Recently bought a used Switch 1 as people were getting rid of them to buy the new one, but I found out that mine came with an insane amount of drifting.
Opening it up was a pain in the ass and pretty scary, but I managed to fix it by putting a card over the metal plate on the left (to apply pressure under the joystick as many people online instructed)... And it worked!
It used to drift all the way to the left whenever I let go of the analog stick, but now it snaps firmly back to the center. Just wanted to put out a PSA that if your Joycon is drifting, it's very fixable. All you need is the right screwdriver and being very careful when lifting up each piece.
You should have gone with Hall effect replacements since that’s a permanent fix. Not knocking on your effort, it’s a delicate work and you’ve got some practice in for the time you’ll have to go back to do that :)
Are there hall effects joysticks you can buy to replace them? Do you have any exaples of parts that you would recommend?
I used GuliKit NS40 which is available on Amazon and other places. Get a kit with tools if you don’t have tri-wing screwdriver yet. I was replacing joysticks every couple of months until I got those but haven’t had to since then.
Excellent! I changed mine already with similar replacents and haven't had problems since, thankfully.
But if it happens again though, I'll know what to look for. Thank you!