Hardware Replacing 3DS XL Touch Screen

[drfsupercenter]

How difficult is it to do that? I'm a complete noob when it comes to intricate electronics repairs, I tried to take apart my DS Lite and put it in a custom shell and ended up being unable to put it all back together again

After having several different screen protectors on my touchscreen, I think the factory plastic has finally bitten the dust. I don't know what it is with the XL specifically, I've never had this issue with any prior Nintendo handheld including the normal 3DS. But apparently it's not just me, and people are warning that using "wet apply" screen protectors on the bottom screen can really mess it up.

At any rate, I sent my better system in to Nintendo to have them fix it for me as it's still under warranty. The one in question, however, obviously isn't as I had a NAND flash mod installed. So I have to do this myself. I assume the touch screen digitizer (or whatever it's called) itself is pretty cheap, but is it something I'd be able to do without having loads of experience?

 

[Schizoanalysis]

what is a wet apply screen protector?

 

[drfsupercenter]

what is a wet apply screen protector?

I can't find a very good description online that isn't super tl;dr, but basically it's where you use a liquid (it's mostly water with some dish soap in there as well) to apply it. Zagg InvisibleShields were one of the first, but there are loads of brands now (IQ Shield and Skinomi both make them for 3DS XL - ArmorSuit used to until they stopped for some reason)

The benefits to doing it that way are that you don't have any air bubbles. You basically spray it a bit to get it moist, then position it, once you're satisfied you use something like a credit card (most of those screen protectors come with a little tool as well) to squeege the liquid out, which basically seals the thing against your screen.

They are essentially window clings, rather than just a sticky sheet of plastic. The other nice thing is that USUALLY you can pull them off without leaving any sticky residue behind. But due to how weak the touch screen is on the 3DS XL, if you pull the screen protector off, often times it starts tugging on the plastic and ends up ruining the touch screen

 

[Schizoanalysis]

Not to worry - I just googled it.

That looks scary -- I just use Hori ones or ebay Hori knockoffs. I have not had any problems with those. Bubbles, yes, but if you buy 5 cheap ones, eventually one will work out perfect.

 

[drfsupercenter]

Those cheap ones piss me off. I've never gotten them to work without air bubbles. The bigger the screen, the more annoying it gets. Heck, when I bought my 10" tablet, I bought one of those crappy screen protectors from the same store, asked the dude I bought it from to install it, he spent 20 minutes trying and handed it to me like "yeah sorry there are air bubbles, that's the best I could do" and wouldn't let me get a refund since he had opened the screen protector

That's why I love Zagg and the equivalents, even if it's a bit scary using liquid, it's much easier to install them.

At any rate, even if I use something like the Hori protectors (what an awful name for a brand, just say it out loud), I definitely need to replace the digitizer or whatever it is that does the touch input. I've tried calibrating it from system settings and always end up where only 3 of the 4 corner points register, at most. Usually only two do.

 

[Nathan Drake]

If you couldn't even take apart a DSlite and get it completely back together again, I wouldn't even try to work on a system that is significantly less well documented. Odds are, it will take some skills beyond your current ability to manage, such as being able to follow a basic tutorial of what ribbon cable goes into where.

To note, here is a video of a guy replacing the touchscreen on a normal sized 3DS. I would assume construction of the XL is essentially identical, just on a larger scale. You have to remember that the touchscreen is all of the way at the top of the bottom half of the 3DS, so you have to dig through everything below it before you can even get to the screen itself.

To note, you can watch this video to see a full tear down of the 3DS XL. It says top screen replacement, but I believe they go through disassembly of the bottom half as well, which would cover getting all of the way down to the touchscreen.

 

[drfsupercenter]

Out of curiosity, where would the best place be to buy a replacement touch screen and/or top screen (since I got some of the screen protector liquid under it which made a little line through it)

I ordered a top screen replacement for a friend from AliExpress but I believe they don't sell those anymore. Not sure if the prices ever came down, a few months ago it was almost 50 bucks for one which is quite absurd IMO. The standard 3DS screens were like $20 at most.

 

[drfsupercenter]

That's for the regular 3DS. But ugh, difficulty: Difficult... maybe I'll just send it to a friend who knows what he's doing.

 

[Ozito]

That's for the regular 3DS. But ugh, difficulty: Difficult... maybe I'll just send it to a friend who knows what he's doing.

Yes you should
If you had difficult with the DSL then you will have difficult with the 3DS, since it's almost the same procedures.

 

[driverdis]

I would not use a screen protector for the bottom half as none of them seem to allow the stylus to glide over them without some sort of added friction over not using one and they seem to hamper the touchscreen's ability to work properly.

 

[drfsupercenter]

Yeah, and that's what really irks me. It's never been a problem for DS/3DS model before the 3DS XL, so I don't know why it would cause problems all of the sudden.

I'd rather use a screen protector and have to deal with it occasionally glitching up the controls than not have one and inadvertently scratch up my screen. The way I see it, it would be the same end result anyway - I'd have to replace the touch screen - and at least a screen protector would postpone the inevitable by a fair amount of time.