Collectors' opinions on Switch Joystick Drift

[dharmajones93]

I'm seeing and reading so much about this, but I'd be interested to hear ya'lls opinions.

Personally, I was suspect. A friend I used to play rocket league dropped off the map because of the drift. We were playing some NES online at a bar (yeah, we're those guys), when suddenly, my (left) Super Mario Odyssey Red joycon began to drift left pretty significantly. Bummer... But, as a collector I'm quite used to pulling consoles and cartridges apart and resoldering, etc...

Went home afterwards and tested all of my 11 joycon, and found three more with significant drift. I'm a collector, dust my displays monthly, have no children or pets, and otherwise keep my collection in fairly good shape. Opened up my joycon, pulled apart the joycon and can all but confirm that contact cleaner on the ribbon cable INSIDE the joystick housing to remove the excess graphite (from poorly designed contacts), reassembly and all of my drifting joycons are now fully responsive. Had I any on hand, a bit of lithium grease on the contacts themselves would likely permanently fix the issue. But I will likely have to perform the procedure again eventually as more graphite is scraped off, and once the graphite is worn through the whole ribbon will need to be replaced (though I've heard of folks using pencil graphite to replace these types of conductors once they're worn through).

This was a process and one the average consumer SHOULD NOT have to deal with, considering I have piles of 15+ year old joysticks still working.

My point is not to say Nintendo=bad, folks need to treat their stuff better, or are we all fanboys and should give Nintendo a break (cuz really who cares about our opinions, amiright...), but I guess as collectors, what other stuff have you had to deal with or fix in the past. The N64 is one I've had to replace or repair multiple joysticks in, and none of the rumble motors work in my OG Xbox controllers. At one point I had a tub of PS2's I was scrapping for parts.

Thoughts? (be nice!)

[tripredacus]

This was a process and one the average consumer SHOULD NOT have to deal with, considering I have piles of 15+ year old joysticks still working.

Yes and no. For this, it is fully expected that some amount of TLC or repair would be needed for old equipment. I would say that non-corroded equipment should be expected to work properly for at least 20 years. I am specifically referring to this type of contact and also relating it to similar methods used in CE overall. It certainly should not be something you would need to even think of worrying about in a relatively new device, or even brand new. I have read some people say they have MISB Joycons that have this issue immediately.

All in all, this seems like it is a manufacturing defect. A part is able to become defective without wear and tear, which means that it is related to environment. Nintendo or whoever actually manufactures these parts had used an inferior or defective material during construction, or it is perhaps something limited to a specific revision, factory or contractor.

[weirdfeline]

I'm glad it's finally getting mainstream attention. I've never had any issue like this with any controller I've used until the Joy-Con. Both that came with the system have had drift and electrical contact cleaner works but it's just a temporary fix as it'll have to be applied again after a few weeks. I think one other Joy-Con I have has a minor amount of drift as well even though I mainly just use the original two. So 3/6 of my Joy-Con have drift. Two of those 6 I've used maybe once or twice so who knows if those have decided to start drifting.

[indenton]

I'm gonna need someone to explain this to me.  What is drift?  I don't know what it's implying, what is it doing exactly??

[dharmajones93]

@Tripredacus, I agree, I think they picked the wrong product for the job and they're just now seeing the ramifications.

@Indenton, Joystick drift is an issue with all analogue joysticks. The unit sending the signal detects erroneous inputs and tells the receiving unit that action is being performed when the user may not even be touching the joystick, rendering them effectively useless. It usually happens after years us use and wear, but Nintendo Switch owners, myself included, are reporting this effect happening just months after purchase. There's been a class action lawsuit and Nintendo actually just made a public statement about it. All the major game news media outlets are reporting it.

I think I made the post because as a collector I'm pretty used to this kind of thing happening and am not as off put by it as some seem to be. Meanwhile, others are downright denying it's a real thing and blaming users experiencing drift for mishandling their Switches. Which, honestly is a bit offensive to me (about as offensive as a sideways insult from an internet troll can be...), as a collector I absolutely cherish this stuff.

[tripredacus]

Another explanation of the behaviour is that a game thinks that right or left (or any other button) is being pressed (or held down) when it isn't. It usually happens with a control that uses slight contact, rather than one that uses an actual switch. If you were playing a game, and suddenly your character or cursor keeping moving in a direction all by itself.

Anyone who is a PC gamer would recognize this, as it will eventually happen with keyboards. I have memories of many games where suddenly my character just wants to go left, no matter what. When that happens, you need to get a new keyboard!

With exception to Black Ops 4, when exiting the Lightning Strike tablet you can only move left/right, or not move at all, for a few seconds... that is a game bug.

[thecrypticodor]

Most analog stick modules have plastic components and a spring needed for the sticks tension and for its automatic return to center. The joystick mechanism is mostly made of plastic parts that wears and shaven down by repeated use and friction which can cause the stick to return and sit off of it’s center deadzone. So the controller thinks the sticks are being pushed in one or more directions slightly. Stick drift is a inevitable consequences of use and wear so the issue is if it’s happening prematurely. 

At the very least Nintendo made the sticks easy to replace they're not even soldered onto the board just a detachable ribbon cable.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=nintendo+switch+analog&_sacat=0

Stick drift was very common with controllers that use the standard ALPS joystick modules that the PS2 Xbox original and 360 and a lot of others used and is much harder to replace with 14 pins on each module that has to be desoldered just to be removed from the board.

[oldgamerz]

(not related to the topic) but One of my Nintendo GameCube controllers does it too. For a Pokemon game but I can't remember if the controller is a name brand of not

[ferraroso]

Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise considering Nintendo's long history of producing crappy analog sticks...
Does anyone here remember how reliable the N64's used to be?

[weirdfeline]

Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise considering Nintendo's long history of producing crappy analog sticks...
Does anyone here remember how reliable the N64's used to be?

I think what they used for the Wii U GamePad was pretty good but their placement was weird.

[shadowzero]

I just wanted to go on record by saying while two of my joycons should not have to be repaired I will say that replacing the analog sticks is fairly easy.  It doesn't require any soldering.  The first one I did took about 30 mins and the second one in half the time.  I bought two from ebay for $7.10 and I already had the triwing screwdriver.