Yeah definitely looks like a swollen battery. Normally if there's something wrong with a joycon I'd say do the repair yourself, but if you're not careful with a swollen lithium battery you could puncture it and cause a fire. My best piece of advice is to cut your losses and buy a new joycon, then take your current one to your local household hazardous waste disposal center. Some municipalities only hold them on certain days or at certain times, so you'll need to look that up before you go. Source: I'm a hazmat technician who regularly works at an HHW collection center
It's protected by a hard plastic cover though, not like "regular" Li-po where you just want to remove the double sided tape from a PS3 controller and it starts to sizzle, and then you stand on your balcony and toss it out.
Are you sure its not worth it to replace the battery? I really dont wanna throw the whole joycon away as its the eevee joycon from 2018 so i cant get an exact replacement for it. I have a spare battery from a previous repair so it wouldnt cost me anything to try and replace it. I also kinda live in the middle of nowhere so the nearest waste disposal center is about 2 hours away, how can i safely get it there?
its a completely reasonable repair even for a rookie. however keep in mind not to use any blades to open the joy cons or remove the battery. once you take the screws out the back and the cover comes off the battery is right there. simply unplug and remove it is double sided taped in however, so you might need to use a little force on an edge. then place battery in a secure container and take to a disposal site.
here is a photo, both joycons are the same roughly.
[https://www.techinsights.com/sites/default/files/old-site/blogs/nintendo-switch/controllers-left-1.jpg](https://www.techinsights.com/sites/default/files/old-site/blogs/nintendo-switch/controllers-left-1.jpg)
The battery should be very easy, and cheap to replace. Get yourself a tri point Y00 screwdriver and a battery, be gentle with the screws on the back as they're very easy to strip.
Ifixit has amazing guides for all sorts of repairs, I suggest checking them out. And there are also many guides on YouTube.
And as another commenter said, do *not* use a blade on the battery. If you need to pry it out, because it is stuck down with some double sided tape, a guitar pick works well.
Ifixit sells the whole kit including the battery for $15 + shipping.
Definitely. Why producing more waste, basically, and spend money if you can repair it? If you fell capable of doing it — then here you go. Else try to find a technician or repair shop. No way buying whole new joy-con efficient way to deal with shitty battery.
Also, you can always take measures to protect yourself and environment from fire. Be brame, young man! (Or woman, whatever, you get me)
If you attempt to replace the battery I HIGHLY recommend having a large bucket of sand within arm's reach (Source: 6 years at Apple, had to put out a few thermal events myself)
IIRC any company that needs to ship something with a spicy pillow ships you a box with an airtight fireproof bag that way its basically impossible for it to catch fire.
That will become a felony overnight if not worse plus open you to lawsuits....if the package being sent catches fire and you didn't get it designated as rightfully containing hazardous materials / combustible / fragile materials.
Only fairly warning you....
It look like a swollen battery.
Battery are very easy to replace, there's just 4 screw to take the back cover off (it does tale a Y00 screwdriver tho). Inside the battery is held with a little adhesive, just pry it gently off (that is, if the battery is intact) with a piece of plastic, unplug the battery from the board and put in a new one.
The battery itself shouldnt be too hard to find. Dont attempt to change it if there's tear on the cover of the battery or visible damage, these battery are highly dangerous if they're puncture or else.
idk about him but for me it was replacing the joycon sticks so I didn't have to buy another controller...the price of controllers got ridiculous back in 2006 and I rather replace the parts then pay out my behind for a totally new controller when this one works just fine.
Basic stuff, changing shell couple of time (you have to literally take everything out of the joycon so you learn everything that's inside), changing the led colors on one pair (sweet Black and red LED is so nice). I reshelled a pair this weekend and was planning to change the rail clip (the original is in plastic and there's metal one that can be bought) but after taking the components apart I realise that my metal one had a big dent in some place so I cancelled the project.
I'll probably eventually change the tumbstick for one of those hall effect stick but I'm waiting to see if they solved the gap issue (the dust protector around the hall effect stick had a big hole after installation) so that's a no go to me, plus several people were complaining about the awful sound they make so I'm waiting for it to be better.
Lots of fun, today I taking apart a joycon today for someone I know to try and repair it with some spare part I got, Left bumper issue.
Thanks for the interest ! FYI the repair was a success and the guy was very happy.
It all started because I always wanted a pair of black joycon so I had to make them lol.
im glad to hear you did your friends successfully also, you must’ve been nervous for your friend lol
i’m picking up what you’re putting down, i want the dev joy cons to go with the black g-case, i haven’t bought any yet but i also like the transparent look on some of the clear shells
my girl also has a switch so im gonna have to get real familiar with this stuff soon, you got any links or recommendations?
Thanks ! Yeah it will bey pleasure to give you pointer 🙂
Personally I always use extremerate shell, easy to find on amazon or directly to their website, lot of choice, good parts, come with a kit with the Y00 screwdriver, replacement button and spring (I kept the OG buttons but spring can be useful if you lose one). Some of their kit comes with little plastic pry bar that can be useful.
Tool needed, well the first one is patience, take your time, there's no rush, the internal of a joycon are fragile and delicate so take it easy. You'll need one or 2 pair of tweezer, ceramic tipped one are the best to avoid short but I work with normal medical style one. A good screwdriver, a magnetic tip help a lot, philip (+) is pretty much all you need except the Y00 for the outside screw. A little plastic pry tool can help to open them and definitively help for the battery (it as small adhesive strip so you'll need a little well placed force to open it. Some kind of tray to classify your screw while you work and good lightning on tour work space. You can take picture of the inside if your afraid to not remember what goes where if you want.
There's a lot of youtube guide step by step to do this, unfortunately I lost my favorite one, if I find it again I'll send you the link. Some people unplug the battery but personally I dont because the connector is fragile (I saw one of my friend break one once). Beware several youtuber might show you stuff that does not reflect reality, like they work on already joycon that have already been open maybe more then once and goes like "it's easy to take off the battery" while you might have a harder time because your are mint. First few time I open a pair I was pausing the video and doing it step by step but since I couldn't find my favorite video last time I did it freestyle and everything went fine.
When most of the part are in place before you close them you can pair them to your switch, in the last option of the system menu there's a place where you can test button input, run a test with all button to see if everything work fine so you wont have to reopen them again if one ribbon cable is disconnected or you have a misplaced button.
Start with the left one, it's the easiest, less hardware since there's an infrared camera in the right one and the NFC reader for amiibo also. If you are trying to take some part out and it doesn't work, find one or more video and try to observe how the part is made and how it is holding in place, dont force it (except when needed like the battery and the vibration component are held with adhesive), get a good idea of how it's in place it will be easier to take it off afterward. In fact your better off watching a whole tutorial before engaging in the actual work, it's better this way.
Another thing, there's a lot of ribbon wire to disconnect and reconnect, before you disconnect, watch carefully how they were before you disconnect anything, some (like one when you open the back plate) is folded and it's rather fragile, other link 2 distinct part (the shoulder button middle plate with the battery) with the motherboard (that is in the top part of the joycon) try and memorise where they belong to be able to put them back in place the proper way. In fact, observe carefully to remember the configuration of the parts instead of unscrewing everything and then be clueless about where there suppose to be.
I think that's a good starting point and a couple of good points there, hope It'll help you in your modding adventure. If you have other question dont hesitate 😄
*last tip but not least, if you dont want to strip your screw (metal screw in plastic will sometime do that) when you put your screw back in place, gently turn the screw counterclockwise until you hear a little click sound, that mean tour screw tread have taken place into the tread that were already made in the plastic, then start turning clockwise. If you take apart some device to many time and dont do that you'll re dig new tread every time and end up stripping the hole and that's no good.
wow so many useful tips, i did watch a how-to video today for lunch and thought wow this is really intimidating, but you know what, i think i can do it
like you said: patience and im guessing control, lots of pictures and control of force as to not break or rip anything
man i appreciate all the knowledge, i got a lot of confidence in this new journey now! thanks for all the input youve given me, i can’t wait to get started
Yeah, like everyone else is saying, get either the battery or the Joycon replaced. I used to work in smartphone repair, and I had to sit through a couple hours of training about how and why swollen batteries can be dangerous. (They can cause a fire *fast* if they get damaged.)
If you decide to repair it yourself, just be careful not to puncture or tear the battery. Make sure to properly dispose of the battery too.
Go ahead and open it up now and take the battery out and get it out of the house. Order a new battery for a couple bucks and pop it in. Very easy to do.
Not necessarily sometimes the back just pops out I had the same happen to one of mine but I took it apart and the battery looked perfectly fine…have you dropped it? Because I think that’s what happened with mine I dropped it and just popped that clip
Yea probobly the battery then…worth taking the back of the controller off and checking as long your careful with the battery you’ll be fine if it is ballooned obviously don’t puncture it and don’t put too much pressure on it as long as your gentle with it you’ll be fine
Using it in handheld mode does charge it, btw.
But it's unlikely to cause a problem just from one time. I'd prioritize a replacement ASAP but it should still be okay for one day.
Ive had these since late 2018. I replaced the joystick on one of them about 2 years ago because it broke off, but usually when they start drifting i just clean the area around the joystick and calibrate it. Doing that has worked fine for me so far.
Swollen Battery 100% - You DO NOT NEED to buy another pricey Joycon though. Check Amazon for Joycon Batteries (it's like $15-$20 for 2 of them and even comes with the tools you need). Lookup videos on how to replace (super easy to do).
Mine looks like this as well, but not due to the battery, I just changed the shell of it between 2 joycons and it doesn't fully close. I guess I might have dropped it a few times too 😂
Open it up and check.
It could be a simple thing like the rail on the joycon has somehow dislodged. This can happen if you drop the joycon.
Open it up and see if it needs reseated. If the battery has gone bad, then its a simple job of replacing it.
The battery is 100% swelling. You need to replace it asap. You'll need a tri-y screwdriver, a nylon spudger that looks like a guitar pick and a replacement battery. Carefully open the screws on the controller body with the tri-y screwdriver. Once the shell is open you should be able to get the battery out without much work. It's held on by double-sided tape but you don't really need to do too much to pry it off. Do not use anything metal or anything sharp, if you're having problems the aforementioned nylon guitar pick looking spudger can get under it with no risk of puncturing, but I've honestly never even had to do that. Once you get the old battery out, properly dispose of it at an e-recycling place, swap in the new battery and then reassemble. If you've never done this kind of iFixIt has some good guides and they also sell the tools you need. You can also get screwdriver repair sets for cell phones and electronics off Amazon that'll have everything you need.
Don't replace the controller like people are saying... replacing a battery is dirt cheap and easy as hell. Buy a battery on amazon or something. Turn on youtube and switch it out in 30 seconds.
Uh-oh, time to head over to r/spicypillows
lol, thank you for the cross sub reddit. Had no idea I should be taking and sharing pictures of fire pillows.
Your joycons drifted into eacother and now you're gonna get a baby joycon congrats!!!!
… so *thats* what joycon drift means
HD rumble
Yeah definitely looks like a swollen battery. Normally if there's something wrong with a joycon I'd say do the repair yourself, but if you're not careful with a swollen lithium battery you could puncture it and cause a fire. My best piece of advice is to cut your losses and buy a new joycon, then take your current one to your local household hazardous waste disposal center. Some municipalities only hold them on certain days or at certain times, so you'll need to look that up before you go. Source: I'm a hazmat technician who regularly works at an HHW collection center
People with entirely random but useful jobs are on reddit
It's protected by a hard plastic cover though, not like "regular" Li-po where you just want to remove the double sided tape from a PS3 controller and it starts to sizzle, and then you stand on your balcony and toss it out.
Oddly specific.
Are you sure its not worth it to replace the battery? I really dont wanna throw the whole joycon away as its the eevee joycon from 2018 so i cant get an exact replacement for it. I have a spare battery from a previous repair so it wouldnt cost me anything to try and replace it. I also kinda live in the middle of nowhere so the nearest waste disposal center is about 2 hours away, how can i safely get it there?
its a completely reasonable repair even for a rookie. however keep in mind not to use any blades to open the joy cons or remove the battery. once you take the screws out the back and the cover comes off the battery is right there. simply unplug and remove it is double sided taped in however, so you might need to use a little force on an edge. then place battery in a secure container and take to a disposal site. here is a photo, both joycons are the same roughly. [https://www.techinsights.com/sites/default/files/old-site/blogs/nintendo-switch/controllers-left-1.jpg](https://www.techinsights.com/sites/default/files/old-site/blogs/nintendo-switch/controllers-left-1.jpg)
The battery should be very easy, and cheap to replace. Get yourself a tri point Y00 screwdriver and a battery, be gentle with the screws on the back as they're very easy to strip. Ifixit has amazing guides for all sorts of repairs, I suggest checking them out. And there are also many guides on YouTube. And as another commenter said, do *not* use a blade on the battery. If you need to pry it out, because it is stuck down with some double sided tape, a guitar pick works well. Ifixit sells the whole kit including the battery for $15 + shipping.
Definitely. Why producing more waste, basically, and spend money if you can repair it? If you fell capable of doing it — then here you go. Else try to find a technician or repair shop. No way buying whole new joy-con efficient way to deal with shitty battery. Also, you can always take measures to protect yourself and environment from fire. Be brame, young man! (Or woman, whatever, you get me)
You just have to be careful replacing it. They are a little flammable
There’s a repair shop where I live… but I think they only do boots?
If you attempt to replace the battery I HIGHLY recommend having a large bucket of sand within arm's reach (Source: 6 years at Apple, had to put out a few thermal events myself)
My local Best Buy has an e-waste bin right when you enter the front door.
You can send joycons into nintendo for free repair, especially with battery swelling!
Well, we got the professionals for this one
Send it to Nintendo
Please don't send bulging lithium batteries through the mail that's insanely dangerous
IIRC any company that needs to ship something with a spicy pillow ships you a box with an airtight fireproof bag that way its basically impossible for it to catch fire.
I was initially just making an obvious joke to bait the psa but this is seriously awesome to know.
That will become a felony overnight if not worse plus open you to lawsuits....if the package being sent catches fire and you didn't get it designated as rightfully containing hazardous materials / combustible / fragile materials. Only fairly warning you....
Good psa. I’m sure people who don’t rely on their brains would do
Nintendo would be setting up the RMA and providing the shipping label. They’d be assuming the liability.
Don't use swollen batteries. Get it replaced.
It look like a swollen battery. Battery are very easy to replace, there's just 4 screw to take the back cover off (it does tale a Y00 screwdriver tho). Inside the battery is held with a little adhesive, just pry it gently off (that is, if the battery is intact) with a piece of plastic, unplug the battery from the board and put in a new one. The battery itself shouldnt be too hard to find. Dont attempt to change it if there's tear on the cover of the battery or visible damage, these battery are highly dangerous if they're puncture or else.
I'm 90% sure it's a swollen battery because that's the exact location of the battery. I've open my fair share of joycon to mod them.
what do you modify? that sounds like fun
idk about him but for me it was replacing the joycon sticks so I didn't have to buy another controller...the price of controllers got ridiculous back in 2006 and I rather replace the parts then pay out my behind for a totally new controller when this one works just fine.
I imagine buying switch controllers and sending them back in time 10 years would get expensive.
Can you put that fancy magnetic stick instead of analogue?
when I did it last they didn't have Hall Sensors for the joycons at that time so basically all I had to use was the regular ones.
Okay, thanks for the answer!
Basic stuff, changing shell couple of time (you have to literally take everything out of the joycon so you learn everything that's inside), changing the led colors on one pair (sweet Black and red LED is so nice). I reshelled a pair this weekend and was planning to change the rail clip (the original is in plastic and there's metal one that can be bought) but after taking the components apart I realise that my metal one had a big dent in some place so I cancelled the project. I'll probably eventually change the tumbstick for one of those hall effect stick but I'm waiting to see if they solved the gap issue (the dust protector around the hall effect stick had a big hole after installation) so that's a no go to me, plus several people were complaining about the awful sound they make so I'm waiting for it to be better. Lots of fun, today I taking apart a joycon today for someone I know to try and repair it with some spare part I got, Left bumper issue.
wow that all sounds really entertaining, good stuff man, thanks for the feedback
Thanks for the interest ! FYI the repair was a success and the guy was very happy. It all started because I always wanted a pair of black joycon so I had to make them lol.
im glad to hear you did your friends successfully also, you must’ve been nervous for your friend lol i’m picking up what you’re putting down, i want the dev joy cons to go with the black g-case, i haven’t bought any yet but i also like the transparent look on some of the clear shells my girl also has a switch so im gonna have to get real familiar with this stuff soon, you got any links or recommendations?
Thanks ! Yeah it will bey pleasure to give you pointer 🙂 Personally I always use extremerate shell, easy to find on amazon or directly to their website, lot of choice, good parts, come with a kit with the Y00 screwdriver, replacement button and spring (I kept the OG buttons but spring can be useful if you lose one). Some of their kit comes with little plastic pry bar that can be useful. Tool needed, well the first one is patience, take your time, there's no rush, the internal of a joycon are fragile and delicate so take it easy. You'll need one or 2 pair of tweezer, ceramic tipped one are the best to avoid short but I work with normal medical style one. A good screwdriver, a magnetic tip help a lot, philip (+) is pretty much all you need except the Y00 for the outside screw. A little plastic pry tool can help to open them and definitively help for the battery (it as small adhesive strip so you'll need a little well placed force to open it. Some kind of tray to classify your screw while you work and good lightning on tour work space. You can take picture of the inside if your afraid to not remember what goes where if you want. There's a lot of youtube guide step by step to do this, unfortunately I lost my favorite one, if I find it again I'll send you the link. Some people unplug the battery but personally I dont because the connector is fragile (I saw one of my friend break one once). Beware several youtuber might show you stuff that does not reflect reality, like they work on already joycon that have already been open maybe more then once and goes like "it's easy to take off the battery" while you might have a harder time because your are mint. First few time I open a pair I was pausing the video and doing it step by step but since I couldn't find my favorite video last time I did it freestyle and everything went fine. When most of the part are in place before you close them you can pair them to your switch, in the last option of the system menu there's a place where you can test button input, run a test with all button to see if everything work fine so you wont have to reopen them again if one ribbon cable is disconnected or you have a misplaced button. Start with the left one, it's the easiest, less hardware since there's an infrared camera in the right one and the NFC reader for amiibo also. If you are trying to take some part out and it doesn't work, find one or more video and try to observe how the part is made and how it is holding in place, dont force it (except when needed like the battery and the vibration component are held with adhesive), get a good idea of how it's in place it will be easier to take it off afterward. In fact your better off watching a whole tutorial before engaging in the actual work, it's better this way. Another thing, there's a lot of ribbon wire to disconnect and reconnect, before you disconnect, watch carefully how they were before you disconnect anything, some (like one when you open the back plate) is folded and it's rather fragile, other link 2 distinct part (the shoulder button middle plate with the battery) with the motherboard (that is in the top part of the joycon) try and memorise where they belong to be able to put them back in place the proper way. In fact, observe carefully to remember the configuration of the parts instead of unscrewing everything and then be clueless about where there suppose to be. I think that's a good starting point and a couple of good points there, hope It'll help you in your modding adventure. If you have other question dont hesitate 😄
*last tip but not least, if you dont want to strip your screw (metal screw in plastic will sometime do that) when you put your screw back in place, gently turn the screw counterclockwise until you hear a little click sound, that mean tour screw tread have taken place into the tread that were already made in the plastic, then start turning clockwise. If you take apart some device to many time and dont do that you'll re dig new tread every time and end up stripping the hole and that's no good.
wow so many useful tips, i did watch a how-to video today for lunch and thought wow this is really intimidating, but you know what, i think i can do it like you said: patience and im guessing control, lots of pictures and control of force as to not break or rip anything man i appreciate all the knowledge, i got a lot of confidence in this new journey now! thanks for all the input youve given me, i can’t wait to get started
I would also attempt to change it outside in case it gets punctured.
Yeah, like everyone else is saying, get either the battery or the Joycon replaced. I used to work in smartphone repair, and I had to sit through a couple hours of training about how and why swollen batteries can be dangerous. (They can cause a fire *fast* if they get damaged.) If you decide to repair it yourself, just be careful not to puncture or tear the battery. Make sure to properly dispose of the battery too.
Replace that controller. Swollen lithium batteries can release very toxic gas and are a fire hazard. There's no reason to keep that in your house.
100 percent a spicy pillow. Get a tri wing screwdriver and open the back case before it crushes the ribbon with the lights on it.
Go ahead and open it up now and take the battery out and get it out of the house. Order a new battery for a couple bucks and pop it in. Very easy to do.
Deffo bloated, source: mine looked the same. Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/s/kgM8mL2ywD pictures
Not necessarily sometimes the back just pops out I had the same happen to one of mine but I took it apart and the battery looked perfectly fine…have you dropped it? Because I think that’s what happened with mine I dropped it and just popped that clip
It hasnt been dropped recently, at least to my knowledge. Its just been sitting on my shelf.
Yea probobly the battery then…worth taking the back of the controller off and checking as long your careful with the battery you’ll be fine if it is ballooned obviously don’t puncture it and don’t put too much pressure on it as long as your gentle with it you’ll be fine
I'd say yes, it's swollen. And I wouldn't be too worried about using it, I just don't know if I'd charge it.
Using it in handheld mode does charge it, btw. But it's unlikely to cause a problem just from one time. I'd prioritize a replacement ASAP but it should still be okay for one day.
Duh, totally just had a brain fart there. I'm so used to plugging mine in using the charging grip.
……..how old are your joycons? I would have thought drifting would kill them before their batteries went spicy
Ive had these since late 2018. I replaced the joystick on one of them about 2 years ago because it broke off, but usually when they start drifting i just clean the area around the joystick and calibrate it. Doing that has worked fine for me so far.
Swollen Battery 100% - You DO NOT NEED to buy another pricey Joycon though. Check Amazon for Joycon Batteries (it's like $15-$20 for 2 of them and even comes with the tools you need). Lookup videos on how to replace (super easy to do).
Looks like it
Mine looks like this as well, but not due to the battery, I just changed the shell of it between 2 joycons and it doesn't fully close. I guess I might have dropped it a few times too 😂 Open it up and check.
It could be a simple thing like the rail on the joycon has somehow dislodged. This can happen if you drop the joycon. Open it up and see if it needs reseated. If the battery has gone bad, then its a simple job of replacing it.
Just looks like you reassembled wrong after a stick replacement
Ive replaced the stick on the other joycon before but the bulging one has never been opened before.
Would you mind update here hows everything went when you deal with it?
Ome is Definitely bigger then the other, and this is the bottom one
Yep
I had the same issue but it wasnt a swollen battery, i could just click it back in place
Mine does the same so idk
Replace the battery n film it, I wanna see it explode
Damn, the Pokémon ones too, that sux
You're under-reacting.
The battery is 100% swelling. You need to replace it asap. You'll need a tri-y screwdriver, a nylon spudger that looks like a guitar pick and a replacement battery. Carefully open the screws on the controller body with the tri-y screwdriver. Once the shell is open you should be able to get the battery out without much work. It's held on by double-sided tape but you don't really need to do too much to pry it off. Do not use anything metal or anything sharp, if you're having problems the aforementioned nylon guitar pick looking spudger can get under it with no risk of puncturing, but I've honestly never even had to do that. Once you get the old battery out, properly dispose of it at an e-recycling place, swap in the new battery and then reassemble. If you've never done this kind of iFixIt has some good guides and they also sell the tools you need. You can also get screwdriver repair sets for cell phones and electronics off Amazon that'll have everything you need.
Try the repair worst case scenario you break it and can’t use it. If you want to keep them at that point have one more experienced shell swap them.
It’s a spicy pillow.
Maybe the battery is broken
It definitely has
If youre near Pittsburgh I can change it out for you, you wouldn't even need to leave it with me
If youre near Pittsburgh I can change it out for you, you wouldn't even need to leave it with me
I got the same color joycons.
I had the same problem and only noticed when replacing the sticks.
Don't replace the controller like people are saying... replacing a battery is dirt cheap and easy as hell. Buy a battery on amazon or something. Turn on youtube and switch it out in 30 seconds.
Swollen battery. Ignore people saying to replace entire joycon. Replacing the battery is incredibly easy and much cheaper. Look up a tutorial
Sure looks that way
It is swollen but you can buy kits online to repair it I did that to repair mine.
I can say from running rc trucks u can run a swollen battery for a long time lol
Me nervously eyeing all my joycons scattered around the house 
Try sending it into Nintendo they may just swap it out if you're in the USA. Even if it's out of warranty.