If the left or right Joy-Con, or even both Joy-Con for your Nintendo switch are completely dead and not charging, then you are not alone.
It’s one thing for your Joy-Con to not be charging at all when they are low, it’s a whole other thing if the Joy-Con are completely dead already.
Why?
Your Nintendo switch will not even detect your Joy-Con at all when they are completely dead, and you can’t get them to be synced or detected by the switch (which is needed to charge them) unless you turn them on. However, to turn them on, you need to press the SYNC button on the Joy-Con, but that won’t work either because they are completely dead.
I understand the loop you are stuck in, but you have no reason to worry anymore.
In this guide, I am going to show you at least 3 ways to fix your right and left Joy-Con that are completely dead and not charging.
If that sounds interesting to you, let’s dive right in!
Joy-Con Completely Dead and Not Charging
Like I said earlier, there’s a way to fix that – 4 ways actually.
No matter what, at least one of these methods will get it fixed.
First of all, make sure the Joy-Con and connecting rail properly have been cleaned as explained and shown in this video:
Whether or not cleaning the Joy-Con fixes your issue, it’s best to cross it off the list. Moreover, it’s the easiest & fastest thing to do (and also with very high rate of getting the issue fixed!).
You don’t want to go through the whole process below and conclude that it’s not charging when the only issue left is just the dirt/dust stuck in the connecting sides.
That said, let’s begin with the first method.
If one or both of your Joy-Con are completely dead and not charging, first confirm that the Nintendo switch still charges by testing it with another Joy-Con that’s working and not dead. Once you confirm that it works, plug in the Joy-Con into your Nintendo switch for 4 hours.
Method 1. Make Sure Switch Works & Charge for Hours
Now, this method will work if neither the switch nor the Joy-Con is faulty.
What you need to do is simple:
First, you need to be sure that the Nintendo switch connecting rail works.
One way to do that is to find a working Joy-Con that’s not completely dead (probably from a friend) and see if your Nintendo switch charges it.
- If it does charge the other Joy-Con, you are sure it still works and you can go ahead with this method.
- If it doesn’t charge the other Joy-Con too, then jump to method 2 below.
- What if you can’t get another Joy-Con to test it? Then, you can be sure where the issue is from yet. Therefore, try both methods.
Once you confirm that your Nintendo switch works and can charge the Joy-Con, leave your Joy-Con in your Nintendo switch for at least 4 hours (even though it’s not showing any signs of charging on your switch since it’s completely dead) and that should fully charge them.
Some users who had the same issue where able to fix it (and got a fully charged Joy-Con) after leaving it plugged into their Nintendo switch for hours.
Just literally forget about it while plugged in, and be patient.
If you have done this for hours and it still doesn’t fix it or you just don’t want to wait for that yet, then it’s about time you open up your switch which takes us to the second method.
2. Open the Nintendo Switch & Fix Circuit Short
Now, don’t get scared because it requires you to open up the switch.
It’s not a technical thing to do at all. You will just be loosing some screws and putting them back in (at least that’s the simplified version).
By the way, I have also attached a video below the explanation for visual demonstration.
Now, let me explain what we are trying to achieve here.
There is a circuit in the board of the switch that houses both the fan and the Joy-Con connectors. If there is a short in this circuit, it causes the Joy-Con not to charge. This short in the circuit is a common issue.
What we want to do here is the fix the short in the circuit so that power reaches the Joy-Con connector and it charges when you plug it in.
Now, let’s get into it.
(i) Open up the Nintendo Switch
There is nothing much to explain here. Get a screw driver, loosen the screws and open up the case so you can see the board.
(ii) Temporarily Unplug the Battery Connector
When dealing with technical fixes, it’s best to disconnect the battery most of the times.
The way you can do this is the unplug the battery connector.
(iii) Temporarily Remove the Heatsink
Remember the fan connector we talked about earlier? It’s just below the hear sink (also shown the screenshot above).
Therefore, to access the fan connector, we need to remove the heat sink.
To do that, loosen the screws holding it in place and carefully lift it up to see the circuit we need to work on.
NOTE: Be careful not to pull hard on it while trying to remove it as it’s quite fragile.
(iv) Remove the Diode
Now, this is the main thing we are trying to fix.
The diode is the one causing the short in the circuit, making the Joy-Con not to charge.
A diode conducts current primarily in one direction (it has low resistance in one direction, and high resistance in the other direction).
The diode isn’t a necessity, and the game will run perfectly well without it.
In fact, in a new revision of the same Nintendo switch board, the diode was not even included at all.
If you don’t know what the diode looks like, go ahead and watch the video below that shows the whole process.
Not quite technical to do, is it?
(v) Put back everything in place and assemble
Before you assemble it back, make sure you:
- Put the Heatsink and the screws that hold it back in place
- Plug back the battery connector
- Next, do a quick check and make sure you don’t have anything left out
- Finally, assemble the switch and put back the casing screw
Turn it on, connect the Joy-Con and it should be charging perfectly well.
3. Buy a Charging Dork for Joy-Con
if the switch isn’t charging at all, you last option is to buy a charging dork for your Joy-Con.
At least, this is cheaper than getting a new Nintendo switch.
4. Contact Nintendo’s Customer Support
If you are within warranty period for your Nintendo switch, then you can contact Nintendo to get a replacement or fix the issue for you at no extra cost.
Therefore, if your left or right Joy-Con is completely dead and won’t charge, there are 4 ways to fix it:
- Confirm that the Nintendo switch can charge another Joy-Con, then plug your Joy-Con for hours even if it doesn’t show charging notification on the switch
- Open up the Nintendo switch and get rid of the diode that causes short in the circuit
- Buy a charging dork for your Joy-Con
- Contact Nintendo’s customer support for fix or replacement at no cost if you are still under warranty
That is all for now.
Kindly use the comment section below to share your experience and feedback. Also, don’t forget to share with others using the share buttons.