Every Nintendo Switch Owner Needs To Know This 

Your current browser is bad. Get a better one here: operagx.gg/SpawnWave Hope this guide helped, remember if your Switch is making some weird noises with the fan or is getting hotter than usual most times a cleaning will get things right!

I love that you show every step for this. Doing electronics repair isn't hard, but it's super intimidating. Your videos really help make this less of a scary venture.

I would never do this myself. I know my lane. I stay in my lane.

Warning. The screws strip VERY EASILY.

Keep in mind the OLED is different and you may want to look up a disassembly for it because there are some changes internally.

Yeah i would not recommend most people do this. I do stuff like this but "most" people are going to mess up their switches or break a ribbon cable, strip a screw, etc.

My fan went out a couple months ago and sent it to Nintendo for repair, I ended up losing ALL of my Pokémon save data due to a “malfunction during repair”. All my special distribution Pokémon since 2019 just gone. Still pretty mad about it.

I would say that taking the Switch apart was something that freaked me out initially, but I decided to take a swing at it back in 2020. I wanted to trade my Switch in for the Animal Crossing special edition and had the issue that GameStop couldn't take it because the fan vents for the outside case were broken due to the heat fluctuation and wear & tear. After ordering the case (and the tri-tip screwdriver) I had a bit of fun taking everything apart. Here are some tips I would suggest: First: Make yourself a little doodle of the system and which screws you are taking out (or just take a picture of each one (point the screwdriver directly at it while taking the picture) and WRITE DOWN YOUR PROCESS STEP BY STEP. Doing this easily made me able to retrace my steps and seal it back up when I was done. Second: I HIGHLY recommend double-sided sticky tape. If you get some, you can place the screws on them and keep them safe during the process. I particularly used the tape onto some paper that I had doodled a rectangle on, so when I placed the screws onto the tape, I was able to put them onto the rectangle approximately where on the Switch the screw came from. This made me know exactly where each screw went without worrying that I would get the wrong one and have it be too long/short. Third: With regard to ribbon-cables... Make SURE to be careful while pulling them out, and always check for any type of lock on the point where the ribbon connects. If I remember right, there was a trapdoor lock overtop of one of the ribbon cables that kept it snug - when I pulled the ribbon-cable out I didnt loosen that lock and I think I snapped it. In addition to that, make sure to always treat the ribbon-cables as carefully as possible - I had one ribbon-cable get cut due to me dropping the fan in without looking and that turned out to be the power switch and volume controls. Had to buy an entire new ribbon-cable and power control. In addition, I pulled too hard on the screen's own ribbon cable and somehow wrecked it so now that Switch only works in docked TV mode. Fourth: The more you do, the higher the chance you do damage. I would recommend making time to get the entire Switch sealed back up without leaving - not work or school or anything between opening and closing the system. This reduces the chance of damage. Also, make sure you have all the parts you need before opening - no sense opening it early and possibly losing the screws or dropping extra dirt inside. Finally: As I said in Four, there is a chance you do damage. Minimize the damage by minimizing the chance of you doing damage. But also know that you might break something. Most the parts are relatively cheap on their own, but just be aware that you have a chance to damage it further, which is what happened in my case. The Switch still works, but it doesn't have a working screen now. Still was fun to take it apart and fix something. Certainly was informative and I will feel so much better with any other DIY projects I do in the future now.

Directions weren’t clear. Thumb sticks stuck in toaster.

Sorry I ain't doing none of that 😂

I finally got a switch last month after having wanted one since they launched. best part, its a first production run so I was able to modify it to my hearts content, especially overclocking. The first thing I did was buy hall effect joysticks, then the joycon locks were worn out so I 3d printed some new ones for a quarter of a penny in plastic... and the reason why I got it was that the screen was broken, so I bought a new screen. Since it was opened up and had the heatsink off, I obviously repasted it as well as put high viscosity thermal paste in place of thermal pads, on everything that could benefit from it.

Very glad for this guide, was very informative and showed the whole process. I’ll probably only do this once I’ve got a “Switch 2” and no reason to go back to my old switch. It’s day 1 so my warranty is long gone, but I don’t want to mess with it that close to the hardware unless I know it won’t be missed in case I mess up.

If you are going to take it apart that far and it's a 2-3+ year old switch. I'd also highly recommend replacing the battery too. I've replaced mine from one off Amazon when I did this a few years ago. Use a few drops of rubbing alcohol to help release the sticky tape glue on the under side. Then double side tape if the replacement battery doesn't have it to stick the new one in place.

“Every switch owner needs to open their consoles-” nah im good

I don't know if other people are experiencing this but both me and my roommate have launch day Switch systems and mine recently started overheating and shutting down whereas my roommate's fan started to get annoyingly loud. The fix for both Switch's turned out to be the same thing where my roommate replaced the thermal paste on the processors and replaced the fans. In the case of my Switch I wonder if the fan was even working at all because it WASN'T getting loud but was overheating but in BOTH CASES the thermal paste was incredibly dry (and completely crusty inside of mine) so going in and replacing it makes a world of difference. The replacement fans were incredibly cheap on Amazon and there's even a kit version available that comes with thermal paste but we already had some of the good stuff from our previous experience with last gen consoles.

I’m def not doing this lol

Great video, Jon. Is there a reason you did not put the rubber pad back on the sd card when you slotted it back in?

No, i would not recommend every switch owner opening their consoles and repasting

The lcd screen on the lite sucks replaced mine 3 times already screen just goes bad after a while no physical damage,just goes bad

I would recommend a viscous thermal paste when repasting as it prevents pump out which will affect your temperatures over time. I kinda went overkill with mine and used PTM 7950 but something like the Cooler Master Mastergel is gonna work fine.

Thank you for this one, Jon! I'm about to replace the battery of my launch year Switch and I was thinking of getting it cleaned up by a technician but seeing how easy it is to clean, I'm gonna give it a shot once I get the new battery.

i would recommend not allowing the fan to spin when dusting it with compressed air as it can turn the fan into a generator and blow attached boards

The only maintenance I've done to my red box Switch is replace the joy con lock latches with metal ones, as I had wear on them and Joy cons would pop off randomly, good fix and easy

Almost perfect. I'd include the thermal paste change under the heatshield and also mentioning to replace the thicker paste on the heat plate that closed on the heatpipe (you can see there's some rest of it when you show the heat pipe in this video). Sadly, those 3 little screws at the bottom and at the top of the black plate broke very easely from the first lift because of the more thicker thermal paste ON the heat pipe that made the silver plate had some resistance in lifting it. So basically now i have 3 holes that i can't screw but it seems the console is fine anyway

99% of people watching , if they opened the console, they would break it

I don't trust myself to open my switch,

A small clarification. Nintendo uses J(Japan's version of Phillips head,) not Phillips. If you're skilled, you can use a shitty phillips head and get away with it.(I don't get why John always uses the shit screwdrivers that come with mod kits. Has he never heard of iFixit?) Someone less skilled using a phillips is going to strip screws. The difference between J and Phillips is subtle, but meaningful. Also, say which specific size to use. For example: J 00 or Phillips 00. If someone with less skill or experience doesn't understand and uses a too large or too small driver, that's also stripped screws.

Its crazy how much I will NEVER do this.

Dude not a single average Switch user will be able to put everything back

I've had to replace the battery in my 2017 Switch. It was bulging badly. I think this is a more useful thing to point out than...dust bunnies.

You gotta be insane to suggest everyone do this

I picked up a TOTK OLED when it released since my launch day Switch was making a lot of noise and the battery was draining in half the time it used to. I figured out what was wrong with it, and I replaced the fan and the battery and then gave the Switch to my wife with a copy of Animal Crossing and she absolutely loves it. It now runs just like it did when I bought it. These things really require minimal work to keep them running well.

I’d suggest power bleed after disconnecting the battery. Just press and hold the power button after you disconnect the battery to ensure there’s no power remaining anywhere.

Went a little overboard on my 2017 switch removed the copper shroud over the CPU, added thermal paste and thermal pads to the heat pipe and the memory modules so that more heat is pulled out into the metal shielding. After that I also drilled holes in the back casing right where the fan is, so that it can draw air directly in as opposed to having to pull it all the way from the bottom vents.

Throughout my Switch V2's life, I have changed a side railing for both the tablet and the right joycon, joycon locks, several joy con thumbsticks until I installed hallsensing ones, and the bluetooth sensor for my left joycon with the help of your videos. Might try changing the thermal paste and clean the fan in the future.

That MX-4 artic compound is awesome. Lasts a long time. First used it on my PS4 pro that was overheating just after the warranty. The OEM paste was all dried up.

I remember watching an older video to change out the plastic casing for the whole switch as the plastic on the launch switches get pretty beat up over time. I only ever really play in docked mode. I bought a set with screwdrivers off amazon and did in all in less then a few hours. The plastic ends under the screws that hold the system together tend to break off but not to the point that the system will fall apart after everything is done. I had left it for some time before coming back to playing a physical game and it wouldn't read any, thinking I broke it I bought another game cartridge board and the system didn't like it... To the point it wouldn't turn on, just show some error message. I put the old board back in and it started working fully. I'm guessing I just didn't seat it properly when putting it all back together. Aaand that is how you live and learn. Gotta love theses videos to show how to DIY your own system maintenance, it helps sort small issues without paying too much to get it done

I remember in Arkham Knight, there was a glitch where the trigger for a side quest would not work so the possibility of 100% completion is impossible. I played on PS4 pro 2020.

Gen 1 Switch here. Had to replace my fan in my Switch 3-4 years into owning it, which resulted in doing all this. I used K5-Pro thermal paste. Replaced the Joy Con joysticks as well due to drift. Overall simple repairs to prolong the switch's life, especially with a device that has over 6,000 hours of usage between two people. Have yet to replace the battery. No issues with my Lite yet.

Do not blow compressed air on the fan without holding the fan in place while blowing air into it. Spinning the fan with the compressed air damages the fan bearings.They are rated for a certain speed and when you spray the compressed air you almost always exceed that speed rating, causing damage that will show up by making the fan not spin as quick or sometimes not at all.

You should keep the fan from spinning when blasting it with compressed air. You can easily over rev it, causing damage.

Had my switch fan replaced early last year it was a launch model and making a ton of noise and the body of the system would get really warm

I’m too scared of breaking something. My old consoles probably have more dust than king tuts tomb

Doesn't this void the warranty? Also, bro, buddy, pal --- DO NOT TOOTHBRUSH THE DUST IN YOUR HEATSINK OVER THE MAINBOARD. Take it outside, and use compressed air. Same for the fan.

Yeah, it’s a painfully clickbait title, but what he talked about is a good idea for us day one owners. A better title would’ve been “Clean your launch Switch Now!”

Had my switch day 1 and I had no problems without opening it. Another clickbait title from mr spawn wave himself.

Did this last week while changing the battery. U can 99 isopropyl alcohol also to clean with. Or anything that above 90%. I used the ifixit guide on that

I'm still rocking' my launch day Switch. It's probably been played more than any other console I've ever owned, and man it shows. The fan no longer works, so if you're playing docked, it only lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, before overheating and shutting down. I'm lightweight hoping it'll die eventually, so I can justify getting an OLED, but it's been like this for months now.

Exactly what I was looking for to get my launch model ready for zelda tears of the kingdom

I still have and use my launch day Switch, which I've been debating if I want to take a proactive approach and replace the battery before it swells up like it has on some of my friend's Switch, or if I should just keep a close eye on it. I do need to clean it out like you demonstrated in this video, so it could be a good idea to do this all at once if I did take that approach... any recommendations on this? My battery still currently works fine.

I just did this with my launch day switch for Tears of the Kingdom. Replaced the fan and the thermal paste. The thing was wheezing.

Wish I could have had this video two or three years ago when I was attempting to open up my switch to clean the heat dispensing section. I gave up when I realized I also needed to remove the screws where the joy-cons slide in and had a hard time to get them back in properly without the joy-cons getting stuck on them. Had no idea only the center screws were relevant for opening up the back. Great guide, thank you.

I just cleaned out my PS5 today, had a launch model and found a dry spot in the liquid metal respread it and put it back together. I'll have to do this with my Switch in a few years.

Just need a good video for those of us that stripped the screws early on trying to replace thermal paste with some higher quality one because people were not explaining that it’s try point instead of wing.

I have a bad connection on my joycons when they're connected to the Switch. I was considering buying a new one but this video reminded me that cleaning it up might do the trick. Thanks!

I just swapped out a new fan to my OG Switch. It was pretty easy! Thanks for the guide. :)

Thanks, Jon, but I know my limitations 😅 I also wanted to thank you for depressing the heck out of me 😂 that pile of magazines was my monthly haul back in the day!

No way I would attempt this, I would break something. Leave it to the pros like you.

I would do this when I replace the back plate with a custom design

I have had the Switch OLED for a bout 1 year. I always put it back in the slim plastic bag it was packed in when I'm not using it. I only played Xenoblade 3 and ToTK always Docked to my monitor. I would say my Switch is still pristine inside. 👍

That switch looked perfect on the inside, literally no need to do any of that

onces the switch 2 releeses im never going back on my switch. and it will be backwards compaility for sure. it will be something like Wii and Wii U were you can do a full transer even our save data.

You missed cleaning and reapplying thermal paste between the backplate and the top of the heat sink, otherwise good video.

This has been nice to see maintenance guides for these systems. With the popularity of the Steam Deck now it would be cool if you make one for it as well.

launched edition switch here... so far i've replaced the fan, applied thermal paste 2 diff times, on my 3rd back cover and have bits of plastic breaking off all over the console where i've sealed things with hot glue and tape. and im not even rough with my things!

At some point the rails stopped working and kept disconnecting

i would probbaly use that thirmal graphite pad i use for my pc so i never have to re do compound again for the rest of my life

Did this a while back for my son's switch which was a launch console. Looks more intimidating than it really is. His switch was overheating constantly and now no longer does. Any chance you could do a tutorial on changing the rails? I heard this helps with joycons that constantly disconnect or aren't recognized when sliding on.

I really appreciate these! And i know it’s not modern but have you ever done a video of the ps3? I really need to do one i got this past year but it’s way more complicated

Looks scary but doable, thank you!

The Switch OLED has both the SD Card reader/writer and the game card reader in one single module.

Coffee filters to clean off thermal compound.

I really wanna cleaned out my switch someday, but I strapped one of the middle screws long time ago. I have the older switch and it’s shame that I messed up. However, it still works though.

My V1 that I'm still using this day still alive and kickin, I been doing maintenance like 5-6 times a year as been shown in the video. Had to replace the cartridge reader since my siblings has been inserting it wrongly most of the time. Been replacing some thermal compounds since my country is hot. Cleaning the fan and probably planning to replace it soon since the sound really is getting louder lately. As for my joycon left one is working but at this point its a frankenstein and finally replace the hall sense part from gulikit while the right one broke and got 1(right) from my sister who also replace her switch's joycons with new ones.

1:32 Zoro got lost again.

My first Switch I got a couple weeks after launch had fan issues after 3 years, a buzzing noise. I did buy the tools to open it, but I ended up buying a new Switch anyway after I found a Mario Red and Blue edition Switch in a Walmart. Though brand new out of the box the dock did not work. Luckily the old dock did and I just had to send the new one to Nintendo.

There is also thermal compound under that copper square that should be replaced. Leave that square off so it makes direct contact with the heatsink. Better cooling that way.

There's supposed to be some thermal paste between the heatsink and the heatshield

Already had to replace a bulging battery. Only managed to strip one screw 🤷‍♂️

I doubt a majority of Switch owners would do something like changing the thermal compound let alone even open it up.

I could of used this a month ago before I had to send my console in for repairs via EB Games Australia's Reboot service. Cost me AU$160 to repair my Switch since the fan died, it needed a cleaning & new thermal paste. BTW EB Games Australia's repair team is very competent.

I bought an OLED Tears of the Kingdom Switch recently, when do you say I should do this? As obviously it is pretty new. I live in a house with a cat, as I know that makes a difference with dust and hair and stuff.

Great video John. Gonna try that on my launch Switch! Really appreciate your DIY content.

It would be cool to see one of these videos on some of the 3DS consoles (I know there are many different models, so I don’t know which one would be recommended to showcase though)

What I’ve done to keep my switch working since I got it Feb 2018 1). Change Joy-con thumb sticks because of drift (now a company that sells on Amazon has the Hall effects thumb sticks for the joy-cons for $30 2pk I’m about to replace. 2). I changed my SD card slot because games were loading slow or crashing constantly that I had on the micro SD or not reading the card. 3). I cleaned my fan. Next I may change out my nand to a higher capacity nand like 256GB ye I have my main switch modded which correct me if I’m wrong is the only way to successful replace the Nand.

Thanks for this. I'll be attempting this myself soon.

I did this not long ago to replace the fan. Works great again.

Got an OLED switch Xmas time. It gets warm when playing Crysis. 😅

I have always been told to use a pea size amount of thermal paste on cpu, but why do video game consoles and pre-build pcs always have more the a pea size amount?

MX-4 is overkill, use Kingpin KPx or Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut instead.

Only halfway into the video and I already know that I'm definitely NOT going to do this. It's far more advanced than I expected. I honestly don't think Nintendo expects people to go through this process.

This was a great video thanks

Not doing that but would pay someone like you to perform this service

You should hold the fan still with your thumb while blowing compressed air on it

You have hobbit hands.

Does this help improve the batterly life if the switch battery is already drained?

I bought a oled model to replace my launch day switch because the fan was getting extremely loud. I guessI'll have to follow these steps one day

I don't bother trying to fix the joycons, the parts are so small inside and I don't have small fingers. I just buy new ones.

John Is there any variation for the OLED? Do not want to balls it up just trying to blow its nose like.

Can't wait to hear about all the people bricking their switches trying this.