I have a DSi that is in very good condition but for the right shoulder button. It does work but I have to press very hard to get it to register. The “lift up the button and blow into it” does actually improve the function of the button for a bit (I use canned air, not moist mouth) but it doesn’t take long at all to NOT work either. Does anyone have a REAL solution that actually works short of disassembly and replacement of the button?
Good news! I’ve fixed dozens of systems with this exact problem. It’s very straightforward and doesn’t require much disassembly.
Pull the back off, and spray contact cleaner directly into the switch (in the tiny gap around the switch’s button). Note that you’ll need to disassemble the rear shell a little to get to the switch, but you won’t need to pull the motherboard. (In the original DSI there’l be one flat connector to lift off, and in the XL there’ll be two.)
Then rapidly and gently push the button a whole bunch.
That will clear away dust or micro corrosion that’s interfering with the electric contact.
Reassemble, and it should work better. If it’s not perfect, try again.
I’ve never had a console whose button needed more than three contact cleaner applications. And that was only with buttons that completely stopped working.
My human! Thank you, time to break out Ol’ Spudgy McSpudgerson and the ifixit Driver Band, I hope we do enjoy the show.
Winner winner chicken dinner. I had to take off the back, but to get a good angle on the button I had to remove the orange stylus retainer and lift up the button PCB. Contact cleaner, working the switch, and then one failed and one successful shot at getting the button assembly perfectly aligned - VERY easy to JUST BARELY misalign it and remove ALL click which is entirely the opposite of what we’re looking for.
I finally see why people directly blasting contact cleaner into the button area [EDIT: without opening the shell] IS a viable trick, but given the excess you spray to actually get the button means that you’re also risking saturating the screen (which might not be permanent, if you’re using a regular contact cleaner and not fancy shit like deoxit, which would almost certainly ruin the screen). Thanks for the assurance that it’s a solid chance of success, you’re totally right. I just hate flex cables and their connectors.
The switch underneath is most likely bad. I know that replacing it isn’t an option for you, but it may be the answer.
Have you tried disassembling the unit to see if there is any debris?
So there wasn’t any visible debris upon disassembly but directly attacking the button with contact cleaner was effective.
Hey, that’s great to hear! Generally, when those buttons fail to activate, they need replaced. I’ll try to keep this in my back pocket, though.
It’s going to be pretty hard to properly clean the button without opening it up since there isn’t a good way to get cleaner into them.
Thanks. I truly dislike working on the NDS and its progeny, except for the 1st gen 2DS. It is stupidly easy to disturb the ribbon cables even with the most careful hand.
Which doesn’t do much to explain why I bought a pile of DSi XLs to fix up. Separate issue.
I figured disassembly and cleaning might help but thought maybe there was an actual viable trick.
Note that a big risk with contact cleaner is that it easily penetrates into the screen. If you’re using an old school contact cleaner this usually isn’t fatal as it tends to quickly evaporate over a few hours at worst. But if you’re using deoxit or something with oils, you will damage the appearance of the screen.
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