HELP PLEASE! Nintendo 3DS XL doesn't turn on anymore. Ideas?

[hmc]

Hi guys,

I have a double problem. My daughters both have a Nintendo 3DS XL each.

Today the younger daughter wanted to do something good and clean both consoles. She used glass cleaner for that, sprayed that onto both consoles and began to clean them with a tissue (just as the expensive glass table she uses to clean with the same stuff).

A few minutes later she came and said to her mom: "Mom, I wanted to clean those, but now they don't work anymore!". Mom was thrilled.

Now dad needs to repair those, because on Sunday they will go on vacation and drive about 300km, needing their Nintendos.

However, Dad did what he can, but id not get the Nintendos to work.

Maybe someone can help wiith a few ideas what to check?

On the Internet there is very little information about the 3DS XL yet.

The facts:

- The cleaner is a mixture of alcohol (probably ethanol), distilled water and tenside. I don't think it's more than that.

- I opend the Nintendos, took out the motherboards and cleaned them by bathing then in Isoproyl alcohol.

- I tried to clean the screen cable contacts, as they look corroded.

- I checked the fuses (F1, F2) on the boards. They all work well.

- Symptom of device 1: Blue power LED goes on (on battery) when switching on the unit, then goes off again. No screen backlight, no sound, no sign of life except that LED.

- Symptom of device 2: Almost the same as device 1, only that the LED stays on.

- I exchanged the motherboards of both devices already (against each other). Same behavior of each motherboard.

- The motherboards behave the same (LED-wise), if they are isolated from the rest, i.e. not connected to anything but battery.

Anything else I could check with my limited knowledge of hardware?

I may give them one of my Pandoras instead, but I don't know, if I should dare... ;-)

Thanks in advance!

Dan

 

[iprice]

Silly question  - were the batteries charged? Plug them in to the mains for an hour. It could just be dead batteries (3DSs don't last long, especially if Wi-FI and full sound is being used). Turn on in about an hour.

If this fails -

I would presume that some of the cleaner has got into the system somehow. If this is the case, try removing the motherboards and batteries completely and leave them either in an airing cupboard or dry rice for a day - this will allow any liquid to evaporate and/or be absorbed. Put it all back together again.

If neither of those works...

 

[hmc]

Yes, the batteries were just freshly charged.

I also exchanged the batteries between the two units, in order to see if the difference in behavior (LED goes off vs. stays on) could be caused by the battery status, but it doesn't.

 

[Mr_Loon]

How much cleaner was used?

Only thing I can think of (that might have a good outcome) is that there may be a short circuit somewhere due to liquid being where it should no be.

Drying them out with a bag of rice / silica gel etc in a warm place could be worth a go.

 

[vcoleiro1]

My first thought was you blew one of the fuses , this is common to do with GBA SP's (have fixed several ) and from what I heard the same with 3DS's .  Are you certain all the fuses are ok? The charge light coming on and then off again as you describe is a classic sign of a blown fuse.

 

[Jumpman]

My only suggestion would be to open everything and let all the internals dry for 24 hours at least., and then try again. I have done several "wet" installs(skin protectors) on every electronic device I own, and have yet to have an issue. She must have soaked those XL for both of them to stop entirely. Do a web search for rain, water, and toilet drops DS/3DS, as I'm sure others have had similar issues happen. Even when I do my wet skin installs, they recommend you wait 24 hrs after installation to re-power up your device. I hope this info helps.

Chris

 

[hmc]

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions.

my comments:

Fuses: Yes, I tested them all with a multimeter. They seem to be okay. (unless there are more then 2 fuses in the 3DS XL; I found only two).

How much cleaner? I don't know for sure, as I did not see that myself (their mom handed over the mess to me after it was cleaned from the outside again), but it must have been enough so the stuff floated into the device through some holes. I did not find much liquid inside, but some.

Short circuit: Yes, that's my guess, too. I washed the mainboards with Isopropyl alcohol in order to wash away all the tenside and water hopefully. Will let them dra overnight at a warm place, then reassemble everything and see if something has improved.

Silicagel is a good idea. Will see, if I can find some.

I once had a mobile phone (Sony Ericsson M600i) in the pocket of my trousers, when I put them into the washer. Full program, including spin-dryer at the end. Battery inserted, device switched on.

Guess what? It came out and worked.

Now if only Nintendo had built similarly sturdy devices!

 

[DaMummy]

try getting your hands on a 3rd battery if possible. my only guess

 

[hmc]

okay guys, one of the units works again. The other one doesn't.<br />The one that works has no problems at all, except two buttons being much less sensitive than before. They have to be pressed hard to make them react. But I assume that will get better with time. The buttons are covered with plastic foil and hence the alcohol that I used to clean the boards (not the cleaner, that did not make it to the buttons) may not have dried entirely under the buttons.<br /><br />The other unit does not switch on at all anymore. I think I blew a fuse during my experiments. Will problably use a repair service for that one, or exchange the entire motherboard.<br /><br />BTW: Does anyone have a spare 3DS XL motherboard? <br /><br />Thanks,<br />Daniel

3rd battery: Not necessary, as one of the units works well with both batteries now...<br />

 

[Binky]

Can't you buy a spare fuse?

 

[hmc]

Sure I can, but that won't solve the problem I fear. At first the unit did not work while the fuse was still okay. 

There is a small chance that it works again after fuse exchange, if the defect before was a temporary one (e.g. caused by some liquid that has dried now), but since I let it dry for 12 hours at a warm place already, I doubt that this will solve the problem.

 

[levi]

Do you know which of the two units is now working?


On my 3DS, the blue/green light comes on for a second or so while booting up. It's a little while before the screen and audio boots into life. The one where it wasn't turning off again sounds like boot failure to me - but I've never inspected the boot process of the 3DS to make a guess as to what it might be complaining about.

 

[hmc]

I fear I can't reconstruct, which of the units was which... Next week I will try to replace or short-circuit the blown fuse and see what happens.