I think my 3DS XL might've died... any thoughts?

"Cinder" Vile

"Cinder" Vile

CAGiversary!
So I picked up the Pikachu 3DS XL the day it came out and it's been pretty smooth sailing (ironically; you'll see why in a second) until tonight.

I was coming back from the island on Animal Crossing when my screens blacked out with a "POP!" noise. I went to turn it back on; blue light turned on for a moment, then the popping occurs.

From what I have seen online and my own personal opinion, I think I may have a blown fuse. I may be able to fix it myself, but that'd involve purchasing the replacement part, buying a tri-wing Nintendo screwdriver, and a fair amount of soldering skill (which I sorely lack). On the other hand, I believe my 1-year warranty is still in effect, but I've heard tale of Pikachus being sent into Nintendo, only to come back as normal Red or Blue XL....

Willingly accepting any and all advice. Meanwhile, the game thinks I time traveled since I jumped on my old purple 3DS...

 
Just send it back to Nintendo and include a note saying you work for a major gaming site and will make a big fuss about it on Twitter if they dare to replace your 3DS with a generic non-Pikachu edition.

 
@Axersia Can't tell if you mean that to be a joke but I may just do that haha. At any rate, I'm gonna call up a rep as soon as I get home and I will definitely make sure they know I want MY pikachu system back.
I had a friend who sent his DSlite in pretty often (back when DSlite was the latest model) for shoulder button problems and he told me they rarely sent the same system back to him... I'm hoping this isnt usually the case since the purchases are tied to the system now, too!
 
VileEighty said:
@Axersia Can't tell if you mean that to be a joke but I may just do that haha. At any rate, I'm gonna call up a rep as soon as I get home and I will definitely make sure they know I want MY pikachu system back.
I had a friend who sent his DSlite in pretty often (back when DSlite was the latest model) for shoulder button problems and he told me they rarely sent the same system back to him... I'm hoping this isnt usually the case since the purchases are tied to the system now, too!
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Transfer your data to the SD card before shipping it out. The Pikachu 3DS is limited edition so they cant simply replace it with another one.

 
DGMoney said:
VileEighty said:
@Axersia Can't tell if you mean that to be a joke but I may just do that haha. At any rate, I'm gonna call up a rep as soon as I get home and I will definitely make sure they know I want MY pikachu system back.
I had a friend who sent his DSlite in pretty often (back when DSlite was the latest model) for shoulder button problems and he told me they rarely sent the same system back to him... I'm hoping this isnt usually the case since the purchases are tied to the system now, too!
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Transfer your data to the SD card before shipping it out. The Pikachu 3DS is limited edition so they cant simply replace it with another one.
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Good call, thanks.

Just wanted to update that I got off the phone with the Nintendo help hotline. I opted to have it sent to a repair center since it is still very much under manufacturer warranty. He e-mailed me the UPS shipping label and all that jazz and indicated on my repair order to send back the system if repairs cannot be done instead of replacing it with a new one. I'm pretty sure this should be an easy fix, but if it isn't, I'm buying a new system and doing a housing swap (assuming I get it back). Wish me luck!

 
If you can, before you send it off, try another battery?  Sounds like something similar that happened to my non-stock battery in my regular 3DS and was resolved upon returning the original battery to it.

 
WhipSmartBanky said:
If you can, before you send it off, try another battery? Sounds like something similar that happened to my non-stock battery in my regular 3DS and was resolved upon returning the original battery to it.
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That would require a tri wing screwdriver! At least on the Pikachu model.

 
DGMoney said:
WhipSmartBanky said:
If you can, before you send it off, try another battery? Sounds like something similar that happened to my non-stock battery in my regular 3DS and was resolved upon returning the original battery to it.
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That would require a tri wing screwdriver! At least on the Pikachu model.
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Yeah, and, I guess, another battery, which I don't have on-hand, lol. If that was the issue, I'm hoping the repair center in Chatsworth, CA are good enough to pick up on it!

 
Ah!  I keep bits and specialty screwdrivers around for just about every type of game fastener. ;)  Just saying, it might be an inexpensive test/fix if you don't want to risk losing your LE.

 
WhipSmartBanky said:
Ah! I keep bits and specialty screwdrivers around for just about every type of game fastener. ;) Just saying, it might be an inexpensive test/fix if you don't want to risk losing your LE.
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I wish I had the utilities to do so... it's already in with UPS though. I guess I have to wait "one and a half to two weeks" until I can finally see the result. Fingers still crossed.

 
Dufus said:
If it is the battery, won't playing the system while connected to the AC adaptor help troubleshoot it?
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This I tried. The orange LED stays on (charging), and when I turned it on, the blue LED would come on. Then, pop sound, and blue LED would shut off. Orange LED stayed on the whole time.

At any rate, sent it in Sunday, and they already updated the repair page with a UPS tracking number today (Wednesday). I'm assuming everything went well since product description remained "NINTENDO 3DSXL PKCHU ED.ASSY SPRUSZ" with the system's serial number.

 
VileEighty said:
This I tried. The orange LED stays on (charging), and when I turned it on, the blue LED would come on. Then, pop sound, and blue LED would shut off. Orange LED stayed on the whole time.

At any rate, sent it in Sunday, and they already updated the repair page with a UPS tracking number today (Wednesday). I'm assuming everything went well since product description remained "NINTENDO 3DSXL PKCHU ED.ASSY SPRUSZ" with the system's serial number.
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Hopefully they'll specify what was wrong with it on the return invoice. I'm really interested in knowing.

/MrFixIt

 
This I tried. The orange LED stays on (charging), and when I turned it on, the blue LED would come on. Then, pop sound, and blue LED would shut off. Orange LED stayed on the whole time.

At any rate, sent it in Sunday, and they already updated the repair page with a UPS tracking number today (Wednesday). I'm assuming everything went well since product description remained "NINTENDO 3DSXL PKCHU ED.ASSY SPRUSZ" with the system's serial number.



Hope u get the pikachu 3dsxl back.

I think i read somewhere here that had a different problem with their pikachu unit... A wire was sticking out from the hinge. Hopefully these instances are just isolated cases and is not poor quality control/ quality parts over the entire LE pikachu production.

I also have an Pikachu unit btw. And so far my unit is doing well.
 
CAGkrazy said:
Hope u get the pikachu 3dsxl back.

I think i read somewhere here that had a different problem with their pikachu unit... A wire was sticking out from the hinge. Hopefully these instances are just isolated cases and is not poor quality control/ quality parts over the entire LE pikachu production.

I also have an Pikachu unit btw. And so far my unit is doing well.
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I saw that thread. My heart would've dropped. I've been fortunate enough to have had a pretty good run with it so far. That particular issue though... it actually looked like part of the spring for the hinge. Didn't his system still run just fine? (Not that that would justify the out-of-box damage. sheesh)

 
Just wanted to update that I received my Pikachu 3DS back and it's in perfect working condition! Just that they wiped the system so I lost all my gold-pant-clad Miis, swapnote messages AND stationary, etc. Gotta get back on that. At least they left my screen protectors!

 
VileEighty said:
Just wanted to update that I received my Pikachu 3DS back and it's in perfect working condition! Just that they wiped the system so I lost all my gold-pant-clad Miis, swapnote messages AND stationary, etc. Gotta get back on that. At least they left my screen protectors!
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They didn't specify what was wrong with it, huh? I'd bet dollars to donuts it was a battery issue, especially since you got the unit back intact otherwise.

Congratulations, btw! :D

 
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Maybe they replaced the power jack, the ones on laptops go bad all the time so its possible for this to happen, they probably replaced the battery as well which might explain the system wipe.
 
I know this is a late update, but I thought it noteworthy to say:

My system WASN'T entirely wiped. In fact, I kept all my swapnotes, puzzle pieces, Find Mii progress, and even Mii Plaza population, as well as the save data on my SD card and everything else. The ONE thing that was different was my Mii Maker data somehow was corrupted, and I jumped the gun and assumed everything else was wiped because it turns out you can't use most of the stock system functions without having a Mii made. So I remade my Mii and everything came back up normally!

Hope this.. uh.. I guess 'helped', lol

 
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