20 something for a DS port. Interesting twist.

Anyway if it is to go on my bench I would wonder what the damage was. Normally for connectors it is years of abuse or being dropped when charging. Something going in there that should not is second on the list and can be both easier and harder than the former.
Three main scenarios in repair
Straight surface mount desolder and replace. Nothing major.
Trace repair. Annoying if you know what you are doing but nothing too taxing.
Fuse repair. Someone shoves a pin or something in the connector, shorts something out (or causes pins to permanently short) and if there is no fuse/current limiting the fun may never end, or may take a little while as I then get to check components and do a proper test at the end.
My bet is Nintendo would do a motherboard swap in this scenario but that is not a luxury we have at this stage in the game.

Hmm, maybe take it a phone repair shop with a copy of that ifixit link or printout or something and ask.

Complete cowboy option.
Integrate one of those wireless chargers to the battery. Does not skip the issues with fuses and shorted connectors either but if we are playing a cowboy who cares. You would also lose anything that goes through the connector. Such a kit (without the charger anyway) is less than £10 and can be soldered directly onto wires and only requires a minimal disassembly.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to make such a detailed reply. For £100 I'm caught between just trying to find a second hand switch tablet which would be more expensive but hasn't had any faults. This cowboy option of which you speak, what would you charge? Is there any obvious drawback? Cheers!
 

FAST6191

Techromancer
Editorial Team
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
36,798
Trophies
3
XP
28,284
Country
United Kingdom
I don't know if there are any naked switch tablets out there right now but an option could also be buy the switch (possibly second hand), flog the joycons and the dock and see where you end up.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to make such a detailed reply. For £100 I'm caught between just trying to find a second hand switch tablet which would be more expensive but hasn't had any faults. This cowboy option of which you speak, what would you charge? Is there any obvious drawback? Cheers!

Looking at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DYOL2RY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1 a module can be had for less than £10 , possibly even less than 5. Switch battery is 3.7V, as are most mobile phones so that should not be too troubling. Looking at the ifixit link the switch back plate comes off easy and exposes the wires of the battery. I might not use that module linked and find one more suited (soldering to pads is not fun but doable if I have to) but in the end you would just be connecting the charge wires from the module to the battery (might even be able to do it in place without taking the battery out) which is just three wires, five maybe (the two wires for each colour plus sense are likely for increased current handling whilst not being too fat to bend around those corners and you ain't going to get a wireless charger putting out more than just one of those wires will take)

With that padding there you might get it inside but I am not sure how the shielding would trouble it. Getting wires outside would possibly be doable at the joycon spring next to the speaker at which point you could glue it on the back of the case.

I mentioned fuses and shorting and I would still wonder what happened here. This is cheap and dirty though so I would only shove a light and my loupe such that I could see into the port and make sure none of the connectors had come loose and bridged another.
Not what you will see but https://camo.githubusercontent.com/...855453448484d49374133342e4d454449554d2e6a7067
If someone shoves a needle in there to clean out some fluff (the usual scenario) one of those gold things comes loose and goes across another or the case and yeah.

Drawbacks. That low current I mentioned also means you are not going to charge fast. If it is the difference between a brick and something you can still use then I can certainly still see the appeal -- read a bunch of reviews on that link and you will see many have got it because the charge connector broke and it was the cheaper way to still have a usable device.
The connector is not going to be working so presumably no docked mode.
If I have to shove wires out of the joycon spring section then whatever that entails for connecting the joycon, maybe even buying an external charger for the joycons.

I have no idea what someone would charge for that -- custom electronics repair tends to be "look at customer, what do I reckon I can get?". For something along the lines of mates rates, you've given me something interesting to do, I will charge even if the fuses problem has caused greater issues I can see a tenner if you have the charger module sourced by yourself, and anything more than £20 is taking the piss a bit. It is not going to be an hours long involved process (remove back plate which is a whole two screws, remove SD dongle, finish removing back plate, remove battery connector, 6 basic solder joints if you include the charge connector + insulate them, a quick test with back cover off, screw it all back together or maybe run wires through joycon port and then screw it back together and test again.

... Wonder if I could make a kit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RitchieRitchie

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty: Good morning