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| Nintendo Switch Blue screen of death Repair | |
|---|---|
| Device | Nintendo Switch |
| Affects part(s) | Main Logic Board |
| Needs equipment | multimeter, soldering iron, soldering station, BGA rework station |
| Difficulty | ◉◉◉◉ Specialist |
| Type | BGA, Soldering |
Problem Description
Nintendo switch will only show a blue screen when charging, turning on etc. Usually will happen when the device is bent or bowed out in the middle
Symptoms
- Blue screen of death
- Usually frame will be bent
Diagnostic Steps
BSOD on Nintendo switch is often due to the CPU or RAM not being able to properly communicate with the rest of the board because of cracked solder balls under the chip(s) or broken traces. The motherboard is very thin and a slight bend in the board will cause solder balls to get cracked or traces to become damaged. in the next steps we will try and determine which part of the board has these cracked solder balls or bad traces.
- Observe if there is any bowing out of the board especially over the area around the CPU or RAM (See figure 1 for location of these chips)
- If there is bowing or bending over one of the chips then use your finger to put pressure over the IC in question and try to charge or turn on the console, if you get a Nintendo logo then we know that the issue is to due to the chip(s) we have just put pressure on. Keep in mind that sometimes you may have to put pressure on both RAM chips in order to get it to show Nintendo logo especially if the bent part of the board is over where the RAM chips are located.
- If you are still not getting it to show a Nintendo logo then you may want to try using your hot air station set to a low temp such as 150C-200C and heat up each IC for about 10-20 seconds and then try to turn the console on or plug it in to the charger in order to get a Nintendo Logo. Be careful not to damage the plastic frame or LCD doing this and only use low heat for a short amount of time if it's still in the frame
Solution
Now that we have determined which chip(s) are causing the BSOD we can move on to determining the best method of repair for your individual circumstances.
Reflow:
Reflowing the solder under the IC in question will by far be the easiest method of fixing the problem albeit this will usually be a temporary fix. However if you dont have the appropriate knowledge, tools, or experience doing a reball then a reflow will be a good option. Keep in mind a reflow will also not always fix the issue especially if there are damaged traces.
- First remove the board from the housing and then remove the shield covering CPU and RAM if you haven't already by pulling the clips off from around the shield
- Next clean off the old thermal paste covering the CPU with isopropyl. If the thermal paste is left it will make the reflow uneven especially if you are reflowing the CPU and not the RAM
- Place a ring of flux paste around the CPU or RAM
- Set your hot air to a temp around 375-450C and medium airflow with the nozzle off and with a circular motion start heating up the area of the CPU or RAM
- Keep applying heat until you can slightly nudge the IC with a tweezers and have it move a tiny bit but then move back to the original position, this means the Solder balls underneath are fully melted and have been reflowed.
- Remove heat and clean up the remaining flux with iso while waiting for the board to cool down
- Once board has cooled down, put it back into the housing and test to see if it turns back on again without a blue screen of death. If it still has a blue screen then you have not solved the issue and you should move on to the reball steps below or try reflowing the opposite chip(s) to what you just reflowed.
- if it turns on fine without BSOD then fully reassemble making sure to add new thermal paste between the shield and CPU as well as between the heat sink and CPU shield
Watch TheCod3r's video on solving this issue for a video breakdown on solving BSOD with a reflow here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdDvmxBl52I&t=660s