Chosen Solution
Hello, recently I purchased a damaged Switch unit from my local game store, and am looking for any advise or insight on what may be wrong with the device. The problems the device has are as follows:The device appears to be entirely dead, no sign of life in any capacity, this includes while it is plugged in and attempting to charge. The screen stays entirely black, and there is never a charge indicator that pops up, even after a full 24 hour charge. When docking the Switch, the green light on the dock will flash for one second, then promptly turn off. While the Switch was plugged in and charging, the device did get warm to the touch, which at least tells me that plugging it in yielded some kind of result. I have already considered the fact it may be stuck in an AutoRCM mode, however, after charging the device and connecting it to my PC, it’s not detected as such, and I have also done every method I could find online to attempt to boot the console, such as the multiple discharge methods, and power on methods such as holding the volume buttons while attempting a boot. All this to be said, I decided to open the Switch to see if there was any noticeable damage to the internals of the console, and have found very little, yet not none to be concerned over.For starters, I found remnants of what appear to be bug shells? Then, after further disassembly, I found a minor, yet still apparent amount of corrosion underneath the copper heat pipe. The system’s water damage indication sticker is perfectly intact though, so I do not believe this system has suffered from any (or at the least very very minor) water damage. [Edit: The corrosion found was on the underside of the copper heat pipe, near the fins and exhaust port, which to me indicated that a small amount of water could have possibly been introduced into the device, or, that the device was merely kept in a very humid environment, possibly contributing to the corrosion. It doesn’t look like typical water damage, and I see no other signs of such anywhere else in the system.]At this stage, I have fully disassembled the console up to the stage of the screen.The motherboard has been removed from the device, and all ribbon cables are disconnected, and I found a TINY spec of corrosion on one of the cables contacts, which I carefully cleaned.I am currently awaiting a replacement battery I purchased, as I will attempt to swap that and see if the issue is resolved, however, while the device was disconnected from its battery, I saw a recommendation to try charging it with the battery disconnected and you should still see the slow charge indicator pop up, which I did not. That is the most current and updated info on this system at the time of writing, and am looking for any information or further insight on what may be the problem with this unit.There are no obvious signs of damage to the LCD whatsoever, and overall the console was in fairly decent condition, aside from the bugs and a little wear. The original owner said it was his main Switch, and that one day it just decided not to turn on anymore, period. I do not have any information on what type of dock he was using, what kind of charger he was using, or if the Switch had ever been modified in any way, but I would assume it was just used as a normal Switch with the proper cables and dock.
Hi, There’s some information in this link that may be a start to finding out what’s wrong. Click on the image in the 1st post to view the voltage points on the motherboard. If none are there you may have to start at the power input and trace the tracks etc. There doesn’t seem to be any schematics available for the device, at least none that I could find.
