helpful trick for extending the life of your joycons
ok so almost two years ago i got my third pair of joycons because the ones before them were drifting
this date (7/21/19) is about a year off from when i first got my switch in july 2018, so that means i went through two pairs of joycons in about 6 months each.
as of today, 3/12/21, my watermelon joycons are still going strong. they’ve already lasted a little over x3 longer than my previous joycons (19 months and 20 days so far!), i definitely believe the cause for their extended lifespan is because of how i stored them.
the difference with these and my old ones is that i tried something new—draping a cloth over my switch (and the joycons) when it was docked/not being used.
also when i put them down, i ALWAYS set them so that the sticks face down.
based on my loose experiment, i hypothesize that joycon drifting seems to come from dirt or dust particles that, once inside the sticks, are extremely hard to remove even with compressed air. if you have working joycons, see if you can extend their life by trying this cloth-covering trick.
the cloth i use measures 12x12 in. (30.5x30.5 cm) and it is just enough to cover the width of the switch with joycons attached.
mine’s a shammy cloth so it’s a little thicker than common shirt fabric, but i don’t doubt cutting a square foot out of an old shirt would also work too.
anyway boost this post around because so many people have joycon drifting troubles and this has worked tremendously for me in slowing it down—if it will even happen at all; i don’t know, mine haven’t drifted yet with this! note that this won’t stop drifting if it is already occurring but this is a very good preventative measure if you have a new or already working pair.
