Switch Left Unplugged for Months, Won't Power on or Charge

I left my non-OLED Switch unplugged for probably 2 months and now it won’t power on or display a charge icon even after a week+ of charging via the Nintendo power adapter. I literally used it, set it down, got busy & when I came back it was no longer working.

  • Plugging in OEM Nintendo power adapter doesn’t do anything: no lights, no icon etc.
  • Left it plugged into the OEM Nintendo Switch Dock, which also uses the OEM Nintendo power adapter, for over a week+ and still no change
    • When I dock it, the dock light flashes green momentarily then turns off
  • Pressing & holding the Power button for 12 (or more) seconds does nothing
  • This is well taken care of, undamaged Switch: not dropped, no water damage, only used OEM equipment etc.
  • I assumed the battery drained to the point of no return, so I bought an iFixit kit but after putting everything back together it wouldn’t power on so I plugged it in and no change.

I’d really would like to fix this, but to be honest I have no equipment for proper testing, no soldering skills and frankly no idea what the diagnosing path forward is. (Short of looking through the Nintendo Switch repairs playlist.)

Is there anything else I should try?

Any guidance & recommendations is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

maybe battery has gone beyond the minimum, might be worth checking battery voltage. If it’s low you could charge it up externally to bring it back above minimum… Unsure of what kit you’ve bought from ifixit, but if it was a replacement battery did you measure it’s voltage too?

Time to find a local technician

I would try an only-5V usb source (nothing with fast charging) and let the Switch at least 1h plugged in. If the empty battery symbol appears on screen, you can switch to the original 15V charger and complete the charging.

fingercrossed that is only a low battery.

Thanks for the reply here. I bought the " Nintendo Switch Replacement Battery" kit from iFixIt which includes a battery and some tools to get in there. Presumably that battery is good and has some charge in it but I’ve no way of confirming.

I did not measure the voltage, nor did I try to charge it externally as I have no tools or equipment to do so. I’m open to getting tools so that I can do this & fix the issue, but if I have to spend $150+ on parts just to diagnose the problem then it would likely be more cost effective to find a place to repair it.

Just to make sure I’m understanding: Are you suggesting I not use the Nintendo Switch charger to charge the device and instead use some third-party charger that only does 5V?

That’s what it sounds like to me. My hope was that the new battery from the “Nintendo Switch Replacement Battery” kit from iFixIt it would have solved the issue but with no charging icon or display of any kind, I’m leaning more towards some sort of internal failure.

It’s not uncommon for new batteries (even from ifixit) to arrive beow the minimum threshold voltage.

I assume he’s suggesting this in the event you have M92 issues or AC adapter issues (outside of that wouldn’t really make a difference). Just try with a USBC cable plugged into a 5V source (ie a PC). PC might be a good call anyway (if you get some form of detection) incase you’ve got some unrelated issues (display etc)