Hardware Shoulder button issues?

[BORTZ]

I havent played my 3DS for about a month or two and last night when I got it out of the drawer, I noticed that my L button is toast. I dont remember it being bad before I put it into storage...

I thought nintendo would have learned from the DS Lite days of busted shoulder buttons. Heck my PSP has never once had a shoulder button issue.

So what are my options?
-its well out of warranty. So I could send it to nintendo and pay whatever they want for a fix
-Do it myself? Its been a while since I opened up a DS... I dont know if I want to be responsible for this one yet or not.
-Play without it? How crucial is the L shoulder button?

 

[slingblade1170]

I havent played my 3DS for about a month or two and last night when I got it out of the drawer, I noticed that my L button is toast. I dont remember it being bad before I put it into storage...

I thought nintendo would have learned from the DS Lite days of busted shoulder buttons. Heck my PSP has never once had a shoulder button issue.

So what are my options?
-its well out of warranty. So I could send it to nintendo and pay whatever they want for a fix
-Do it myself? Its been a while since I opened up a DS... I dont know if I want to be responsible for this one yet or not.
-Play without it? How crucial is the L shoulder button?

You could buy another 3DS at a pawn shop at Nintendo's repair price so I say go for doing it yourself. If you got a triwing screwdriver you will have it open in no time and from my experience most of the time an L or R button i usually and easy and free fix. I've fixed a few myself and only once did I have to actually replace parts, its the same with the LB and RB buttons a 360 controller.

 

[SmileCitrus]

Fixing the L or R button is probably one of the simplest repairs because you don't really have to do much of any disassembly. All you have to do is remove the back, since that's where the buttons are mounted. If the ribbon cable is torn, you'll have to replace the button, but if the problem is just because that there's some dirt in there, you can clean the switch and the plastic button piece with some alcohol and a soft brush and it should be good as new. But be sure to clean underneath the plastic button itself, since that's where a lot of gunk can accumulate. The only tricky part is making sure you don't lose the tiny spring and peg that hold the button in place.