Hardware N2DS XL Volume Slider Repair

[SolderJS]

I opened a New 2DS XL to examine the orange light of death (turned out that a moisture bake followed by a hot air reflow of the power ic fixed it).

When putting it back together though, the internal volume slider notch snapped right off (I must not have aligned it with the external slider properly).

I’m thinking that it’s the Alps Horizontal Dual Gang Slider Potentiometer RS08U11AZ001.

It looks identical and the specs seem in the right ballpark, though I’m not exactly sure how travel is measured and if length includes leads (too short) or just the slide part (about right).

Can anyone else confirm or deny?

 

[TurdPooCharger]

You might get the dimensions right but have the resistor value off. Only way to measure this would be to solder the slider switch off and using a multimeter for max Ω.

Although more expensive, this option eliminates the guesswork.

• [eBay] Authentic Nintendo New 2DS XL Repair Part Volume Switch / Slider Button US Audio

 

[SolderJS]

I was able to confirm that it is made by ALPS (their name is on the back, as you can see below), but I can't find it through any of their distributors or even on their own website. I'm guessing it was manufactured exclusively for Nintendo.

Dimensions are 3mm (W) x 17mm (L) x 2mm (H)

It's 8.6k Ohm with Linear Taper (B), Single Gang Slider Potentiometer.

The back:

And the front, marked:

The resistance between Pins 1 and 4 always measures around 8.6k ohms.

The measurements look something like this:

| Slider/Wiper Position | P2-P1 | P2-P4 | P1-P4 |
+-----------------------+-------+-------+-------+
|  right / top          |  8.6k |    30 |  8.6k |
|  middle               |  4.3k |  4.3k |  8.6k |
|  left / bottom        |   150 |  8.6k |  8.6k |

 

[Fatt]

Hey, can you post a image or 2 of what the slider module looks like without the plate on top? mines all janked up atm, and I cant find a good enough resolution picture to make out anything (yours are great, but the ones you posted dont help me atm)

 

[SolderJS]

I don't even have the working one, but I've posted the inside of the broken one, sans slider notch.

However, I've drawn as accurate of a picture as I can of what the slider notch looks like.

What you have is a thin film over to resistive-conductive plates with some conductive(?) grease to help it move. There's yet another assembly between the plate and the contacts that we can't see or take apart, which is where they're connected.

The notch has two flexible tabs stemming from a common base. The flexible tabs are spring like, thus keeping contact at all times.

bottom view

top view (with dotted to show underneath)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

If you could take a piece of solder wick and put some some non-conductive epoxy on the top of it (as to not short-out to ground through the metal plate) and have it glued to a small cut piece from a laptop keyboard's butterfly keyboard key, you could get a crude replacement that just might fit into the external volume slider (the thickness of the buttefly joint is about right).

 

[mjones]

I made an account just to help add to this discussion. I have a 2dsxl board that I broke the plastic slide on the volume potentiometer as well trying to put it back together like SolderJS. I am newer to soldering and board work but was able to remove the broken slider, i did not think to take measurements of the removed component or search for a part number before throwing the broken slider away since I was just gonna grab a replacement off of a original 2ds, since from photos the volume slider looks the same. After coming across this thread I started researching buying the component directly rather than search ebay for cheap 2ds boards, plus the only seller on ebay selling the volume slider has it at $8.99 for 1.

I did order a few RS08U11AZ001 sliders from Mouser. It looked like the right model the only issue is the length is a little too short for that spot on the board. There is a part RS08U111Z001 that seems to be the same as the AZ001 but a little longer, it is 14.8mm in length which seems closer to the 17mm SolderJS measured, but I don't know if the 17mm Solder did included the pins or not, so the 1Z001 may be too short as well. I may order a few 1Z001 and report back, hopefully save people money and hassle

edit: I was doing more research on the RS08U111Z001. I was looking at it on mouser(.)com and the stock image showed a horizontal slide lever, but when I searched alps website directly this part number references a vertical slide. So it seems the 1Z001 I mentioned may not be the correct one. I can't imagine alps would have made a unique potentiometer for the 2dsxl, it has to be out there somewhere. I will keep researching


**UPDATE**
I got a response back from Alps and SolderJS's suspicions were correct this was a custom part made for Nintendo.

Response I got back from Alps sales:
"The slide switch on Nintendo 2dsxl was a customized switch that we do not sell to the public."

So I guess if these break the only option is to try and fix the original or scrap them off a 2dsxl board

Hope this helps guys

 

[ojobenito]

Hi. I had a broken slider, and I purchased another to replace it. When desoldering the old one, I made a mistake and pin 2 (wiper) of the slider took the copper under it. I get sound from the New 2DS but it's always at max volume. Do you know an alternative point where I can solder pin 2 to make the new slider work? Thanks a lot!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hi. I had a broken slider, and I purchased another to replace it. When desoldering the old one, I made a mistake and pin 2 (wiper) of the slider took the copper under it. I get sound from the New 2DS but it's always at max volume. Do you know an alternative point where I can solder pin 2 to make the new slider work? Thanks a lot!

If the trace is visible you can try scraping away a bit of the solder mask on the trace next to the pad (fiberglass pen is good for this) and soldering to that using a small piece of wire. Or you could probably do it without the wire just by applying more solder.

 

[ojobenito]

If the trace is visible you can try scraping away a bit of the solder mask on the trace next to the pad (fiberglass pen is good for this) and soldering to that using a small piece of wire. Or you could probably do it without the wire just by applying more solder.

I can't see nothing under it. That's why I'm asking for an alternative point. If anyone has a broken motherboard and can trace an alternative point to that pin 2 (wiper), I'll be really thankful.
This is what it looks like:

 

[TurdPooCharger]

...
**UPDATE**
I got a response back from Alps and SolderJS's suspicions were correct this was a custom part made for Nintendo.

Response I got back from Alps sales:
"The slide switch on Nintendo 2dsxl was a customized switch that we do not sell to the public."

So I guess if these break the only option is to try and fix the original or scrap them off a 2dsxl board

Hope this helps guys

You can extract the volume slider from other 3DS models that have speaker flex cables like this one:

• [eBay] Brown Cable Flex Audio Volume Speaker Console 3DS Ribbon Cable Wire

Hi. I had a broken slider, and I purchased another to replace it. When desoldering the old one, I made a mistake and pin 2 (wiper) of the slider took the copper under it. I get sound from the New 2DS but it's always at max volume. Do you know an alternative point where I can solder pin 2 to make the new slider work? Thanks a lot!

Rebridge the broken contact with conductive silver paste.

• 3DS XL solder troubles [post #2]

 

[vincentm638]

Hi. I had a broken slider, and I purchased another to replace it. When desoldering the old one, I made a mistake and pin 2 (wiper) of the slider took the copper under it. I get sound from the New 2DS but it's always at max volume. Do you know an alternative point where I can solder pin 2 to make the new slider work? Thanks a lot!

So I did the same thing and was wondering if you ever got an answer to your question.

 

[Welshgamer101]

perfect, just what I needed, as my slider been playing up ... Ordered one just now.

 

[Phorcys_0]

To revive this thread...

Has anyone had any success in exchanging it from a slider to a pot? I feel like that would be a potentially (heh) more sturdy replacement?

I'm doing some other quality of life mods to a 2DS XL ( USB C / Wireless Charging /shell swap +looking into Bluetooth mod) and feel like this would be a better change in order to open and close the case more often without fear of breaking the volume slider. as I've broken 7 now (like if you cry every time)

 

[Welshgamer101]

I just received a complete slider as a back-up just in case I hope to take apart the old and see if can be fixed first and maybe mod to be a better design ?? , but new one as back-up.. Hope to do this next weekend, I'll update soon as I get started on it.

 

[joeygcpr]

So I did the same thing and was wondering if you ever got an answer to your question.

Hello guys, Im another victim of the volume slider damage when putting back/taking apart (rinse and repeat) while troubleshooting and repairing a nephews water damaged 2dsXL. I was lucky enough to find the little plastic piece that goes inside still holding on for dear life on the volume slider metal. I managed to desolder the volume switch slider button, completely take it apart and came across this thread to see how it worked. I was able to put the parts back together, resolder to the board, and hear the audio working again.

Just in case someone comes across this thread, there is a small copper circle underneath the board that corresponds to Wiper (pin 2) .There is continuity between the sliders pad and the copper circle. I attached a pic with a yellow arrow pointing to it for reference.

Post automatically merged: Jan 13, 2023

Edit: I decided to break out the multimeter and found these points having continuity on my 2ds XL mobo when touching the volume slider pads.
Adding a extra pic in case someone needs it.

Credits to member Marmotta for the top 2dsXL pic.