Hardware Joy Con bricked after trying to do the permanent drift fix

[fugazi58]

I tried doing that new Joy Con fix where you put a cardboard piece inside the controller (can't link it cause I'm a new user). After reassembling the Joy Con, it wouldn't connect to the switch in handheld mode, only work in wireless mode. I read that disconnecting the controllers and reconnecting might fix it, but that just made it stop working altogether.

i opened it again, undid the mod, disconnected and reconnected all the ribbons. Still the same issue. I noticed that when I moved the middle ribbon around and pressed some buttons, the green leds would turn on and off as if there was some bad contact, so i guess the main issue lies there? Does anyone know if that's the ribbon responsible for the controller's sync? Any other help and ideas are hugely appreciated!

Edit: Fixed it! Please read the last post before you try doing the fix!

 

[Joe88]

Try holding the sync button down to see if the green lights come on.

 

[Moquedami]

I tried the fix too and broke both of the led flex ribbons
Something in the extra pressure may be folding them broken

 

[hippy dave]

Definitely the ribbon connections. Check it's fully inserted to the connector, be careful when reassembling, but if the ribbon is damaged (happens fairly easily) you'll need a replacement part.

 

[fugazi58]

I re re connected the ribbons and it came back to life! Whew!

Leaving this here as an advice to everyone who wants to try the fix: YOU DON'T NEED TO DISCONNECT ANYTHING!!! If you do it carefully you can get to the back of the analog stick by just unscrewing the right screws!!!! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm 100% sure unexperienced people will risk tearing the ribbon cables up a lot more if they try to remove them before doing the fix!

I tried the fix too and broke both of the led flex ribbons
Something in the extra pressure may be folding them broken

That sucks :/ All the connectors have little moving parts that you have to make sure are loose before you remove the cables or put them back on, after they're on, you have to press the loose parts back on. I didn't know that and removed the ribbons by force. I'm really lucky nothing broke!

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Those ribbons are awful.
I ran into that problem too.

 

[BaamAlex]

Those ribbons are awful.
I ran into that problem too.

Why? I disassembled many joycons (case mod), and never had any problems with these ribbons. Be careful and everything should be fine.

 

[Moquedami]

Why? I disassembled many joycons (case mod), and never had any problems with these ribbons. Be careful and everything should be fine.

Its not a question of lack of care, the thing is if you open the joycons many times for whatever reason, the constant flexing and moving of the ribbons start to wear the bending area until they simply snap alone.

 

[fugazi58]

Its not a question of lack of care, the thing is if you open the joycons many times for whatever reason, the constant flexing and moving of the ribbons start to wear the bending area until they simply snap alone.

oof that sucks. good to know tho