Alright, time to switch focus for a bit. With all these Wii U that I have repaired I figured some of them are going to need a Gamepad. After all the Gamepad is required to play the console.

I came across this Gamepad as a local thrift store. Unit is in fairly decent shape, or what is to be expected since Nintendo chose to use the worst kind of plastic for this console. Did come pretty dirty so I cleaned it before I tested it.




Looks a bit better wiped down. Screen works and when its on the scratches are less noticeable depending on what is on screen. 


When viewing this you can clearly see the scratches with the naked eye though. Black backgrounds especially make it noticeable.


Back is is pretty good condition. I did notice all, but one stickers that cover the screws were missing, so this has probably been opened before.


GamePad powers on, battery still holds a charge, although from my experience this seems to be the norm for the Wii U batteries; for some reason they just seem to last a really long time. I tested the Gamepad and the joysticks are both worn out. They both have drift and respond erratically depending on which direction you push them. This Gamepad also needs a new touch screen (known as a digitizer). There are some areas where it lacks response and there are significant scratches that can be seen when using the Gamepad. The volume slider doesn't work. Speakers do play audio its just very low and cannot be adjusted. The last component that needs replacing is the tiny rumble motor. this one chirps/squeaks. It almost sounds like a bird, which is common on these Gamepads.

Lets get it opened up...



After I opened it I notice that the white cable to the Bluetooth adapter is damaged. Looks like it has been pinched between the housing, so I believe someone has been inside this Gamepad before.




Bluetooth still works, so I am not worried about it. The cable is routed incorrectly. Makes me wonder what they tried to repair. The only reason to remove the wifi adapter/system board is if you need to repair a screen/digitizer. I wonder if either has been replaced before. I guess I am going to find out. The digitizer in these Gamepads are attached to the LCD screens using adhesive. Its usually easy to tell if they have been removed before. Its not uncommon to replace a failed/broken LCD screen without replacing the digitizer. I did notice that there seems to be some debris between the digitizer and the LCD screen. Suggesting that someone has replaced one or both of them.

Removed the main board to get to the full screen assembly. Screen assembly has the LCD Panel + Digitizer + front Bezel. All 3 are sandwiched together with adhesive between them. I don't reuse adhesive strips when I do this kind of repair for 2 reasons, first the adhesive gets messed up when separating the LCD from the digitizer and the front bezel from the digitizer and second many times it has debris stuck to it which causes the adhesive not to bond well with the new digitizer. Its easier to pull it off and replace it with fresh strips.



Under the main board is a grey display case/housing that holds the entire display in place. Remove a few screws and this lifts out revealing the LCD Display, which then can just be lifted out.



Got a closer look at that Bluetooth cable. Definitely was pinched between the housing. Luckily it still works. I will put some tape around it and make sure to route it properly when I reassembly the Gamepad.



I replaced the digitizer, both joysticks and the rumble motor. Its looking much better now that the touch screen isn't all scratched up. Additionally the touch screen is working now, with no dead spots so that is a big plus!



I was not able to fix the volume slider. I took a look under a microscope and slider is just barely sitting in the track. There is nothing making contact. Not entirely sure how something like this gets damaged. However I need to look at one that is working to figure out what is damaged and if I can repair it.

Everything else is working much better now. Display looks fantastic, joysticks have no drift and are nice and stiff like they should be and the rumble motor now vibrates without making bird noises. I tested it by playing some Captain Toad Treasure Tracker!! Its a really unique and fun game. Its also a great game to test the Gamepad because it uses almost all its features except the camera. That being said I did notice 2 small pieces of dust between the digitizer and the display, which I have outlined with a red box in the picture. This is why I always test fit and then validate the digitizer is working before putting adhesive between them. I use compressed air to remove dust, but sometimes its difficult to see without the display being turned on. 



I will get that dust out of there and then fully reassembly the Gamepad. I want to check out the volume slider before I fully assembly it, since the board has to be out of the GamePad to do that.