Hardware Switch Repair advice needed.

[KuroxLemming]

I have recently purchased a switch that I would like to try and repair I have history in fixing PSP's and most of the DS line

On to the problem I'm unsure which chip is causing me the problems when I first got it I put it onto my USB-C Meter (Using an official Powerbrick) to see what it was doing and I have attached pictures of it, sorry some of them are bad but it shows the time stamp and how many amps/voltage it is drawing.

This is 1 minute into the charge


This is 2 hours on charge


This is after a long charge of 6 Hours


All the switch does it sit on the black screen when tried to be turned on and when placed in a official dock the light blinks once then nothing on either the tv or the switch.

Any help would be very greatful so I know where to start.

 

[Agilato]

Looks like it charges perfectly fine and you got battery fully charged, what is why charging IC dropped current completely.
Before opening it up and trying to solve issues with "soldering iron" make sure it's not a fw issue.
Few times i purchased broken switches from eBay which just needed a fix after wrong software mod.

1st Stage (No Teardown):
1) Inspect your USB-C port under magnification (sometimes very hard to se bent pins).
2.1) Check if console patched (Google: Is My Switch Patched you will find a website)
2.2) Check if console aren't in RCM mode (Plug to PC with TegraRcm tool running, make sure drivers are installed).
3) If console in RCM mode and it's unpatched load in Hekate and try to disable Auto RCM.
4) If console loads in RCM mode huge chance that you will have to write new stock FW based on fuses count.

2nd Stage (With Teardown):
Based on charge voltage sems that M92T36 still alive and you most likely have P13USB chip dead, but to check if you have to open the console and jump around with multimeter to check shorts on caps near M92T36, check Tronicsfix on youtube he has a lot of basic/starting info regarding Nintendo Switch Fixes.

 

[KuroxLemming]

Looks like it charges perfectly fine and you got battery fully charged, what is why charging IC dropped current completely.
Before opening it up and trying to solve issues with "soldering iron" make sure it's not a fw issue.
Few times i purchased broken switches from eBay which just needed a fix after wrong software mod.

1st Stage (No Teardown):
1) Inspect your USB-C port under magnification (sometimes very hard to se bent pins).
2.1) Check if console patched (Google: Is My Switch Patched you will find a website)
2.2) Check if console aren't in RCM mode (Plug to PC with TegraRcm tool running, make sure drivers are installed).
3) If console in RCM mode and it's unpatched load in Hekate and try to disable Auto RCM.
4) If console loads in RCM mode huge chance that you will have to write new stock FW based on fuses count.

2nd Stage (With Teardown):
Based on charge voltage sems that M92T36 still alive and you most likely have P13USB chip dead, but to check if you have to open the console and jump around with multimeter to check shorts on caps near M92T36, check Tronicsfix on youtube he has a lot of basic/starting info regarding Nintendo Switch Fixes.

1ST Stage
1) I had it under a jewelers magnifier and the pins are all round in good health.
2) My console has the serial number in the XAJ40060000000 and above range so it is patched.
3/4) Going to get a RCM Jig don't want to risk damaged the pins will get back to you on that one.

2nd Stage
Been watching a lot of northbridgefix and tronicsfix videos on the subject and what you are saying seems to be correct but I currently don't have a working multimeter so will have to get back to you on that one to.

p.s if you want to see some switch horror there is a channel called my mate vince and he has a terrible track record of fixing them but still doing his best.

 

[Agilato]

p.s if you want to see some switch horror there is a channel called my mate vince and he has a terrible track record of fixing them but still doing his best.

Love this guy! Subscribed on him since his first nintendo switch video.
Exact path you will have to go thru if you never had micro-soldering experience and will repair it yourself.
That is why you have to take it slow, and practice A LOT on cheap broken electronics before proceeding.
If you never seen console inside you will be surprised how smaller components are compare to what you have seen on the videos.

If console is in RCM mode it will show in TegraRCM without a jig.
If it's unpatched as you mentioned i bet your P13USB is mostlikley dead, but without measures it's just a guess.
So your next step to open it, even without multimeter you might got an idea what is wrong on visual inspection.
With Used one there is always a chance it could have water damage and sometimes with simple cleanup it will boot.

When you will open it the 1st step is always to UNPLUG the battery.
"Lucky" dropped screw or something like that will lead to sudden death.

 

[KuroxLemming]

Love this guy! Subscribed on him since his first nintendo switch video.
Exact path you will have to go thru if you never had micro-soldering experience and will repair it yourself.
That is why you have to take it slow, and practice A LOT on cheap broken electronics before proceeding.
If you never seen console inside you will be surprised how smaller components are compare to what you have seen on the videos.

If console is in RCM mode it will show in TegraRCM without a jig.
If it's unpatched as you mentioned i bet your P13USB is mostlikley dead, but without measures it's just a guess.
So your next step to open it, even without multimeter you might got an idea what is wrong on visual inspection.
With Used one there is always a chance it could have water damage and sometimes with simple cleanup it will boot.

When you will open it the 1st step is always to UNPLUG the battery.
"Lucky" dropped screw or something like that will lead to sudden death.

I have opened more PSP's and DS's than I dare to count but with those they always have really small and fiddly parts not used to micro-soldering though but always a good time to learn that stuff might be tempted to buy another busted switch just to practise on can never have to many broken things to fix.

Bought a jig now anyway makes my life easier in the long run for when the modding scene finds away around the patching, I always unplug/take the battery out of a device I'm working on never know what someone has done to the device in the past better to be safe than new motherboard.

I have had a look inside the console and it looks spotless like I was the first person in there the screws where all good none missing or slightly stripped, been looking for a decent multimeter for all the tiny caps on these things got any reccomendations?

 

[Agilato]

I have had a look inside the console and it looks spotless like I was the first person in there the screws where all good none missing or slightly stripped, been looking for a decent multimeter for all the tiny caps on these things got any recommendations?

It's always different when you actually try to micro-solder urself, things are escalate too quickly, but you learn.

About multimeter:
it's hard to miss with Flukes something like 115, 117, 177, 179 will do the job, they are pricy but worth the money.
You can get used one from eBay with 30-40% off. If you need something cheaper but still good UNI-T UT61 popular between Russian phone repair shops. With this hobby it's one time purchase so i would buy something nice.
I am currently using cheaper Chinese one and looking to buy Fluke 179

 

[linuxares]

It's often the charging chip sadly.
Tronicfix also got a lot of good tutorials for this when he fix multiple Switches.

 

[KuroxLemming]

It's always different when you actually try to micro-solder urself, things are escalate too quickly, but you learn.

About multimeter:
it's hard to miss with Flukes something like 115, 117, 177, 179 will do the job, they are pricy but worth the money.
You can get used one from eBay with 30-40% off. If you need something cheaper but still good UNI-T UT61 popular between Russian phone repair shops. With this hobby it's one time purchase so i would buy something nice.
I am currently using cheaper Chinese one and looking to buy Fluke 179

The fluke ones are amazing but my god the price there is some of the UNI-T's on sale on amazon at the minute so going to snag myself one of those.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Agilato]

The fluke ones are amazing but my god the price there is some of the UNI-T's on sale on amazon at the minute so going to snag myself one of those.

Thank you for all your help.

Check UNI-T UT61e specifictly. Also check reviews on youtube may be you will get some insight regarding it.

 

[KuroxLemming]

Check UNI-T UT61e specifictly. Also check reviews on youtube may be you will get some insight regarding it.

Before it gave out on me I was using a mystery brand multimeter that cost me £8 anything better than that thing is an upgrade

 

[Agilato]

I mean if it's just a lite hobby you can use the cheapest one you can find or for continuity test even use bulb, wires and a battery

It's always possible to buy used one, i finally got myself Fluke 179 very used and dirty for less than half price.
After 2h it became like new, just needed a lot of cleaning and care =)

 

[KuroxLemming]

I mean if it's just a lite hobby you can use the cheapest one you can find or for continuity test even use bulb, wires and a battery

It's always possible to buy used one, i finally got myself Fluke 179 very used and dirty for less than half price.
After 2h it became like new, just needed a lot of cleaning and care =)

Sorry for the late reply I have managed to get myself a decent multimeter and have checked every single cap I could, I even took it to someone local and it seems to be the apu is at fault and will need a reflow but without the gear that neither me or the local person had the switch is back up on ebay for someone else to repair.

 

[Agilato]

Why you assumed it's apu? Needed to do second round with measuring voltages.

 

[KuroxLemming]

Why you assumed it's apu? Needed to do second round with measuring voltages.

I found a nice diagram where it showed every ohm for every cap and tested it like the window and thought I'm unsure on this so I took it to a local person who was reccomend and he did the exact same tests as me and said I have had this before its the apu he even changed all the common failure chips for me while I waited.

We sat and talked for a bit while he worked on it said everything tests good but yet totally dead.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I found a nice diagram where it showed every ohm for every cap and tested it like the window and thought I'm unsure on this so I took it to a local person who was reccomend and he did the exact same tests as me and said I have had this before its the apu he even changed all the common failure chips for me while I waited.

We sat and talked for a bit while he worked on it said everything tests good but yet totally dead.

Those would be resistors, not caps. With caps you are not measuring ohms, you are checking if either side or both sides show continuity to ground around the chips. Only one side should show continuity to ground. If both sides show continuity to ground that's a short, could be the cap if it's only one that does it, but more often than not it's a dead chip.

 

[KuroxLemming]

Those would be resistors, not caps. With caps you are not measuring ohms, you are checking if either side or both sides show continuity to ground around the chips. Only one side should show continuity to ground. If both sides show continuity to ground that's a short, could be the cap if it's only one that does it, but more often than not it's a dead chip.

I only woke up when I wrote that mean resistors not caps, that switch was sold on ebay now though so can no longer test it but all signs pointed to dead apu but I sold it for a price that if someone sold it on for parts they would of made there money back so that dead switch can live on in other systems.