Grab a GN Anti-Static Modmat here: store.gamersnexus.net/products/modmat Watch our original Nintendo Switch tear-down & disassembly here: ua-cam.com/video/obz5tE1mdV0/v-deo.html And our Nintendo Switch Joycon controller disassembly: ua-cam.com/video/7DZ_zNTPPVY/v-deo.html
Hi GN Team, just here to say it might not be Phillips head screws but JIS cross-head. They're a tiny bit different but small JIS screws can be worn by a PH tool.
@@brokengames9020 You react as if it's the first time you discover the second model of a console. Sony did cut costs on all its Playstations too (even before the small PSone, there are at least 3 generations of PS1 designs), and IIRC Sega did the same 30 years ago with the MasterSystem II. This allows to reduce the price point of a console and to gain access to a wider audience. There is no so-called planned obsolescence here.
Not much point, mobile VRM is kind a non starter when *it's only using 11-16 watts of power* the efficiency the switch has is insane, to put it into perspective, you would need 22 Nintendo switches to equal the power draw of a single Xbox 1 X.
Attach the board to a laptop LCD -- Switch max Attach a gaming laptop HSF - Switch Pro Attach a noctua HSF and a laptop LCD - Switch Pro Max Attach a nuclear power supply - Switch Pipboy
Thank you for being so in depth with this, I was doing a diy repair on my switch lite and couldn’t connect one of the ribbons back. Watching your video saved my switch!! 😭
My understanding is that the refreshed Switch has the same battery, but a more efficient Tegra on a smaller node contributing to increased battery life
@@bengrogan9710 He's talking about the regular Switch refresh. It's completely identical to the 2017 Switch, but uses the new version of the Tegra X1 that's also found in the Switch Lite.
Thank you for actually providing old reference clips for a side by side instead of just telling people to watch the old video. I really appreciated that
The foam on the fin stack is probably also for sealing purposes, to ensure airflow goes through the fins and not just over them... if that makes sense.
The Tegra X1 got a die shrink for both the switch lite and newer units of the standard switch. That's why the standard switch has much longer battery live, and even the switch lite has longer live than the original switch with its smaller battery.
Don't get me wrong. I do really like the blue and black. Looks great. I just happened to go red because at the time I had a Titan Xp galactic empire edition... God I miss that card lol
Heavily modified my original switch. Tops 42c handheld and around 36-38 docked with a custom dock with custom cooling fan. Isolated my battery from the metal shielding with kapton tape. Using thermal pads along the heat pipe to dissipate the heat to the shielding. I know the cooling was overkill but I've gained some battery life due to the fan never having to reach any significant speeds.
It's interesting you don't seem to know/care about JIS, as the god of being nerdy and nitpicky and such, it'd be a great thing to know about. While they look similar, they are slightly different. Phillips has pointy crossbars, while JIS has squared off crossbars. Anything japanese, even made in China, is likely to use JIS instead of Phillips. Because you're using the wrong bits on heads that weren't designed for them, they strip, it's a known issue. But the problem is not with the screws, it's with the method employed to unscrew them here. Once you know about JIS, your chances of stripping heads go way down for japanese electronics. Cameras, Motorbikes, Consoles, anything tied to japan could be using JIS. Your IFixit kit should have JIS as well (I know the new ones do), maybe try and use that next time, see if the screws strip as much.
Great! Just a note that the charge port is not a job with just two screws, it needs specialised soldering equipment to remove and then needs to be resoldered in place
The Switch light seems fairly straight forward to open up and put back together. Though I will dock points for using glue over pull tabs. Seriously, glue is more dangerous to remove than pull tabs. And pull tabs are cheap too!
Just replaced my sons Nintendo switch lite battery with a 20 dollar Amazon kit and worked flawlessly. Used a butter knife to pry the battery out. Thank you for the video!
Being more of a PC hardware channel I don't expect there to be much demand from regular viewers but I would be interested in seeing switch/switch lite repasting (quality compound or liquid metal) and comparison to original video of temps/fps observation to see if it can sustain higher clocks, reduce stutter, etc.
liquid metal is not the best idea in a device that you probably move alot. there is a quality thermal paste from the same german company thats just 2-3°C "worse" on average.
My guess to why the original Switch had the storage soldered to a daughterboard instead of straight into the PCB isn't for capacity (as phones also have different capacities on same PCBs), but rather the flexibility of the package in which the storage can come. With that method you don't need a PCB revision for a different storage chip.
Thank you for mentioning the little tabs you have to flip to remove the ribbon cable. I had to replace my left joystick and watched videos and in all of them they just popped it off and didn’t mention it at all. So when I put it back together and the back light didn’t work I thought I had broken something. Turned out i just had to pull the tab to get cable in correctly. Thank you saved me a head ach
Its 16nm node instead of 20nm node and thats the power savings for the smaller battery and even more battery life for the new full switch with the new 16nm node soc!
probably not the best idea in a portable like that system. better would be another vom Therm Grizzly cant remember the name but on avarege its just 2-3°C worse then liquid metal.
Built-in joycons was a terrible idea, sticks are prone to mechanical failures on any gamepad, but ones on joycons are notoriously bad. Stick on my left one turned unresponsive after couple weeks of playing Binding of Isaac, but at least I had an option to just buy a new pair instead of turning in the console to service center for god knows how long.
and don't over tighten the internal screws that base plate material is very easy to strip. I striped of the screw hole that holds heatpipe in place. had to glue the crew in the hole so my switch dont overheat. crazy thing is i wanted to change the thermal paste for better performance. i suggest that you don't open the switch if you don't have to. the screws and screw holes are made to be stripped.
these ones are always interesting to watch. would be cool if buildzoid made a nintendo vid too. also agree with the switch OC idea. would be cool. saw someone else do it on the older one
It sucks that Nintendo and Playstation both made it not user-friendly to replace the batteries in their handhelds for someone who might keep this for a long time more than 10 years, the chance that you might have to replace the battery is really good And you would have to send it out to Nintendo for servicing to get the battery replaced, unless you knew that you could do it yourself
I would have brought a switch lite today, but the joy con problem has really made me want to wait for a switch pro. Shame because I want this but I don't want to take my switch apart.
I’m terribly disappointed that new tech doesn’t include a hook for charms the way old phones and the 3ds did. Do you think that looping the string of a charm through the holes guarding the fan would be ill advised? I’m not sure if it’s capable of getting hot enough to burn the string, or if having it there would be obstructive enough to prevent the fan from working properly. Thoughts?
Right? It's silly to call it a Switch when it doesn't have the function TO switch in the first place. They should've kept the TV-Out function and just made it run with a single USB cable instead. Nintendo dropped the ball with the 'Switch' Lite.
RollingMaki The man tried to fix a short to ground by scraping a whole layer of the PCB off..... he’s an idiot, talks and looks like he’s got a fucking stick up his ass, leaning in towards the camera, anyone with 500 bucks and two eyeballs could make his shit videos
If you're gonna do a thermal/noise comparison, I'd be interested to also see the new "big" Switch refresh that uses the same die-shrunk SoC as the Switch Lite.
I never thought of the (big) Switch as the successor to the 3DS - more like replacement for the Wii/Wii I as a more traditional console. I love my 3DS... But I only use it for playing Pokemon so I have now gone ahead and pre-ordered the themed addition. Thus I'll have to wait until November.
when you want something that you can throw in your pockets the 3DS or 3DS/2DS XL are probably still better. i still looking for a cheap 2DS XL but where iam from they want most of the time for a good condition used one 80-100€
Would it be possible to develop a 3d party USB-C standalone video chip to broadcast to TV with? Think something the size of the MClassic video upscaler but make it the internals needed to make a switch light broadcast the signal to a tv?
Hey GN, would the thermals actually improve if the thermal shields (for the memory and storage) be replaced with a cooling pad? and also making the cooling plate directly contact the CPU? I see some crazy people mod this part but it would be nice if a more thorough testing was made by you guys! Thanks
Given how the cooling is made - is it possible to improve the thermal performance via removing "useless" interfaces and recover some of the efficiency? Like direct die contact with a better thermal compound?
Why does everybody keep saying it can't dock you can still dock it there's a difference between docking something and connecting it through your TV that's not docking that's just basically pushing picture or video to your TV they're two different things they literally have docs for the switch lite which I don't see any point for because Nintendo literally took out the TV output card they did have it originally and they took it out they even said so themselves because they're cheap and I wanted to sell the console at a lower price which they still could have if they would have left the chip in there in the first place
Grab a GN Anti-Static Modmat here: store.gamersnexus.net/products/modmat
Watch our original Nintendo Switch tear-down & disassembly here: ua-cam.com/video/obz5tE1mdV0/v-deo.html
And our Nintendo Switch Joycon controller disassembly: ua-cam.com/video/7DZ_zNTPPVY/v-deo.html
Funny thing is, the Dpad is much better than 4 button for Dpads...
That modmat looks like it could use a good vacuuming.
Hi GN Team, just here to say it might not be Phillips head screws but JIS cross-head. They're a tiny bit different but small JIS screws can be worn by a PH tool.
@@brokengames9020 You react as if it's the first time you discover the second model of a console. Sony did cut costs on all its Playstations too (even before the small PSone, there are at least 3 generations of PS1 designs), and IIRC Sega did the same 30 years ago with the MasterSystem II. This allows to reduce the price point of a console and to gain access to a wider audience. There is no so-called planned obsolescence here.
Interesting that your handheld did not have Tri-wing screws...
15:36 "More ventilation than you see on modern cases." Oh snap!
Good thing consoles aren't trying to do tempered glass. Not yet anyway.
@@SpinDlsc Yeah, phones are also having this problem nowadays. They are using glass backs and most are thermal throttling under continuous loads
Shots fired
I feel personally attacked as a pb600 owner who had to make a door out of 3.5" slots. Just so my machine doesn't cook while rendering. LOL
@@EVPointMaster It's a fucking phone!!! No one cares about frame drops or anything like that
Good thing you’ve got the liquid nitrogen on hand for this one
Hi
Quick correction: the "new" switch (in the red box) has more battery life because of the updated processor; the battery is the same.
Was going off of their own spec tables.
Smaller display helps a lot, with lower resolution to output... LOL.
@@dra6o0n He's talking about the switch refresh, not the switch lite.
and all switch screen's have the same resolution.
@@dra6o0n Switch Lite has the same resolution of the bigger one.
@@UnsungAces Higher, if anything.
Need to send the PCB to Buildzoid for a VRM Breakdown!
BigAL268 Hi guys, Buildzoid here. Today we take a look at the Switch Lite stock PCB and how we can potentially hardmod it for LN2.
Not much point, mobile VRM is kind a non starter when *it's only using 11-16 watts of power*
the efficiency the switch has is insane, to put it into perspective, you would need 22 Nintendo switches to equal the power draw of a single Xbox 1 X.
Thats a good idea
You send a switch to buildzoid, you wont get it back, he seems bored.
You need to break overclocking records with it so you can make your own switch pro.
No not pro. PRO MAX
That would be awesome
Attach the board to a laptop LCD -- Switch max
Attach a gaming laptop HSF - Switch Pro
Attach a noctua HSF and a laptop LCD - Switch Pro Max
Attach a nuclear power supply - Switch Pipboy
Thank you for being so in depth with this, I was doing a diy repair on my switch lite and couldn’t connect one of the ribbons back. Watching your video saved my switch!! 😭
My understanding is that the refreshed Switch has the same battery, but a more efficient Tegra on a smaller node contributing to increased battery life
I heard they updated it to patch some security issues, it's was supposed to be harder to hack
Possibly, however it is a smaller screen with the same luminous output - that translates directly to lower power use
@@greggreg2458 yeah that's the tegra replacement. Same with the red box switch. Both used the patched tegra
@@bengrogan9710 He's talking about the regular Switch refresh. It's completely identical to the 2017 Switch, but uses the new version of the Tegra X1 that's also found in the Switch Lite.
Thank you for actually providing old reference clips for a side by side instead of just telling people to watch the old video. I really appreciated that
liquid nitrogen it?
The foam on the fin stack is probably also for sealing purposes, to ensure airflow goes through the fins and not just over them... if that makes sense.
"When in doubt, rip it out"
That would make one helluva t-shirt
Good advice in many life situations
Don't forget to make a TaterTot T
"When it doubt, pull it out."
if you think your girl lying about birth control, or poking holes in the condoms.
Shots fired with that "more ventilation than most modern cases". Keep it up GN!
"No one puts my tools back"
"Also I was the last one to use it"
Real smooth
Those pencil numbers represent how long that person had been imprisoned at the Foxconn factory.
The Tegra X1 got a die shrink for both the switch lite and newer units of the standard switch. That's why the standard switch has much longer battery live, and even the switch lite has longer live than the original switch with its smaller battery.
Followed what this guy did and it broke my Nintendo switch lite. Thanks a lot man
rolls intro > *smashed Nintendo Switch Lite innards* > Welcome to Gamers Nexus!
Really glad you do things like this, it's awesome how in detail you go with hardware~
Great video. What would also be great would be a limited edition Red and Black Mod Mat and mouse pad 😎😘✌️🇨🇦
We've seen your request! Not sure how much demand there is for that, our minimum order quantities are sort of high!
My Corsair 1000D build in red and black would love a red and black mod mat to sit on...
@@GamersNexus I know. I can dream tho. Maybe one day. Thanks guys. Really love your content!
Don't get me wrong. I do really like the blue and black. Looks great. I just happened to go red because at the time I had a Titan Xp galactic empire edition... God I miss that card lol
A mouse pad would be nice, but red and black is just the gamer color everyone uses lol
I feel like the Switch would be an ideal system for Liquid Metal... as long as you can figure out how to seal all the LM within the heat sink.
Bud The Cyborg The real challenge is ensure the sealant around the LM is 100% effective during handheld usage with lots of movements.
Yeah I feel like this is anything BUT the ideal system for a liquid metal setup since it is a mobile device
Just wanted to point out that this tear down is FAR more useful than the iFixit guide.
I love this video for it's honesty. Working on tech doesn't always go smooth. "Be more careful than I just was" lmao. It happens.
Heavily modified my original switch. Tops 42c handheld and around 36-38 docked with a custom dock with custom cooling fan. Isolated my battery from the metal shielding with kapton tape. Using thermal pads along the heat pipe to dissipate the heat to the shielding. I know the cooling was overkill but I've gained some battery life due to the fan never having to reach any significant speeds.
SolidZ make a video of it
@@diorr.r sounds like a plan wish I could just upload pics to yt comments lol
Going to get a friend's unmodified switch and dock tonight.
Part 1 uploading now.
EVEN WITH MODS THERES STILL A LIMIT TO OUTDATED SHIT HARDWARE
Didn't see the lite bit. I thought I had gone back in time
Marty, you must come with me quick!
It has been used several times and loved.
It's interesting you don't seem to know/care about JIS, as the god of being nerdy and nitpicky and such, it'd be a great thing to know about.
While they look similar, they are slightly different. Phillips has pointy crossbars, while JIS has squared off crossbars. Anything japanese, even made in China, is likely to use JIS instead of Phillips.
Because you're using the wrong bits on heads that weren't designed for them, they strip, it's a known issue. But the problem is not with the screws, it's with the method employed to unscrew them here. Once you know about JIS, your chances of stripping heads go way down for japanese electronics. Cameras, Motorbikes, Consoles, anything tied to japan could be using JIS.
Your IFixit kit should have JIS as well (I know the new ones do), maybe try and use that next time, see if the screws strip as much.
I never knew about jis and if why I stripped some in the past:(
@@backlogbuddies Yeah. I learned about JIS when taking appart old cameras. Now I know why I use to strip heads and damage screwdrivers
Great! Just a note that the charge port is not a job with just two screws, it needs specialised soldering equipment to remove and then needs to be resoldered in place
5:00 "When in doubt, rip it out"
i bought one great little device if u dont want a original switch and worried about transportation got one day 1
thanks steve
The Switch light seems fairly straight forward to open up and put back together. Though I will dock points for using glue over pull tabs. Seriously, glue is more dangerous to remove than pull tabs. And pull tabs are cheap too!
Just replaced my sons Nintendo switch lite battery with a 20 dollar Amazon kit and worked flawlessly. Used a butter knife to pry the battery out. Thank you for the video!
If the wifi chip has bluetooth 5.0 integrated, what is it's use if they still wont allow bluetooth audio functionality?
Now, let's reassemble n see it working again! :D
Being more of a PC hardware channel I don't expect there to be much demand from regular viewers but I would be interested in seeing switch/switch lite repasting (quality compound or liquid metal) and comparison to original video of temps/fps observation to see if it can sustain higher clocks, reduce stutter, etc.
liquid metal is not the best idea in a device that you probably move alot. there is a quality thermal paste from the same german company thats just 2-3°C "worse" on average.
Steve: Excuse me while rip this out.
Everyone: GASP!!!
kinda impressed they have a wave guide for the tiny speakers
Thanks gamers nexus. I'm new to your channel. Awesome content
My guess to why the original Switch had the storage soldered to a daughterboard instead of straight into the PCB isn't for capacity (as phones also have different capacities on same PCBs), but rather the flexibility of the package in which the storage can come. With that method you don't need a PCB revision for a different storage chip.
Great informative video, thanks for uploading. 🤘😜
Nintendo should have called this thing for what it really is, a Gameboy Switch.
Andrew Hunt it doesn’t really switch though. So just a sexy new game boy
@@ancientflames Yeah I was trying to find a better name like Gameboy Tegra or something lol
The GBA 2
I don't even know what you're talking about half the time, but I still watch.
the numbers steve, what do they mean?!
Steve needs to do durability test first before tear-down... Oh wait I remember one youtuber did this.
Steve by the end of this: "Thanks for watching our video featuring the Nintendo Button Lite"
k if the back of your switch has that much grease on it you have a problem. honestly clean that shit right now.
Thank you for mentioning the little tabs you have to flip to remove the ribbon cable. I had to replace my left joystick and watched videos and in all of them they just popped it off and didn’t mention it at all. So when I put it back together and the back light didn’t work I thought I had broken something. Turned out i just had to pull the tab to get cable in correctly. Thank you saved me a head ach
Great teardown
Its 16nm node instead of 20nm node and thats the power savings for the smaller battery and even more battery life for the new full switch with the new 16nm node soc!
Neat for real. Also, I am sad I missed the boat on that wooden ifixit kit. Perfect bench set.
"When in doubt, rip it out." is my new motto in life.
When in doubt, rip it out. Unless it's a ribbon cable then use the tiny clamps.
Would love to see this kind of content with the other portable systems out there, especially the ones that run windows!
Why don't you guys use Japanese standard Philip's head bits/screwdrivers? I would think of all people you guys would care.
it needs some liquid metal xD
probably not the best idea in a portable like that system. better would be another vom Therm Grizzly cant remember the name but on avarege its just 2-3°C worse then liquid metal.
Could you somehow put together an external video output that included the chip Nintendo didn’t include on the board?
I don't have a Switch Lite, but I've got a few light switches.
haha
"when in doubt, rip it out"
Steve, 2019
They're probably JIS head screws, not Philips.
@GamersNexus if you used JIS bits, you would have less chances of stripping these screws.
So glad I decided to get a Switch Lite instead of the Steam Deck
I find these so interesting
Built-in joycons was a terrible idea, sticks are prone to mechanical failures on any gamepad, but ones on joycons are notoriously bad. Stick on my left one turned unresponsive after couple weeks of playing Binding of Isaac, but at least I had an option to just buy a new pair instead of turning in the console to service center for god knows how long.
and don't over tighten the internal screws that base plate material is very easy to strip. I striped of the screw hole that holds heatpipe in place. had to glue the crew in the hole so my switch dont overheat. crazy thing is i wanted to change the thermal paste for better performance. i suggest that you don't open the switch if you don't have to. the screws and screw holes are made to be stripped.
Gamers Nexus being true gamers. AKA, why I sub. Awesome stuff, guys!
these ones are always interesting to watch. would be cool if buildzoid made a nintendo vid too.
also agree with the switch OC idea. would be cool. saw someone else do it on the older one
UFD Tech needs help. Would you help by donating and plugging UFD tech Steve?
wow
an actual TEARDOWN!
others just stop halfway XD
they gave us cliffhanger lol
i like my lil switch. nice and pocket sized
interesting speaker chamber, wondering how much it improves the sound quality
It sucks that Nintendo and Playstation both made it not user-friendly to replace the batteries in their handhelds
for someone who might keep this for a long time more than 10 years, the chance that you might have to replace the battery is really good
And you would have to send it out to Nintendo for servicing to get the battery replaced, unless you knew that you could do it yourself
Still don't know what the other side of the calipers is for? SMH. If you are measuring an inside diameter you use the back instead.
Zach it’s because he has no professional training and no experience except for taking shit apart by himself.
thumbs up for fast forward buttons
Those metal "covers" are EMI shields, keeping high frequency radiation contained.
Mora Fermi not contained but from interfering.
I would have brought a switch lite today, but the joy con problem has really made me want to wait for a switch pro. Shame because I want this but I don't want to take my switch apart.
18matts if your willing to buy a switch pro, this isn’t for you anyway.
I’m terribly disappointed that new tech doesn’t include a hook for charms the way old phones and the 3ds did. Do you think that looping the string of a charm through the holes guarding the fan would be ill advised? I’m not sure if it’s capable of getting hot enough to burn the string, or if having it there would be obstructive enough to prevent the fan from working properly. Thoughts?
Are the speakers the same part number? They're so quiet on the Switch Lite but sound perfect on the regular Switch.
Good video! :D
Bro. They’ve made a gameboy
Right? It's silly to call it a Switch when it doesn't have the function TO switch in the first place. They should've kept the TV-Out function and just made it run with a single USB cable instead. Nintendo dropped the ball with the 'Switch' Lite.
@@MetallicBlade they could sell a dock sized for the lite.
@@JamesSmith-dn8lb No point in having a dock since the Lite doesn't support video out
@@RonnieDeuce87 is that missing hardware support or software
James Smith the hardware for video out was in the Switch, not the dock. That’s why those docks are ripoffs.
TronicsFix has replaced a lot of those ICs in his videos, check him out :)
Tronixfix is a deplorable pos
justin lally elaborate?
RollingMaki The man tried to fix a short to ground by scraping a whole layer of the PCB off..... he’s an idiot, talks and looks like he’s got a fucking stick up his ass, leaning in towards the camera, anyone with 500 bucks and two eyeballs could make his shit videos
since you opened it. does it look like its possible to add a video chip? or for it to somehow have video output?
If you're gonna do a thermal/noise comparison, I'd be interested to also see the new "big" Switch refresh that uses the same die-shrunk SoC as the Switch Lite.
I never thought of the (big) Switch as the successor to the 3DS - more like replacement for the Wii/Wii I as a more traditional console.
I love my 3DS...
But I only use it for playing Pokemon so I have now gone ahead and pre-ordered the themed addition. Thus I'll have to wait until November.
when you want something that you can throw in your pockets the 3DS or 3DS/2DS XL are probably still better. i still looking for a cheap 2DS XL but where iam from they want most of the time for a good condition used one 80-100€
Interesting to see, thanks for the metric.
The fact that the sticks appear to be the same, is sadly pretty much the only reason to not get one of these, and that really sucks...
Great video. On time. It didn't seem like there was any 'warranty void' strips. Was there? I would rly like to mod my case.....
Would it be possible to develop a 3d party USB-C standalone video chip to broadcast to TV with? Think something the size of the MClassic video upscaler but make it the internals needed to make a switch light broadcast the signal to a tv?
I really REALLY want one. What are the games that push me over the edge?
Good video!
What would be the best thermal paste to replace the original?
"when in doubt, rip it out ig"
_- Gamer Nexus, 2019_
Hey GN, would the thermals actually improve if the thermal shields (for the memory and storage) be replaced with a cooling pad? and also making the cooling plate directly contact the CPU? I see some crazy people mod this part but it would be nice if a more thorough testing was made by you guys! Thanks
I want to ask a question, can you support UFD Tech? He really need all the support he can get
Will you take pics and have your buildzoid that dose the pc motherboard and GPU card analysis go over the chipset for the Nintendo switch lite?.
Do the Joycons vary from the regular Switch? I ask since people have had some failures with them.
This man is the AvE of tech..
I wanted to see the joy con the most since many are debating if they're the same rev3 on the market or not
Given how the cooling is made - is it possible to improve the thermal performance via removing "useless" interfaces and recover some of the efficiency? Like direct die contact with a better thermal compound?
Why does everybody keep saying it can't dock you can still dock it there's a difference between docking something and connecting it through your TV that's not docking that's just basically pushing picture or video to your TV they're two different things they literally have docs for the switch lite which I don't see any point for because Nintendo literally took out the TV output card they did have it originally and they took it out they even said so themselves because they're cheap and I wanted to sell the console at a lower price which they still could have if they would have left the chip in there in the first place
All I wanted to see is if nintendo fixed the Joycons in this model. It would be a really PITA if the analogs in this model started to drift.
5:34 Being someone in production ( metal fab ) you often mark parts to help you count or marking an end point.