Hardware Handheld only Joy Con replacement, any good ones (left side)?

nyder

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My left joy con has lost a few buttons working correctly, and I never use it in wireless mode as I mostly play at home with my pro controller. So I'm looking for some replacement that is cheap and that means hand held only.

Any recommendations? Don't care if it's traditional d-pad or buttons. Just want something that works, feels right and doesn't go drifting.

Thanks.

edit: Oh, also something that is same size as the Nintendo joy cons so it fits in my tomtoc carrying case.
 
Last edited by nyder,

The Real Jdbye

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Don't waste your time. They are all shit.
Did you ever spill something on your controller or use it with wet/dirty fingers? There are just pads on the board that are bridged when the button is pressed down, the buttons should always work unless they are clogged up with dirt and can't make a good connection. My suggestion is to carefully take apart the JoyCon, being careful with any ribbon cables. I believe all of the ribbon cable connectors in the JoyCons are the same type, where the flap faces the ribbon cable, simply lift it up, you can use fingernails or a plastic tool but I would avoid metal. Also, the battery connector lifts up, it doesn't pull out sideways, I made that mistake and broke the battery connector on mine (all fixed though)
I've had the JoyCons apart many times for various reasons, they are pretty easy to take apart.

Once apart, clean the rubber button pads with some isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and a toothbrush, or give them a soapy bath.
Clean the pads on the board with IPA.

If your L/ZL buttons have issues, those use momentary pushbuttons (tact switches), you'll need to remove the plastic L/ZL buttons to access the pushbuttons. Careful not to lose the springs, if they go flying off they will be near impossible to find, so carefully remove them first, then the plastic buttons will lift out. There should be 3 springs in total. One of them is horizontal, sandwiched between the button and a plastic peg and is plainly visible. The 2 other ones are hidden underneath the other button and are not immediately easy to spot.
The ZL button is on a separate small board so to access the L button underneath, you'll need to unscrew that. Soak a q-tip good and wet in IPA and press it against the button to try to get some to go inside the button. Repeat a few times, give the button a bunch of presses to spread the IPA around.

You'll need a small Triwing (size Y00), if you don't have one, you can use a very small flathead without doing damage to the screws, it should fit perfectly in the groove like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c4p624k7d03ge3a/triwing.jpg?dl=0
The plastic screw posts strip very easily when screwing it back together so don't use any force or you will end up with screws that won't stay in.
 
Last edited by The Real Jdbye,
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