Latest months felt like "old consoles refurbishing season".
I got encouraged with easy it turned out to "fix" some of my gaming hardware and got a bit carried away...
I've been doing repairs on my gaming hardware here and there before that but nothing more than simply replacing batteries on 3DS and Wii U gamepad. Original gamepad battery swole up so much it even bent the back cover. I think i got scammed a bit on gamepad battery because it claimed to be additional capacity but i doesn't really holds a charge past 1 hour. Ah well, i mostly use the Gamepad in bed anyway and at least it works now.
The drift on the left joy-con stick has gone so bad it started scrolling up-down in menus. The problem became impossible to ignore so i finally decided to fix it. I bought joy-con stick replacements
a while ago, and now years later i finally did it. It was rather fussy with all tiny wires inside -- but all you need is a screwdriver which usually comes together with the stick replacement set and a steady hand.
Encouraged with these replacements, i started doing my own "repairs" on other gaming hardware i have. Ol' reliable white Wii U started making weird sounds so i bought a replacement fan for it and replaced it myself. Again -- only thing one really needs is a screwdriver and access to Youtube for some tutorials.
Xbox 360 became really noisy i was considering to replace fan on it but got discouraged watching videos on how to do it properly -- Microsoft really made these things like a puzzle box -- you need some kind of metal stripe to open them properly. Ultimately i just gave the thing to a local repairman and he fixed the noise by taking it apart and oiling it AND he fixed the drift stick on the controller too.
Rubber piece on 3DS nub came off while i was playing Luigi Mansion 2, all these tugging motions really wore it down. Plastic nub under it fell apart too. I could still use the stub but it became even more uncomfortable than beofre. Bought the replacement, and put it in myself. Replacement nub is a tad smaller than the original one but it works okay.
Yay! That's Wii U, 360, and 3DS now brought back!
Next was Nintendo DS Lite. Usual problems -- shoulder triggers stopped working. Watching Youtube videos showed it should be easy enough to fix if a bit more invasive: i had to open up the microswitch under the triggers, take out a tiny metal disc inside it and clean it from rust (of whatever it is that collects on contacts). It was a bit more fussy and scary than usual but i still managed. The problem was when i put it back together i mixed up screws and pierced the plastic near the d-pad and i broke the plastic thing that connects to power switch on the right. Screw thing isn't really a problem but power switch is a huge bummer. I can still turn DS Lite on if use a pin or needle but it is such a hassle. Also d-pad buttons became unresponsive too.
I ordered a replacement for the power switch and will look into ways how to find a guy who can soldier it in or find ways to do it myself -- and clean d-pad contacts while at it.
At least this whole ordeal inspired me to use some of these consoles more and i actually finished some of the games there -- namely Samus Returns on 3DS and Super Metroid on Wii U VC.