Nintendo Switch Lite Battery Replacement

Written By: Craig Lloyd

Comments: 37

Nintendo Switch Lite Battery Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

1 - 2 hours

Introduction

Follow this guide to replace a worn out and degraded battery in the Nintendo Switch Lite.

The Switch Lite uses JIS screws, but you can use a Phillips screwdriver in a pinch. Be very careful not to strip the screws. iFixit's Phillips bits are designed to be cross-compatible with JIS-style screws.

For your safety, discharge your battery below 25% before disassembling your Switch. This reduces the risk of a dangerous thermal event if the battery is accidentally damaged during the repair. If your battery is swollen, take appropriate precautions.

Note: This procedure requires removing the shield plate, which is bonded to the heat sink with thermal paste. The thermal paste will need to be cleaned off and reapplied before reinstalling the shield plate.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Before beginning this repair, make sure that the device is completely turned off.
Use a Y00 screwdriver to remove the four 6.3 mm-long screws securing the back panel.
Throughout this repair, keep track of each screw and make sure it goes back exactly where it came from.

All my screws got stripped any ideas on how to remove?

Almost A Mammal -

A Y0 screwdriver seemed to work better for me.

Tommy Morrill -

What type of screw driver do I use to un screw the screws and which way

Luca Capito -

Step 2

Use a JIS 000 driver or an official iFixit PH 000 driver to remove the following screws securing the back panel:
Two 3.6 mm-long screws on the top of the device
Two 3.6 mm-long screws on the bottom of the device
To prevent these tight screws from stripping, apply firm downward force, work slowly and try a different screwdriver if the screws won't come out.

Step 3

Insert an opening tool into the left speaker grille on the bottom of the device.
Twist the opening tool to release the clips securing the back panel.
Avoid inserting the opening tool further than required to prevent damage to the speaker module.

Step 4

Slide the opening tool around the bottom-left corner to release the clips on the left side of the device.

Step 5

Insert an opening tool into the right speaker grille on the bottom of the device.
Twist the opening tool to release the clips.
Avoid inserting the opening tool further than required to prevent damage to the speaker module.

Step 6

Slide and pry the opening tool around the bottom-right corner to release the clips on the right side of the device.

Step 7

Continue sliding and prying the opening tool along the gap on the top of the device to release the clips.

Step 8

Lift the bottom edge of the back panel, opening it like a book.
Remove the back panel.

Step 9

Use a JIS 000 driver or an official iFixit PH 000 driver to remove the following four screws:
Three 3.1 mm screws
One 4.5 mm screw

There are four screws instead of three mentioned

Khurram Chaudry -

it doesnt mention 3 anywhere, and it labels all four

Ezi -

With how easy it seems to be to do serious damage with the next few steps, I figured I'd say that realistically you can skip steps 9-13 when doing this repair. While they provide a bit of extra security by disconnecting the battery, the left stick is completely accessible and replaceable without touching the heat shield or anything underneath (And steps 17 and 18 disconnect power from the daughter board regardless).

Nate -

Step 10

Use a spudger or your fingers to lift the shield plate up and out of the device.
You may feel a bit of resistance. This is normal, since the shield plate is slightly bonded to the heat sink with thermal paste.
Remove the shield plate.
Clean off the old thermal paste from the shield plate and heat sink using isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth. Apply new thermal paste to the heat sink before reassembly.

You may need to replace the thermal paste on the heat sink.

ahoz28 -

Step 11

Use an opening tool or your fingernail to flip up the small, hinged locking flap on the motherboard interconnect cable's ZIF connector.

Step 12

Use a pair of tweezers to slide the interconnect cable out of its connector on the motherboard.

I turned the unit off beforehand, I used tweezers just like the instructions said (ifixit branded) , my device sparked and now it won’t turn back on

User Service -

The flap came off is it important or is there a way t fix it?

Jose Cruz R Rangel Cordero -

We're you able to get it working without the white flap? My screen is not working after putting it back together and i noticed this white flap was falling off

Jimmy “Ghost” Trost -

Step 13

Use the point of a spudger to pry the battery connector straight up and out of its socket on the motherboard.

Caution the connector may not be properly soldered onto the motherboard. For me it snapped off the pins and now have to find a place to get that fixed if even possible. may have bricked it.

Craig Osman - 30/01/21

Yup, broke the connector right off the motherboard. Thanks, ifixit -_-

Justin Kerr - 14/04/21

I backed out when I reached this point. I couldn't risk damaging it. Do u just need to pull it up? Did you mean that it might have been soldered shut below?

Jannalyzer -

You should just need to pull straight up, but make sure you’re pulling on the wires or the gray plug—do not pull on the black socket or it can snap off of the motherboard.

Adam O'Camb -

I pulled straight up from the south side on under 2 or three wires and held down the device as I pulled and the gray connector disconnected from the black connector on the Switch. Just be careful at this part.

Jon -

With how easy it seems to be to do serious damage at this point, I figured I'd say that realistically you can skip steps 9-13 when doing this repair. While they provide a bit of extra security by disconnecting the battery, the left stick is completely accessible and replaceable without touching the heat shield or anything underneath (And steps 17 and 18 disconnect power from the daughter board regardless).

Nate -

Step 14

Apply a few drops of adhesive remover or high-concentration (90% or higher) isopropyl alcohol inside the battery recess along the top edge to weaken the adhesive.
If you are using adhesive remover, follow these preparation steps first.

Step 15

Tilt the top edge of the device upward to allow the isopropyl alcohol to work its way underneath the battery.
Hold for 1-2 minutes to allow time for the isopropyl alcohol to weaken the adhesive.

Step 16

Insert an opening pick into the gap between the battery and the wall of the battery well.
Carefully dig the tip of the opening pick underneath the battery and slide it along the edge to begin slicing the adhesive.
Take care not to puncture or bend the battery with your tool—a punctured or bent battery may leak dangerous chemicals or cause a thermal event.

It is not mentioned in any of the steps, but in this picture you can see that the strip that has the Volume & Power buttons is removed. I ended up tearing mine while trying to pry the battery out, so I recommend using the opening tool to release the clamp on it and to remove the piece until reassembly.

Jacob Pierce -

Step 17

Leave the opening pick in place and apply a few more drops of adhesive remover or isopropyl alcohol inside the battery well.
Tilt the top edge of the device upward and wait 1-2 minutes for the isopropyl alcohol to weaken the adhesive.
Continue working the opening pick along the top edge of the battery, slicing more of the adhesive underneath.

Don't use isopropyl alcohol for this step! Too much will leak behind the battery well and damage the LCD screen, and 1-2 drops is NOT enough to loosen the adhesive here. Highly recommend getting specific adhesive remover, or using a hair dryer (cool to warm setting, no more than 60*F) to loosen the adhesive. Learn from my mistake!

Ashley Conway -

Just want to second Ashley’s comment here. I spent a lot of time and elbow grease prying that pick in there with IPA to no avail. I’m glad I saw their comment because with the hair dryer on medium I got the thing off in 5 minutes. Fortunately, I didn’t have the same leaking into the screen experience with the many more than a couple drops of alcohol I put behind the battery.

Jacob Pierce -

I read the comments too late cus I just &&^&@@ up my screen with alcohol drops.

Nikko Lorrel Pierstorff -

Step 18

Once there's enough room, insert a plastic card underneath the battery and slowly pry the battery up.
You may need to apply more isopropyl alcohol if you have difficulty prying.
Do not bend the battery while prying.
Remove the battery.
Do not reuse the battery after it has been removed, as doing so is a potential safety hazard. Replace it with a new battery.

Step 19

Use adhesive remover or isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth to clean up any remaining adhesive left behind in the battery well before installing the new battery.
If your new battery does not come with pre-installed adhesive, follow this guide to install pre-cut adhesive on the bottom of the battery.

Now where do I get the new battery that actually fits?

Jackson Rogers - 10/11/20

It may be better to go through the screen replacement guide and remove the midframe assembly before trying to remove the battery. The amount of alcohol or acetone you will need to remove the battery will risk the screen and the plastic underneath. It's definitely more work, but the difficulty is the same if you're doing the battery replacement, just takes longer and needs more thermal paste.

Shaun Dalrymple -

I just want to add that removing this adhesive was a massive pain and it took me both nearly half a bottle of iFixit adhesive remover plus the hair drier trick (medium heat, about 5 min) to finally get it out. But it did finally come out.

Brandon Wright -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

For optimal performance, calibrate your newly installed battery after completing this guide.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Nintendo Switch Lite Answers community for help.

Author

Craig Lloyd

Member since: 10/02/16

29943 Reputation

14 comments

Hello!

I am preparing to repair my daughters nintendo switch light. It has stopped charging out of no where. I have all the tools, I just can't find the battery anywhere. Where would you recommend buying it from?

Aryana Lograsso - 17/11/20

If you are still looking Ifixit sells one themselves Nintendo Switch Lite Battery

Edward hett -

Thanks for the guide. Battery replacement kits are now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-HDH-001-... (they weren’t in November! I was also looking for this during that time)

Unfortunately, the battery was much harder to remove than I expected. I did use a lot of isopropyl alcohol, but the adhesive they use really was giving me a lot of trouble. I should’ve wisened up and googled other adhesive removal methods or tried a new approach other than prying with the spudgers.

Well, now the LCD now has what looks like pressure damage in the bottom left where I’d imagine a lot of the prying pressure went. It is much more noticeable when the screen goes all-white, and not too bad with darker colors.

I don’t blame iFixit for my mistake of course, and it is really disappointing that Nintendo used the amount of adhesive that they did. But I hope this comment can serve as a warning to others attempting this repair to be more gentle even if it’s refusing to come off.

vmgm - 12/02/21

Yikes! Sorry to hear this. How did you pry with the spudger exactly? If you kept it around the top edge of the battery well then I would assume it wouldn’t damage the screen, but if you inserted the end of the spudger deeper in the battery well and used that point as the fulcrum, then I could see that putting a lot of pressure on the back of the LCD.

Craig Lloyd - 12/02/21

@craiglloyd I did an embarrassing amount of spudger prying pretty much everywhere along the top/bottom of the battery, I actually broke a few spudger tips in the process so that might reveal something about my approach…

But, I’m starting to think it may not be LCD damage after all, but rather some isopropyl alcohol caught behind the screen– During my prying, the Switch case was getting pretty heavily warped, so maybe some of the alcohol (that I definitely used in excess) slipped in and got sandwiched under the screen? I started to notice this since the blotches seem like they’ve moved over time. Here’s an image of the screen now https://imgur.com/DjYmFnJ (and the dark gray blotch along the leftside isn’t a shadow, white spots in bottom left I thought were pressure damage)

It’s still very usable / not noticeable on black colors and thanks again for the guide! I can give the screen more time to see if it improves at all, or maybe try going back in and trying to see it is trapped alcohol that can be released

vmgm - 15/02/21

Have the marks faded over time? We have had the ame issue and believe it is the isopropyl alcohol :/ we didn't use loads but found there was a gap at the bottom of where the battery is held which clearly let some of the alcohol through. I'm really hoping it will evaporate over time but not sure :/

Bryony Ellis - 12/05/21

Sadly no, the marks are still there, and haven’t been motivated to try to fix yet. I’ve seen some videos online where people can coerce trapped isopropyl alcohol out without having to take a screen apart, but have been hesitant to try out some of the methods.

vmgm - 26/05/21

Any way of fixing the discolored left corner screen issues? I did a battery replacement and a very small portion of the lower left color is discolored.

Mike -

I ended up with the same alcohol damage on the bottom left of the screen as some of the other comments here. Don’t use alcohol or if you do use VERY VERY little. I didn’t think I used much.

pixi -

Thanks for the detailed procedure. I followed the guide closely except for the battery removal procedure. The battery module is wrapped in foil backed plastic. This is easy to slice around the battery edges with an exacto knife. Once it is free, I could lever the battery module out of the bay. Then, I was able to trim the foil outer wrap into strips with the knife and peel it away in pieces. Now I am ready to install my new battery as soon as it arrives.

nickmoore72 -

Same problem here with the Isoproponol which has left my sons screen really discoloured.

Can I suggest you update this tear down as I have always relied on Ifixit for both tool kits and guides and it is a shame that this has left my sons switch damaged. I do expect a bit better of a company that sells parts and tools to do this stuff.

Thanks however for the brilliant Ifixit tool kits.

Adrian Trise -

after changing the battery I have gotten the 2101-0001 error code, how do i fix this?

Abby Brandt -

What kind of thermal paste are we to use?

Jonathan Bell -

réparation super facile, juste un peu de patience avec l'alcool isopropylique, mais sinon, rien de plus simple à remplacer :D

vendramelionel -