4:05 I'm still surprised that after all these years, people have been ignoring the line on the 5.0.0 Switch update which says "Digital software purchases made from PC or smart devices will start downloading sooner than previously, even if the Nintendo Switch console is in Sleep Mode". For such a feature to work, the Switch may have to do more constant internet checks while in sleep mode which leads to more power usage in sleep mode than normal. When Spawn Wave's switch bricked, it was left on the Nyko dock overnight which gave it more than enough time to do these constant internet checks and therefore suffer from the uneven distribution of power more and more.
@@darkmask2717 In theory, the official Nintendo dock should be calibrated to the Switch's demand of power, so theres no running risk that it'll be distributed badly overnight, like an unofficial dock would.
If you search for a switch dock on amazon and click on the official Nintendo one. You should be able to click on a new or used section. I got my official dock used in perfect condition with a charger for 60 bucks.
The Plan that makes a lot of sense, but wouldn’t this hurt them financially more than just leaving it automated. Sure they can’t actually fulfill those orders, but the customer can cancel as long as the order isn’t processed. A lot would cancel, but a lot also wouldn’t mind waiting until nintendo reopens. A company of that size can’t and isn’t going to stay closed for too long.
@@jalene150 They probably still don't know when they will be able to reopen, and figure this is better than leaving orders open while not even being able to estimate when they might ship.
japzone if you’re really looking for one, all of Nintendo’s “physical items” on their website are listed sold out because of the epidemic and they should come back in stock after this is all over.
I heard from a GameStop employee that Nintendo stopped making standalone docks over a year ago, which is absurd considering their switch isn’t safe to use with literally anything other than official.
A mismatch in the current (Amperes) requirement between the switch and the charger won't be what damages the Switch. At worst it could damage the charger if it's very badly designed, otherwise it will just make the Switch charge very slowly or even continue discharging. The thing to really watch out for is if the charger delivers a higher voltage than what the Switch requests, because that will definitely damage the console. If it delivers a lower voltage, then the switch just won't charge, that's all.
I have an issue with someone who isn't an engineer discussing engineer type problems like this, because they barely understand what they're talking about.
"Why would you ever get anything other than a Nintendo Switch dock." 1) The Nintendo Dock is poorly designed. As you pointed out it's not portable at all forcing people to make portable conversions. The dock was even scratching people's handheld screens in the beginning. It's a huge chunk boy. 2) The price. Bruh $90 for what's effectively just a HDMI/USB-C passthrough? Third party docks go for less than $40 and sometimes even include additional features like BlueTooth. The USB-C dongle I use for my MacBook was $20 and has double the ports. Sure the $90 dock includes the Nintendo Charger but even the charger is nuts. $30 for a USB-C charger. Even the cable is obnoxious because it has that design where the "brick" is put with the metal prongs (also like a MacBook). So now I have to find a way to plug this massive brick into a power strip without it taking up three outlets. I bet mobile people don't want to deal with a traditional brick so they designed it this way but now if you're on the go you have to find an outlet where the brick will fit. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't buy a third party dock because I don't want to risk losing my data. There's just an obvious appeal to buying a cheaper and seemingly better dock. The business style of "Only our products work or you'll break the device. BTW they have 3x the mark-up." is a very Apple way of doing business. But it seems like people give Apple crap for it but Nintendo gets a pass because "muh childhood" lol.
@@HandledToaster2 I knew this for a while to some extent, but never made much income before so I just stuck to the bare minimum original equipment. Now that I can afford to have a Nintendo system and one of the other two, it's more apparent
Sadly Nintendo gets a lot of passes from the community. Same with Square Enix. Both run with extremely predatory business tactics but nobody seems to care much give nthe popularity.
I know it's an older video, but thank you for keeping it on your channel, Wulff Den. Your video was both informative and concise, and it helped clarify enough of the "why" for me to solidify my prior, more limited understanding of the issue. It helped my decision-making process tremendously.
Just throwing this out there. I bought a switch second had and Ive been using the insignia dock for more than a year. No problems as of late and my battery had been fine so far. Now Im not saying you should pick one up but as someone who didnt have a choice its working well enough.
Literally the ONLY thing you can do worse than just making an original weirdly-shaped port is make a universal port that acts like an original weirdly-shaped port ... will nintendo ever stop doing 99% of the hard work on intuitive stuff and then just stopping short of that 1% that would make it actually intuitive
HP did the same thing in some of their laptops. They only have USB-C ports, but does not charge at all if usinging any other charger than HPs bundled charger... When USB C was new, there was many USB-A to C cables that was incorrectly made that could ”fry” the machine/charger on the USB-A side..
I have been using the Insignia dock for a few months, I've been using it with an official Switch charger as I needed a second dock for my living room TV. Haven't seen any issues, typically most 3rd party docks seem to either not have a charger with them or they do but recommend that you use the official charger. It would be nice to get an official one, but they are always sold out or marked up when I find them.
You could mod your big dock into a mini dock. I did that, by buying a mini dock shell, moved the inside parts of the dock into the mini shell. Much smaller & safer 💕 easy to do
Has no one thought about how the whole dock situation could be manufactured by nintendo to push the sale of their docks...? I'm just saying. A simple software update caused the problem. Meaning they changed how power is regulated by the chip in the switch. Nintendo could just reverse that, but hasn't. Hell, its worked. Their docks are sold out everywhere. People recommend ONLY the official dock. People even buy the dock to gut it, which doesn't matter to nintendo because they got your money. This is blatant anti-competitive because a software update they did caused this whole fiasco.
1: Docks aren't sold out. Nintendo just aren't selling them due to *THE VIRUS* meaning they aren't able to give shipping estimates. 2: The software update wasn't the main cause. The software doesn't change the power draw all that much, if at all. There's a reason the revised Switch's main point was longer battery life. Because it had better, more efficient hardware. Specifically the CPU.
@@BenMaguireLONEWOLF9989 Hey buddy, it's April 2021, still can't find official switch docks that aren't refurbished on ebay. Nintendo doesn't even have refurbished ones on their website anymore.
@@BenMaguireLONEWOLF9989 1) Nintendo is still able to sell the console, now two models. Why would they not sell the docks? So they're purposefully withholding stock then? That's not any better, that's actually worse. Means demand will ride due to low supply, meaning jacking up prices. 2) apparently it was because before that, third party docks didn't brick systems unless they switched voltages in weird ways. The issue of bricking switches became a huge issue starting with the software update. So most third party docks, regardless soft manufacturer, all started bricking systems at the same time because they felt like it? Had nothing to do with the software update?? That's some next level bullshit. The new switch isn't the only switch to have the issue, older switches did too. And I'm not talking about a software update changing the CPU voltage, we are taking about the software update changing how the charging circuitry functions. That can be done, and is what seemingly happened. That circuitry tells whatever it is plugged into how much power the system should be receiving.
I did buy a Skull and Co Jumpgate dock. After reading reviews that it's been out for a year with no issues (so far) I decided to get it. But I didn't know about the refurbished Official Nintendo Docks being that cheap so I may just get that and toss out the skull and co
I was tired of the official Dock and how unnecessarily big was, after checking your videos on the third party docks I decided to just buy an empty shell and take the parts of the official dock and put them into It. No issues until now because why would I have them, It's still using the official components for the voltage but without being so damn big and hard to storage (that's what she said)
the insignia dock is pretty much the same dock as the nintendo dock, only difference is the branding everything else is the same. i know because i been using my insignia for 2 years with no fuck ups.
That's basically what I did from the very beginning a few years ago. There is absolutely no way that you can get any sort of power irregularities with the setup and you likewise don't have to worry about any of the issues with the official dock. And even if by some chance you were to use a third-party dock with potentially different internal Hardware, as long as you were using the official Nintendo switch power supply then it should work the same way.
just a comment about the best buy link at 8:48 , speaking as a website developer that works with big names like this. more than likely nintendo isn't linking to a specific best buy product page, as any work best buy would do on their website could potentially break this link (which would be wasted time and money to coordinate with nintendo to update the link on their side), but rather just a specific best buy targeting url, which is then configured on best buy's side to redirect to whatever product they like, likely based on contractual agreements. perhaps best buy at one time had this pointing to the official nintendo dock but then changed the redirect to point to their own. it would naturally be in their own interest to point this ad link to their own branded product, after all.
When I bought my Switch from Best Buy, they had it bundled with a free Insignia dock. Never used it, didn’t need to. About a week or so later, I heard about docks bricking Switches and felt like I dodged a bullet. Still have the dock, unopened and collecting dust somewhere. Not worth the risk.
Not at all. My fiance bought her Switch at launch, and she bought a second dock for $50-$60 from Target a year ago or so. I recently bought the Switch V2, and now we have three docks. I feel bad for people buying/selling Switch consoles with third party docks. No thanks!
SammyRebel it’s not the dock, the thing that was bricking the switches are the included AC adapters that come with those 3rd party docks. My uncle has one of those insignia docks and they work perfectly fine but he uses another ac adapter with it. I don’t recommend using the included ones. I have a Nyko dock and I don’t use the included AC adapter with it because when I first got it I tested it to see if my switch would charge properly and right away it was acting weird, my switch wasn’t picking up the AC adapter even being plugged in at all and that was a dead giveaway. The dock works perfectly fine though since I use a different AC adapter for it.
Clarifying that 6V thing: that is the "maximum allowable voltage" on a specific pin. The VCC pin (what actually gives the big power) on a Switch can accept the 5, 9, 12 and 15v indeed. This pin, should normally, on any USB-C system, be at 5v. That means, if that pin goes above 5v, it's already out of spec and could fry anything. The Nintendo choice on part could be better yes, and I honestly would have protected the voltage sensitive pins better, but the issue is really the dock itself going out of spec, and violently at that. Nintendo's dock negotiation is indeed a mess, but it's a mess that wouldn't fry anything normally, unless the dock itself dumps weird voltages on sensitive pins.
@@PrimeTF Yes, those docks doing such ridiculous things are just inexcusable, regardless of how sensitive the Switch might be (which it isn't even, could be better for sure but there never should be anything above those 5v on that pin to begin with).
@@riczzz6440 That's quite an off the mark conclusion out of my reply. Driving higher than spec voltage to any pin on any part is just the case of a bad product, that has the significant potential to kill anything it plugs with. In fact driving what, 9v to that 5v only pin (damn... that's ridiculous on a new level) would likely fry a bunch of other USB-C spec compliant devices, be it phones or whatever you plug into that. Think about it: if you bought a standard USB charger, like true simple 5v only for a phone or whatever, and your device dies because the charger suddenly decided to pump 9v into the power pins, is your device, or the charger crap? It only happens less because by now we got such cheap single chip USB charger circuits that do it "properly" that there's no way to make it cheaper and still somehow working. When this all started, USB-C was relatively new, now the market is flooded with penny price chips that do correctly the needed power handling, so I bet the new wave of docks do no problems on the Switch, as they should. In the end people figured out that the Switch dock is not much more than a USB-C hub with Display Port output. Do this, feed it proper USB-PD 15V (on the right pins of course) and it works.
Prod. Sardoniiq no it’s not, but it’s a good product. My uncle uses one for his switch and it’s fine. Although I don’t know if these guys are using the included AC adapters with these docks because I wouldn’t do that, I have a Nyko dock and I use a different AC adapter with it because I don’t trust the ones that come in the box since those aren’t regulated watts/etc.
@@prod.sardoniiq6942 Apparently, given that Nintendo has it linked from their store. I kinda wonder if the Insignia dock actually has Nintendo guts in it.
5:36 The Switch is PD compliant. The issue with 3rd party docks is that they aren't using an actual dedicated PD controllers. 3rd party docks were emulating the PD controller via microcontroller.
While there might be some truth to what you mean, usually consumer device 'pull' a certain amperage rather that get 'shoved into them' and while i havent looked at the switch docs, i doubt it's an exception, so the worst case here would be that the switch 'pulls' say 3 A and the dock can't provide it, and thus the switch had to work with less. Voltage is a whole different topic that does and will fry electronics
Current will not be causing the issue here, it will be voltage. As already said the switch will "pull" what it needs, if it couldn't get what it needed it would likely cause damage to the power supply by overheating it and worse case scenario causing a fire. Voltage is likely the problem there will likely be a "hand shaking" procedure in place where the switch will say "I need more/less power please" then the supply will respond with appropriate power. Whilst without this the switch will request appropriate power and the power supply will either provide too much or not enough, overloading the switch popping capacitors and bricking it. Although if this was the case I would imagine it would have been figured out easily, you could do this with an osciliscope once the communication pins were figured out and see what binary pulse the switch was sending... I'm sure people smarter than me will have already tried this though as it's the simplistic solution I can think of, being an ex-electromechanical engineer.
Like you said in the video, strange is that Nintendo put the USB C port in the switch but it's not USB compliant. It would have been better if they had put their own proprietary connector in there instead like they used to do in the past. that way you can't plug in any USB C connector. That would eliminate the temptation of trying to use a third-party docking station because it would not fit in the switch.
@Redice1202 pre Mac wheels for 700$, I would be 100% on board. But after, I guess about 150$ or more, If it would be Apple. But 90 is still insain as hell. Considering it scratches yours switch sides when you use a dock. It's legit, got micro scratches on my screen protector
@@timesoldier810 it's insane. It's big, bulky and 100 percent plastic, the only thing it does is charging the switch while outputting the signal to your TV. Crazy pricing for what you get.
this video was really helpful. I spent a good chunk of my day researching voltage and amperage and what might work with the switch and I went onto reddit and put up a post, the whole 9 yards, but this explained the whole story of the switch dock/charger power draw bricking thing and I understand things a lot better now. Ill stick with the original charger/ get another for on the go. Great video thanks a lot.
I would argue that since nintendo links to the insignia dock, that the insignia dock is safe, and that nintendo would be liable to consumers if future updates make the dock brick switches since they've essentially endorsed it.
Nintendo might not be linking it, I might be redirecting. I often get links to products not avaiable on Amazon so a different product loads with no way of know what the original link poinyed to. Still I don't know if this is what best buy is doing or if Nintendo did link an unofficial dock but I wouldn't trust it based on a link.
More than likely, since it's Best Buy's official brand on the line, that they probably did the R&D and testing to make sure it works like the official dock. The simple fact that there are no reports of issues and that Wulff himself notes that the website DIRECTLY links to the Insignia Dock leads to be believe this is an actually vetted product.
I actually just pulled up the peripherals list website and any links to external retailers are gone. It simply says the compatible system (Switch or Switch Lite) and occasionally a link to choose options (like with browsing joy-con colors). Entirely possible that Best Buy link was a glitch or oversight and got removed. Or it's possible Nintendo saw that literally no retailers carry their official dock and decided to just do away with the links altogether.
I've been using the Insignia for 6 months and also have had no problem, but I'm re-thinking which TV should have which dock now. I wound up using the Insignia dock a LOT more than the official one, and there's no reason for that when I have both.
Sure but if you brick your switch, good luck hunting down a switch that you can then mod and restore. A backup is only as useful as it can be restored. If you break your switch, go to the store and buy a new switch, you can't restore it. Therefore making the backup not very useful for most reasons why you want to backup.
I bought the BASSTOP shell back in 2017 for the simple reason that I've never really trusted 3rd party accessories, unless I find people on UA-cam, as yourself WULFF DEN, that WILL recommend. Especially when it comes to an accessory as importantas the accessory that powers my devices. I also made a DIY PC fan to cool the back of the Switch for when it's docked lol but of course I don't have that plugged into the dock but with a separate wall adapter. I have the OG Switch. Edit: Thank you WULFF DEN for making info-packed videos like this one :)
The switches dock is just power delivery pass through, as long as you use an oem Nintendo switch brick everything will be fine. The power delivery protocol comes directly from the wall brick not the "dock" itself.
That is not correct. The dock features not one but two USB PD controllers as you can easily verify by either checking the ifixit teardown or the switchbrew page on the dock.
@@matta8508 those are not controllers, they are relays and pass through based on input, if you're confused look up SpawnWave, hes already done a deep tear down of everything.
@@Zx7o. I haven't found a video from him that mentions this, if you could link it I'd appreciate. But in general your description sounds pretty much like what I'd expect a USB PD controller to be doing in there, the whole purpose of these is exactly to receive requests regarding how much power is needed from the device that's being powered and then proceed with handling the communication with the power supply who will (or at least should) provide the expected power.
@@matta8508 UA-cam won't allow you link to other videos in comments anymore. But yes I think we're both saying the same thing. The information I'm presenting is the original authorization for voltage request comes directly from the brick that is being plugged into a live circuit. To then be received by the controller but it can not upvolt, only pass through the authorized voltage request coming from the power adapter.
Basically, the reason why there are several hundred faulty Nintendo Switches on EBay is because parents either by third party USB C chargers or third party docks which are pure shit and burn out the chip responsible for video output and power draw.
That BASSTOP replacement shell is awesome! I probably wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but if you are comfortable taking apart electronics and putting them back together, then it should be no problem for you. There's plenty of videos showing how to do it, so I'd check them out first to see if it's something you'd want to attempt.
You mentioned the genki dock when you referenced the reddit post but never actually spoke to their actual product. Have you looked into the genki covert dock? All of my research has led me to think that Genki has it right and I went so far as to order one.
I got their Bluetooth Genki thing on KS and works wonders, I believe they did some amazing discoveries when doing it. I would trust their dock, they seem to know what they doing perfectly
What’s up Bob! A while back I was trying to build a mini arcade cabinet for my Switch but still wanted it docked to my TV. At the time I was unaware of the dock issues and ordered that REAADA dongle or whatever the name was... And yes, it “kinda” bricked my Switch, after the second time I connected it. My Switch just wouldn’t turn on or anything. Luckily I called Nintendo and they walked me through a hard reset and it did the trick. So if this happens to anybody look up “hard reset for Nintendo Switch” to see if it works. I immediately returned the piece of junk “which felt and looked nice” and left a warning in the comments that it will brick your Switch. Hope this helps somebody. 🍄 BTW... I’m the guy that got you and Wood to go head-to-head on Smash during the live stream. That was classic man. He’s usually so upbeat in his videos but damn you made him mad! 😂
I need a new dock and had to go with the 3rd party one on GameStop’s site that is shipping right away, because you cannot buy the official one anywhere, including Nintendo’s official online store as you mentioned (even refurbished) because they are not taking ANY physical orders due to Covid-19.
Bobs point is valid and straight forward enough. But interesting that Nintendo links to the insignia dock. For what it’s worth, I have the insignia dock and can attest that it works fine and my haven’t been bricked. (Again it’s true that a future firmware upgrade may change that)
Thank you Wulff for the heads up. I was about to buy a 3rd party dock but I guess Nintendo is making things impossible for people on a budget. I love your content keep up the good work. 😃
I really thank you all the research, I remembered your original video and went to watch it a moment ago to find this new one as recommendation! Honestly there is no guarantee the Switch won't broke, like you said "Many cheap accessories that can break your expensive console", basically it is all reduced to it, and I will skip them since USB-C by itself has many risks even on cell phones from different companies, I can't even imagine how messy it would be with a console which basically ignore the standards
Anyone else think its ironic that the one time nintendo doesnt use a proprietary charger for their system they seem to have the most issues maybe their more out of touch with tech than we thought.
I have a second dock (Insignia) that I have been using for almost 4 months and have had no issues with. I didn't know that refurbished nintendo docks were so cheap, so I might just end up getting one of those and maybe mod it like you did.
Agreed; outside of grabbing an official one, the only other ones that work with no strings attached are re-shells... So _only official ones._ I bought a refurbished second dock set a long time ago and am set through this supply stranglehold due to the C-Virus situation. May consider grabbing a second refurb for that reshell mod when this all ends... whenever that is. Good luck to everyone looking for spares!
I've charged my switch with the official charger, Pixel 1 chargers, and an Anker battery backup. But I've only used the official Nintendo dock with the official charger.
I did the basstop dock mod myself and I can highly recommend it. I also did their joycon shell mods and those are great as well but much more difficult if you aren't experienced. (But if you know what your doing you should be fine) I found it odd that one of the websites shown in the video stated the basstop dock was 3rd party when actually, it's just your normal switch dock but put into a smaller casing. No worry of bricking it and it's super portable.
The official switch charger has 2 power profiles: 5V 1.5A for handheld charging, and 15V 2.6A (39W) for docked mode. Remember no matter what dock you are using you should use a charger with a 15V power profile that has at least 2.6A (having more amps doesn't really matter because devices only draw up to the current that they need). But overall make sure you check with the dock manufacturer which power requirements their dock has.
@@Harry777 If you're using it for just charging in handheld mode, I have yet to hear any indication that just a power brick turns your system into a brick. The issue seems to be something to do with the unconventional power draw that docked mode uses.
I've used the Best buy Insignia dock for a couple years now with no issues. I recently got my Kickstarter Genki covert dock and I'm going to take a risk again. It's just so small and convenient lol.
You don't understand that table at 1:47. The Switch is RATED to 6V, meaning you can put any voltage across its V+ from -0.3V to +6V without damage. It's still charging at 5V.
Some notes on the voltage/amperage situation without too much technical jargon: The voltage is something being *supplied by a source*. It's a quality of the supply-side, ie the dock. This is pretty important to understand. If the dock says "you will get 15v" the switch can't say "no". It will however, go "pop" and die. The amperage is something *being drawn by a sink*, defined by the demand-side, ie the switch. When the GPU/CPU needs to do more computation, it will draw more current, increasing the amperage. If a charger supplies 5v where the switch expects 6v, that is most likely alright. That 6v is a maximum that the circuits in the switch can handle. Components being damaged by a 1v undervoltage is pretty rare, although not unheard of. If there is a component that is specced to say, convert that 6v into 12v, giving it 5v would mean it would have to draw slightly more amperage, which would make it run slightly hotter, but we are only talking about 5v*1A or so, meaning 5w of power. Most power converter components (MOSFETs) run at ~90% efficiency, so we would have less than half a watt of extra heat generation. That should never brick anything, basically. What the problem is, in my mind, is this: USB-PD is a communication protocol. Remember what I said about the dock controlling the voltage? Well, with PD, the switch can *request* that the source increases voltage via the PD protocol. It still can't decide to *draw* any particular amount of voltage, but it can request an increase. What if the USB-PD controller on the dock is programmed to think "if any device requests more than 5v, give it 9v." While the increase in voltage expected by the switch was 5v->6v? What if the dock supplies 12v? That's also an acceptable voltage according to USB-PD spec. Pop. There goes your switch. Imo the real fault is with Nintendo, specifically around the protection circuits. If you want to use a physical connection standard in a nonstandard way, cool, people do it all the time. But you have to design protection circuits for someone supplying the standard protocol voltages.
I have been using my Switch with the yesOJO projector(the Switch "docks' inside it) for almost 3 years now, with the official Switch adapter. No issues at all
I've been using the JUMPGATE dock (with a neat super nintendo style) for months now. Never had a single problem. It works just like an official dock. They tested and find the reasons for the bricks and created a secure third party dock, with updatable firmware. But they do recommend using the official charger with it. You should check it out, they claim their docks never bricked a single switch.
Woooowee! I am GLAD that I watched this before making a desperate purchase. For the life of me, I can’t find an official dock sold anywhere. Closest I found ended up being reported as counterfeit. Didn’t know about purchasing refurbished though! Luckily I’m just lazy and want a second one for my room... looks like I’m toughing it out in the meantime
That has to be the best intro from you so far! Lol'ing all the way from Ireland. I laughed so hard at your comparison with the doctor it resounded around the house, 😅🤣😆
My issue with saying “only buy official Nintendo docks and nothing else” is violating consumer rights. If you design your system so that any 3rd party dock could fry it, then it’s just bad design and very anti-consumer. It not only hurts the people who may risk getting a different dock, but also all these businesses that make money from selling them. Nintendo is just trying to have their cake and eat it too
This is a real shame because I've had 2 defective Switch docks. My first one came with my Switch and it basically died after my warranty was gone and the second one WAS a refurbished dock
It’s the same thing with phone chargers. 95% of off brand power bricks just use a rectifier, a transformer, and some smoothing caps. The rectifier turns AC into DC. The transformer steps the voltage from 110v to the normal USB standard 5v. That’s fine most of the time, but some grids are unstable. If for whatever reason your outlet is putting out 140v (I’ve seen it before), your device is getting 6.36v instead of 5v. You’re slowly destroying your device. If you buy a flagship phone, just stick with the same brand power brick. iPhone and Samsung chargers have PWM regulators. Which is half the reason they cost so much. I paid $1500 for a phone, I’ll pay the $50 for an extra power brick that I know isn’t going to ruin my investment.
Hi Wulff Den. To your question about the 2A running through the switch, it depends entirely on the ratings of the components. If they are rated to handle that much electrical current then it is perfectly fine. If however the components are not rated for those levels then the components will degrade quicker and be more prone to failure. Engineers design with the worst case in mind (In this case how high can the voltage/current be) and implement safety features for when unsafe conditions occur. Not knowing what the ratings of the components are I would expect it to be fine.
I'm staying with the original. I've never brought 3rd party chargers for any of my Nintendo consoles, and I'm going to stay that way with the Switch. It's too risky, and I'm not risking breaking any of my rather expensive game consoles with chargers/docs that don't come from the same places my consoles came from.
TheMidnightwolf15 same. No amount of research is going to persuade me from using Nintendo, because this is their product and they know it, because they created it.
I had a Wii Controller acting funny and I called Nintendo support. We did some troubleshooting and it didn't work....then he said...... Are you using AA batteries? To which I replied I was using a rechargable battery pack (which obviously is 3rd party as Nintendo didn't make those) and he was like "Ahhhhh, please remove that and use batteries" to which I did and it fixed my controller. The Nintendo employee was like "Yeah, never use 3rd party stuff with Nintendo. They're never made to function with our products properly"
When I got my switch 3 years ago, I had no interest in playing in docked mode. I told one of my friends and his dock just broke, so I sold mine to him... for $20. About a month later I got the insignia dock without knowing about the danger of using an after market one. It has worked perfect for about 3 years now.
It's so frustrating, I want a second dock so bad. The Amazon's listing for an OFFICIAL Switch dock bundle is about 150, which to me is just INSANE. So I'm looking at so many options to find one of these dang things so I can minimize it and have a travel dock but the only option I see is to potentially ruin my Switch with a third party dock, or buy a refurbished one with an AC adaptor for a better but still gut wrenching 90 bucks.
"I'm no electrical engineer, but I bought..." Nah dude, your content is great usually but this sounds a lot like "I am no medical doctor, but common sense says that....." and stuff like that. Why not just collaborate with one of the hundreds of other video makers that could do the engineering behind and have something more than your opinion? That would be more responsible in my opinion.
The point would still be the same. No matter what product if it's 3rd party you always have the chance of bricking your device. Even if it's small you always risk your expensive product for possibly saving a few bucks on cheap knockoff.
That's like saying "don't mod your switch" or "dont open your switch to fix your joycons just buy new ones". Those are naturally the most responsible options. However it does not mean is not possible and that careful and thorough research shouldn't be done by the community to find better options. Is just it takes more than one person and it takes more than one opinion, and in general, is best is if is an opinion based on knowledge and not just an educated guess. That's my problem with the statement. It immediately reduces the corpus of techincal concrete knowledge that can be applied to the same level as an educated opinion and that's simply not the same.
@@oscarbarrios It's the exact same thing. Modding or opening the switch has the same risks. Even though if u know what your doing u always risk bricking. Same with 3rd party stuff. No one ever said you should not buy or do it. It's up to you if you wanna risk bricking your switch no matter how low the risk. It's your choice to make. For comparison it's like fueling a car. If you had the option to fuel your car with a 20% cheaper fuel but it has a 1% chance to break your car? It's really a decision that everyone has to make for there own
@@criticalyeet1916 I Wonder how Nintendo would feel if we used that ultimatum as marketing for their competitors (who don't sell overpriced faulty hardware)?
I purchased a 3rd party charger and dock with my refurbished Switch. All has been well since last October. Matter of fact I purchased a second one of each for a TV in another room.
The USB Power Delivery specification revision 3.0 defines a programmable power supply (PPS) protocol that allows granular control over VBUS power in 20 mV steps to facilitate constant current or constant voltage charging.
I purchased an used switch on ebay and didn't come with a dock. I didn't have a lot of money around so I ended up picking up an insignia dock. That was a year ago and so far no issues with power delivery, hdmi displaying or the usb connection on it. It works well. Btw I am an actual electrical engineer and USBPD is not super complicated and hardware is smart enough to perform handshakes to agree on what voltage and current to use between the devices. The only concern I would have trying to perform measurements of usb c stuff is the fact that there is more than power going through at very high speeds and if the measurement device you are using is not properly designed, you could end up messing with those data signals as well.
I bought a stingray because I wanted to feel less suicidal during online SSBU. It works great. the built in ethernet port seems to function better than the nintendo ethernet adapter. I basically never disconnect from matches with it where the Nintendo adapter would still disconnect 1-2 times a day. I use it with the original power cable from Nintendo. I never leave it on the dock during hibernationthough... I always disconnect it and plug it in to the switch adapter if charging.
I had been considering a third party dock just so I could have one connected to other TVs in my house to easily play docked in other rooms without moving my dock but I am happy for this video to show me the potential dangers of doing that. My official VITA charger stopped working and I ended up only able to charge my Vita through a third-party charging dock, so I guess I became a little too trusting of third party devices like these. I will be getting a second dock still but I will wait and shill out the money for an official one.
The dock situation right now is so frustrating. The official dock is sold out everywhere, it looks like the SKUs are being end-of-lifed at some of the big-box stores, and there is no word from Nintendo about the situation. It appears to me that they are going to roll out an updated SKU, but are keeping tight-lipped for some reason (Nintendo gonna Nintendo). I'd really prefer to just do the Basstop mod on an official dock, but I feel like I'm going to end up with the Skull&Co dock unless Nintendo speaks up soon. Thanks for putting out another video on the subject, though, really appreciate it when you do the legwork on stuff like this.
![What's in my Switch Bag? [2020]](/img/n.gif)
No updates yet. Go play the new Mario Maker update when it comes out.
WULFF DEN when does it come out?
I don’t have Mario yet but I have Animal Crossing so I’m good.
SuperSaiyn7: tomorrow
Can I use my pro con charger with my switch?
Comment is 2 hours old. Video is 22 minutes old.
P.S: I do know why, I still find it funny tho
4:05 I'm still surprised that after all these years, people have been ignoring the line on the 5.0.0 Switch update which says "Digital software purchases made from PC or smart devices will start downloading sooner than previously, even if the Nintendo Switch console is in Sleep Mode". For such a feature to work, the Switch may have to do more constant internet checks while in sleep mode which leads to more power usage in sleep mode than normal. When Spawn Wave's switch bricked, it was left on the Nyko dock overnight which gave it more than enough time to do these constant internet checks and therefore suffer from the uneven distribution of power more and more.
damn, that actually makes a bit of sense.
Holy shit you're a genius
So what does that mean? That after 5.0.0. the Switch uses more power sporadically while in sleep mode or just during the update?
Soo if this is the case, original switch dock also can cause the same result or am i missing something?
@@darkmask2717 In theory, the official Nintendo dock should be calibrated to the Switch's demand of power, so theres no running risk that it'll be distributed badly overnight, like an unofficial dock would.
_Goes to Nintendo's website_
Refurbished Switch Dock: *Sold Out*
RIP
If you search for a switch dock on amazon and click on the official Nintendo one. You should be able to click on a new or used section. I got my official dock used in perfect condition with a charger for 60 bucks.
It's not actually sold out, it's just that Nintendo's centers are closed due to corona, so they're marking all of their physical products as sold
The Plan that makes a lot of sense, but wouldn’t this hurt them financially more than just leaving it automated. Sure they can’t actually fulfill those orders, but the customer can cancel as long as the order isn’t processed. A lot would cancel, but a lot also wouldn’t mind waiting until nintendo reopens. A company of that size can’t and isn’t going to stay closed for too long.
@@jalene150 They probably still don't know when they will be able to reopen, and figure this is better than leaving orders open while not even being able to estimate when they might ship.
japzone if you’re really looking for one, all of Nintendo’s “physical items” on their website are listed sold out because of the epidemic and they should come back in stock after this is all over.
I heard from a GameStop employee that Nintendo stopped making standalone docks over a year ago, which is absurd considering their switch isn’t safe to use with literally anything other than official.
Now, there’s more evidence to prove that.
Apparently it’s only in the UK
Theyre working on a new dock.
There have also been reports of official Nintendo docks bricking people's system.
@@Maverick.D. Care to elaborate?
A mismatch in the current (Amperes) requirement between the switch and the charger won't be what damages the Switch. At worst it could damage the charger if it's very badly designed, otherwise it will just make the Switch charge very slowly or even continue discharging.
The thing to really watch out for is if the charger delivers a higher voltage than what the Switch requests, because that will definitely damage the console. If it delivers a lower voltage, then the switch just won't charge, that's all.
Just came from a video where an electrical engineer yelled about graphic design and Mario and it did not go as well as this
lolz who was it
Brookes Eggleston - Character Design Forge brookes?? You’re here too?? Awesome
Lmao
I have an issue with someone who isn't an engineer discussing engineer type problems like this, because they barely understand what they're talking about.
"Why would you ever get anything other than a Nintendo Switch dock."
1) The Nintendo Dock is poorly designed. As you pointed out it's not portable at all forcing people to make portable conversions. The dock was even scratching people's handheld screens in the beginning. It's a huge chunk boy.
2) The price. Bruh $90 for what's effectively just a HDMI/USB-C passthrough? Third party docks go for less than $40 and sometimes even include additional features like BlueTooth. The USB-C dongle I use for my MacBook was $20 and has double the ports. Sure the $90 dock includes the Nintendo Charger but even the charger is nuts. $30 for a USB-C charger. Even the cable is obnoxious because it has that design where the "brick" is put with the metal prongs (also like a MacBook). So now I have to find a way to plug this massive brick into a power strip without it taking up three outlets. I bet mobile people don't want to deal with a traditional brick so they designed it this way but now if you're on the go you have to find an outlet where the brick will fit.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't buy a third party dock because I don't want to risk losing my data. There's just an obvious appeal to buying a cheaper and seemingly better dock. The business style of "Only our products work or you'll break the device. BTW they have 3x the mark-up." is a very Apple way of doing business. But it seems like people give Apple crap for it but Nintendo gets a pass because "muh childhood" lol.
Nintendo is the Apple of games, people just don't realize it.
@@HandledToaster2 I knew this for a while to some extent, but never made much income before so I just stuck to the bare minimum original equipment. Now that I can afford to have a Nintendo system and one of the other two, it's more apparent
If you can afford a switch you can afford a dock
@@ConnorSmithBirch If you can afford $299.99 You can afford $389.98... Unless you actually can only afford the switch at the time of purchase.
Sadly Nintendo gets a lot of passes from the community.
Same with Square Enix. Both run with extremely predatory business tactics but nobody seems to care much give nthe popularity.
USB PD: USB Police Department
"I dont know, Chief; it looks like a third party to me."
"Brick it."
Wow I cant stop laughing
Dan300891 -print&go- me nether 😂😂😂
This needs more likes.
Hahahaha I’m floored
Loooool genius!
I know it's an older video, but thank you for keeping it on your channel, Wulff Den. Your video was both informative and concise, and it helped clarify enough of the "why" for me to solidify my prior, more limited understanding of the issue. It helped my decision-making process tremendously.
Just throwing this out there. I bought a switch second had and Ive been using the insignia dock for more than a year. No problems as of late and my battery had been fine so far. Now Im not saying you should pick one up but as someone who didnt have a choice its working well enough.
ive been using a third party one for like 3 years no issues
@@alexanderwiles2003 what dock?
Literally the ONLY thing you can do worse than just making an original weirdly-shaped port is make a universal port that acts like an original weirdly-shaped port
... will nintendo ever stop doing 99% of the hard work on intuitive stuff and then just stopping short of that 1% that would make it actually intuitive
namelessrocker12 we were so close ☹️
@@glub1381 it's because they know we will still buy it.
HP did the same thing in some of their laptops. They only have USB-C ports, but does not charge at all if usinging any other charger than HPs bundled charger...
When USB C was new, there was many USB-A to C cables that was incorrectly made that could ”fry” the machine/charger on the USB-A side..
Nintendo are unfortunately a great company most of the time, but they make some very poor and questionable decisions sometimes
@@scottlemiere2024 the thing is, if they did it RIGHT, they could potentially devour a larger part of the market.
I have been using the Insignia dock for a few months, I've been using it with an official Switch charger as I needed a second dock for my living room TV. Haven't seen any issues, typically most 3rd party docks seem to either not have a charger with them or they do but recommend that you use the official charger.
It would be nice to get an official one, but they are always sold out or marked up when I find them.
That's why I want Nintendo to make a mini-dock!
They do have a mini dock.
@@MouseCIick an *_official_* mini dock with the same capabilities as the bigger dock.
I don't feel like packing that stuff up every time I want to take my switch over somebody's house
You could mod your big dock into a mini dock. I did that, by buying a mini dock shell, moved the inside parts of the dock into the mini shell. Much smaller & safer 💕 easy to do
Or and boost graphics dock
Has no one thought about how the whole dock situation could be manufactured by nintendo to push the sale of their docks...?
I'm just saying. A simple software update caused the problem. Meaning they changed how power is regulated by the chip in the switch. Nintendo could just reverse that, but hasn't.
Hell, its worked. Their docks are sold out everywhere. People recommend ONLY the official dock. People even buy the dock to gut it, which doesn't matter to nintendo because they got your money. This is blatant anti-competitive because a software update they did caused this whole fiasco.
1: Docks aren't sold out. Nintendo just aren't selling them due to *THE VIRUS* meaning they aren't able to give shipping estimates.
2: The software update wasn't the main cause. The software doesn't change the power draw all that much, if at all. There's a reason the revised Switch's main point was longer battery life. Because it had better, more efficient hardware. Specifically the CPU.
@@BenMaguireLONEWOLF9989 Hey buddy, it's April 2021, still can't find official switch docks that aren't refurbished on ebay. Nintendo doesn't even have refurbished ones on their website anymore.
@@Garthock Hey buddy, read my comment.
@@BenMaguireLONEWOLF9989 1) Nintendo is still able to sell the console, now two models. Why would they not sell the docks? So they're purposefully withholding stock then? That's not any better, that's actually worse. Means demand will ride due to low supply, meaning jacking up prices.
2) apparently it was because before that, third party docks didn't brick systems unless they switched voltages in weird ways. The issue of bricking switches became a huge issue starting with the software update. So most third party docks, regardless soft manufacturer, all started bricking systems at the same time because they felt like it? Had nothing to do with the software update?? That's some next level bullshit. The new switch isn't the only switch to have the issue, older switches did too. And I'm not talking about a software update changing the CPU voltage, we are taking about the software update changing how the charging circuitry functions. That can be done, and is what seemingly happened. That circuitry tells whatever it is plugged into how much power the system should be receiving.
I'm actually here because I need another dock. I was so, so foolish by forgetting how bad Nintendo is at keeping stock on products.
Got one of those 3rd party travel housings for the official switch dock, took me all of 20 minutes to put the guts into it. Works awesome.
Yep.... it's the best - and SAFEST way... I did that too; it keeps the Switch cooler when docked as well.. :-)
ye, i cut the front part of my dock off
Raz Zelda just taking the easy route i love it
I did it too
So yeh
I then made it into the smaller dock in the video because it looks better, Better off
Lol, at 3:40 this happened:
"He has a little bit of a financial incentive"
*Advertisement starts playing*
I did buy a Skull and Co Jumpgate dock. After reading reviews that it's been out for a year with no issues (so far) I decided to get it. But I didn't know about the refurbished Official Nintendo Docks being that cheap so I may just get that and toss out the skull and co
If I remember right, you got the Skull & Co because the official dock was out of stock, wasn't it?
@@Juan-mc7ei oh yeah!!! Damn man. Glad somebody remembered
i wouldn't say to use it for ur switch but u could try it for a laptop
Bahb you sound like your running low on fumes? Do you need coffee?
I been using skull & co jumpgate dock for almost a year and haven't had any problems with it
4:56 I saw that suspiciously shaped lake there
To quote Riju from Breath of the Wild, 'Its so big!'
It's a rocket ship.
I was tired of the official Dock and how unnecessarily big was, after checking your videos on the third party docks I decided to just buy an empty shell and take the parts of the official dock and put them into It.
No issues until now because why would I have them, It's still using the official components for the voltage but without being so damn big and hard to storage (that's what she said)
I did the exact same thing, I got one called the Super Switch. It's smaller, and looks better IMO.
the insignia dock is pretty much the same dock as the nintendo dock, only difference is the branding everything else is the same. i know because i been using my insignia for 2 years with no fuck ups.
That's basically what I did from the very beginning a few years ago. There is absolutely no way that you can get any sort of power irregularities with the setup and you likewise don't have to worry about any of the issues with the official dock.
And even if by some chance you were to use a third-party dock with potentially different internal Hardware, as long as you were using the official Nintendo switch power supply then it should work the same way.
Seems to be best options
What kinda shell works best?
just a comment about the best buy link at 8:48 , speaking as a website developer that works with big names like this. more than likely nintendo isn't linking to a specific best buy product page, as any work best buy would do on their website could potentially break this link (which would be wasted time and money to coordinate with nintendo to update the link on their side), but rather just a specific best buy targeting url, which is then configured on best buy's side to redirect to whatever product they like, likely based on contractual agreements. perhaps best buy at one time had this pointing to the official nintendo dock but then changed the redirect to point to their own. it would naturally be in their own interest to point this ad link to their own branded product, after all.
When I bought my Switch from Best Buy, they had it bundled with a free Insignia dock. Never used it, didn’t need to. About a week or so later, I heard about docks bricking Switches and felt like I dodged a bullet. Still have the dock, unopened and collecting dust somewhere. Not worth the risk.
Not at all. My fiance bought her Switch at launch, and she bought a second dock for $50-$60 from Target a year ago or so. I recently bought the Switch V2, and now we have three docks. I feel bad for people buying/selling Switch consoles with third party docks. No thanks!
I have the insignia dock. It works and hasnt bricked my switch since the first day I had it
SammyRebel it’s not the dock, the thing that was bricking the switches are the included AC adapters that come with those 3rd party docks. My uncle has one of those insignia docks and they work perfectly fine but he uses another ac adapter with it. I don’t recommend using the included ones. I have a Nyko dock and I don’t use the included AC adapter with it because when I first got it I tested it to see if my switch would charge properly and right away it was acting weird, my switch wasn’t picking up the AC adapter even being plugged in at all and that was a dead giveaway. The dock works perfectly fine though since I use a different AC adapter for it.
I’ve used it, it works perfectly fine and you’re just being skeptical
LIT GOD yea exactly I have the insignia dock but I use the official nintendo adapter
Clarifying that 6V thing: that is the "maximum allowable voltage" on a specific pin. The VCC pin (what actually gives the big power) on a Switch can accept the 5, 9, 12 and 15v indeed.
This pin, should normally, on any USB-C system, be at 5v. That means, if that pin goes above 5v, it's already out of spec and could fry anything. The Nintendo choice on part could be better yes, and I honestly would have protected the voltage sensitive pins better, but the issue is really the dock itself going out of spec, and violently at that.
Nintendo's dock negotiation is indeed a mess, but it's a mess that wouldn't fry anything normally, unless the dock itself dumps weird voltages on sensitive pins.
That's also a case of false advertising on the 3p docks' end if it goes out of its own advertised spec.
So nintendo just wants to punish anyone who buys 3rd party docks and not an official one. How do they get away with that boggles me
@@PrimeTF Yes, those docks doing such ridiculous things are just inexcusable, regardless of how sensitive the Switch might be (which it isn't even, could be better for sure but there never should be anything above those 5v on that pin to begin with).
@@riczzz6440 That's quite an off the mark conclusion out of my reply. Driving higher than spec voltage to any pin on any part is just the case of a bad product, that has the significant potential to kill anything it plugs with. In fact driving what, 9v to that 5v only pin (damn... that's ridiculous on a new level) would likely fry a bunch of other USB-C spec compliant devices, be it phones or whatever you plug into that.
Think about it: if you bought a standard USB charger, like true simple 5v only for a phone or whatever, and your device dies because the charger suddenly decided to pump 9v into the power pins, is your device, or the charger crap?
It only happens less because by now we got such cheap single chip USB charger circuits that do it "properly" that there's no way to make it cheaper and still somehow working. When this all started, USB-C was relatively new, now the market is flooded with penny price chips that do correctly the needed power handling, so I bet the new wave of docks do no problems on the Switch, as they should.
In the end people figured out that the Switch dock is not much more than a USB-C hub with Display Port output. Do this, feed it proper USB-PD 15V (on the right pins of course) and it works.
I have had the Insignia dock for two years now, bought it from best buy. No issues at all.
I can vouch for the same
Was it endorsed by Nintendo
Prod. Sardoniiq no it’s not, but it’s a good product. My uncle uses one for his switch and it’s fine. Although I don’t know if these guys are using the included AC adapters with these docks because I wouldn’t do that, I have a Nyko dock and I use a different AC adapter with it because I don’t trust the ones that come in the box since those aren’t regulated watts/etc.
@@prod.sardoniiq6942 Apparently, given that Nintendo has it linked from their store. I kinda wonder if the Insignia dock actually has Nintendo guts in it.
I use insignia dock as my secondary with no issues
5:36 The Switch is PD compliant. The issue with 3rd party docks is that they aren't using an actual dedicated PD controllers. 3rd party docks were emulating the PD controller via microcontroller.
So basically false advertising.
Thank you
Make sure you measure amperage too, makes more of a difference than volts when it comes to overpowering hardware
While there might be some truth to what you mean, usually consumer device 'pull' a certain amperage rather that get 'shoved into them' and while i havent looked at the switch docs, i doubt it's an exception, so the worst case here would be that the switch 'pulls' say 3 A and the dock can't provide it, and thus the switch had to work with less. Voltage is a whole different topic that does and will fry electronics
Current will not be causing the issue here, it will be voltage. As already said the switch will "pull" what it needs, if it couldn't get what it needed it would likely cause damage to the power supply by overheating it and worse case scenario causing a fire.
Voltage is likely the problem there will likely be a "hand shaking" procedure in place where the switch will say "I need more/less power please" then the supply will respond with appropriate power. Whilst without this the switch will request appropriate power and the power supply will either provide too much or not enough, overloading the switch popping capacitors and bricking it. Although if this was the case I would imagine it would have been figured out easily, you could do this with an osciliscope once the communication pins were figured out and see what binary pulse the switch was sending... I'm sure people smarter than me will have already tried this though as it's the simplistic solution I can think of, being an ex-electromechanical engineer.
he has a watt meter, so it's simple math to get the amps from the watts and voltage
Like you said in the video, strange is that Nintendo put the USB C port in the switch but it's not USB compliant. It would have been better if they had put their own proprietary connector in there instead like they used to do in the past. that way you can't plug in any USB C connector. That would eliminate the temptation of trying to use a third-party docking station because it would not fit in the switch.
Yeah I am sticking with the official one. It’s way too expensive to buy a second one, but when have official Nintendo accessories been inexpensive
Be happy that it's not an apple prices
@@timesoldier810 the dock is
...
@@fintansky9369 is it 80$ ?
@Redice1202 pre Mac wheels for 700$, I would be 100% on board. But after, I guess about 150$ or more, If it would be Apple. But 90 is still insain as hell. Considering it scratches yours switch sides when you use a dock. It's legit, got micro scratches on my screen protector
@@timesoldier810 it's insane. It's big, bulky and 100 percent plastic, the only thing it does is charging the switch while outputting the signal to your TV. Crazy pricing for what you get.
this video was really helpful. I spent a good chunk of my day researching voltage and amperage and what might work with the switch and I went onto reddit and put up a post, the whole 9 yards, but this explained the whole story of the switch dock/charger power draw bricking thing and I understand things a lot better now. Ill stick with the original charger/ get another for on the go. Great video thanks a lot.
I would argue that since nintendo links to the insignia dock, that the insignia dock is safe, and that nintendo would be liable to consumers if future updates make the dock brick switches since they've essentially endorsed it.
Nintendo might not be linking it, I might be redirecting. I often get links to products not avaiable on Amazon so a different product loads with no way of know what the original link poinyed to. Still I don't know if this is what best buy is doing or if Nintendo did link an unofficial dock but I wouldn't trust it based on a link.
I've been using the insignia dock as a second/travel dock for a couple years now and everything seems fine
More than likely, since it's Best Buy's official brand on the line, that they probably did the R&D and testing to make sure it works like the official dock. The simple fact that there are no reports of issues and that Wulff himself notes that the website DIRECTLY links to the Insignia Dock leads to be believe this is an actually vetted product.
I actually just pulled up the peripherals list website and any links to external retailers are gone. It simply says the compatible system (Switch or Switch Lite) and occasionally a link to choose options (like with browsing joy-con colors). Entirely possible that Best Buy link was a glitch or oversight and got removed. Or it's possible Nintendo saw that literally no retailers carry their official dock and decided to just do away with the links altogether.
Yeah insignia dock is ok for your switch I’ve had it for a year now and still no problems
I've had the insignia dock since the beginning, never had an issue
That One Taco Bell Guy yup. Insignia has been solid for me.
I've been using the Insignia for 6 months and also have had no problem, but I'm re-thinking which TV should have which dock now. I wound up using the Insignia dock a LOT more than the official one, and there's no reason for that when I have both.
I’m using one now and it’s acting up any tips to stop it?
Emilio Aguilar, I would try unplugging the cables and putting them back in and make sure your switch is fully in the dock
Kendall Pogachar thanks I’ll try that later
"there is absolutely no way to back up or restore your animal crossing save data"
*Laughs in modded switch*
@@_-_--_ Imma wait before I uses mods and CFW. Im all in with it on my 3ds. Imma wait a bit longer
Sure but if you brick your switch, good luck hunting down a switch that you can then mod and restore.
A backup is only as useful as it can be restored. If you break your switch, go to the store and buy a new switch, you can't restore it.
Therefore making the backup not very useful for most reasons why you want to backup.
I was literally about to type:
"there is absolutely no way to back up or restore your animal crossing save data"
*laughs in pirate*
*Laughs in illegal*
@@viet0ne pretty sure all switches can be modded now with the release of the Team Executer chip.
I bought the BASSTOP shell back in 2017 for the simple reason that I've never really trusted 3rd party accessories, unless I find people on UA-cam, as yourself WULFF DEN, that WILL recommend. Especially when it comes to an accessory as importantas the accessory that powers my devices. I also made a DIY PC fan to cool the back of the Switch for when it's docked lol but of course I don't have that plugged into the dock but with a separate wall adapter. I have the OG Switch.
Edit: Thank you WULFF DEN for making info-packed videos like this one :)
The switches dock is just power delivery pass through, as long as you use an oem Nintendo switch brick everything will be fine. The power delivery protocol comes directly from the wall brick not the "dock" itself.
That is not correct. The dock features not one but two USB PD controllers as you can easily verify by either checking the ifixit teardown or the switchbrew page on the dock.
@@matta8508 those are not controllers, they are relays and pass through based on input, if you're confused look up SpawnWave, hes already done a deep tear down of everything.
@@Zx7o. I haven't found a video from him that mentions this, if you could link it I'd appreciate. But in general your description sounds pretty much like what I'd expect a USB PD controller to be doing in there, the whole purpose of these is exactly to receive requests regarding how much power is needed from the device that's being powered and then proceed with handling the communication with the power supply who will (or at least should) provide the expected power.
@@matta8508 UA-cam won't allow you link to other videos in comments anymore. But yes I think we're both saying the same thing. The information I'm presenting is the original authorization for voltage request comes directly from the brick that is being plugged into a live circuit. To then be received by the controller but it can not upvolt, only pass through the authorized voltage request coming from the power adapter.
I got the insignia dock with a bundle when I got my switch, I've used it for a few years and I have no complaints.
Basically, the reason why there are several hundred faulty Nintendo Switches on EBay is because parents either by third party USB C chargers or third party docks which are pure shit and burn out the chip responsible for video output and power draw.
ItalianStallion so true man, people don’t realise how crud most third party electrics really are..
So switch lite?
Daniel Williams what do you mean?
@@italianstallion701 is the switch lite having the same problem
Daniel Williams they share nearly all the same internal components but to be truthful the issues seem more with standard switches.
That BASSTOP replacement shell is awesome! I probably wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but if you are comfortable taking apart electronics and putting them back together, then it should be no problem for you. There's plenty of videos showing how to do it, so I'd check them out first to see if it's something you'd want to attempt.
You mentioned the genki dock when you referenced the reddit post but never actually spoke to their actual product. Have you looked into the genki covert dock? All of my research has led me to think that Genki has it right and I went so far as to order one.
I'm interested to see how these perform after being out there for 6 months or more.
@@Commander_ZiN that's fair, reading through all of their research gives me confidence in them though
I also have an order for the Genki one and I believe their claims. I'm still waiting, though.
I got their Bluetooth Genki thing on KS and works wonders, I believe they did some amazing discoveries when doing it.
I would trust their dock, they seem to know what they doing perfectly
I haven't got one of those, but Skull & Co and Dongii also think USB-PD compliant docks are safe, so they're kinda working with the same tech.
What’s up Bob! A while back I was trying to build a mini arcade cabinet for my Switch but still wanted it docked to my TV. At the time I was unaware of the dock issues and ordered that REAADA dongle or whatever the name was... And yes, it “kinda” bricked my Switch, after the second time I connected it.
My Switch just wouldn’t turn on or anything. Luckily I called Nintendo and they walked me through a hard reset and it did the trick. So if this happens to anybody look up “hard reset for Nintendo Switch” to see if it works.
I immediately returned the piece of junk “which felt and looked nice” and left a warning in the comments that it will brick your Switch.
Hope this helps somebody. 🍄
BTW... I’m the guy that got you and Wood to go head-to-head on Smash during the live stream. That was classic man. He’s usually so upbeat in his videos but damn you made him mad! 😂
The official dock, either new or refurbished, will be a no-brainer if they are IN STOCK. AT ALL.
Check Amazon
😆 Did you edit your video to go directly into a commercial as soon as you said 'Finacial Incentive'? 😆 Perfect. 😆
I need a new dock and had to go with the 3rd party one on GameStop’s site that is shipping right away, because you cannot buy the official one anywhere, including Nintendo’s official online store as you mentioned (even refurbished) because they are not taking ANY physical orders due to Covid-19.
Hey, if you're gonna buy a 3rd party dock, at least buy the safe one, that is, the skull and co. The other ones keep bricking switches everywhere
Bobs point is valid and straight forward enough. But interesting that Nintendo links to the insignia dock. For what it’s worth, I have the insignia dock and can attest that it works fine and my haven’t been bricked. (Again it’s true that a future firmware upgrade may change that)
Thank you Wulff for the heads up. I was about to buy a 3rd party dock but I guess Nintendo is making things impossible for people on a budget. I love your content keep up the good work. 😃
I really thank you all the research, I remembered your original video and went to watch it a moment ago to find this new one as recommendation! Honestly there is no guarantee the Switch won't broke, like you said "Many cheap accessories that can break your expensive console", basically it is all reduced to it, and I will skip them since USB-C by itself has many risks even on cell phones from different companies, I can't even imagine how messy it would be with a console which basically ignore the standards
Anyone else think its ironic that the one time nintendo doesnt use a proprietary charger for their system they seem to have the most issues maybe their more out of touch with tech than we thought.
GENKI: Covert Dock works fine for me for months now. I use it as a secondary dock/charger when I need to take Switch somewhere. Had no issues so far.
I've never used any third party docks and I'm pretty sure my charging IC is fried... you can't even trust the main dock
I have a second dock (Insignia) that I have been using for almost 4 months and have had no issues with. I didn't know that refurbished nintendo docks were so cheap, so I might just end up getting one of those and maybe mod it like you did.
Bob is docked in and ready to rant!
Seriously had no idea you could get a refurbished dock so cheap. Ordered and on the way now. Thanks!!
Agreed; outside of grabbing an official one, the only other ones that work with no strings attached are re-shells... So _only official ones._
I bought a refurbished second dock set a long time ago and am set through this supply stranglehold due to the C-Virus situation. May consider grabbing a second refurb for that reshell mod when this all ends... whenever that is.
Good luck to everyone looking for spares!
I've charged my switch with the official charger, Pixel 1 chargers, and an Anker battery backup. But I've only used the official Nintendo dock with the official charger.
Unless Nintendo officially certifies a 3rd party dock, I'm not buying it
bbletsplays same
I'd say they got you by the balls but you ain't got any lmao.. just a b!tch
@@MikesLifee Being an informed consumer and not buying a shit product isn't being a bitch.
@@inspectahgex1910 but nintendo would never say a 3rd party dock was okay cause then you wouldn't buy their dock...
@@wuko687 oh but all those Nintendo approved 3rd party controllers are okay right? Duh c'mon use your brain a bit.
I purchased the insignia dock and I haven’t had any issues with it. It’s a fantastic third party dock.
The Insignia Dock from Best Buy is great. Have been using it sense it came out, and it hasn't bricked my Switch yet!
Wow. I was about to pull the trigger on a 3rd party dock but you have shown me the light. Thank you sir.
I did the basstop dock mod myself and I can highly recommend it. I also did their joycon shell mods and those are great as well but much more difficult if you aren't experienced. (But if you know what your doing you should be fine)
I found it odd that one of the websites shown in the video stated the basstop dock was 3rd party when actually, it's just your normal switch dock but put into a smaller casing. No worry of bricking it and it's super portable.
The official switch charger has 2 power profiles: 5V 1.5A for handheld charging, and 15V 2.6A (39W) for docked mode. Remember no matter what dock you are using you should use a charger with a 15V power profile that has at least 2.6A (having more amps doesn't really matter because devices only draw up to the current that they need). But overall make sure you check with the dock manufacturer which power requirements their dock has.
I use my Samsung charger to charge my Switch lite. It's been fine so far. I don't use the switch while its charging just in case.
Yeah, this is what I have been using with my lite too. Everything seems to be working out fine.
In case some people didn't know, because I didn't until a bit ago, the switch got a software update that now allows Bluetooth audio
Can i use the procontroller cable for charging my switch?
Yes
Yes
And the power brick you use doesn't matter?
Harry Grossman it doesn’t of you want to run the risk of potentially bricking the switch
@@Harry777 If you're using it for just charging in handheld mode, I have yet to hear any indication that just a power brick turns your system into a brick. The issue seems to be something to do with the unconventional power draw that docked mode uses.
Hopefully Nintendo will either certify a 3rd party dock or make a cheaper dock
Their making too much profit to stop now. If they had any interest in soothing peoples concerns they would have done so by now.
I really just want a portable dock, so I can bring it to a friends house and don’t need this bulky dock in my bag
I've used the Best buy Insignia dock for a couple years now with no issues. I recently got my Kickstarter Genki covert dock and I'm going to take a risk again. It's just so small and convenient lol.
Gut out the bulky dock and purchase small shell and install the guts in there. Theres youtube videos that can help.
genki covert dock, ta da
You don't understand that table at 1:47. The Switch is RATED to 6V, meaning you can put any voltage across its V+ from -0.3V to +6V without damage. It's still charging at 5V.
“I ain’t no electrical engineer “
Why do people trust his word on this again?
Some notes on the voltage/amperage situation without too much technical jargon:
The voltage is something being *supplied by a source*. It's a quality of the supply-side, ie the dock. This is pretty important to understand. If the dock says "you will get 15v" the switch can't say "no". It will however, go "pop" and die.
The amperage is something *being drawn by a sink*, defined by the demand-side, ie the switch. When the GPU/CPU needs to do more computation, it will draw more current, increasing the amperage.
If a charger supplies 5v where the switch expects 6v, that is most likely alright. That 6v is a maximum that the circuits in the switch can handle. Components being damaged by a 1v undervoltage is pretty rare, although not unheard of. If there is a component that is specced to say, convert that 6v into 12v, giving it 5v would mean it would have to draw slightly more amperage, which would make it run slightly hotter, but we are only talking about 5v*1A or so, meaning 5w of power. Most power converter components (MOSFETs) run at ~90% efficiency, so we would have less than half a watt of extra heat generation. That should never brick anything, basically.
What the problem is, in my mind, is this:
USB-PD is a communication protocol. Remember what I said about the dock controlling the voltage? Well, with PD, the switch can *request* that the source increases voltage via the PD protocol. It still can't decide to *draw* any particular amount of voltage, but it can request an increase.
What if the USB-PD controller on the dock is programmed to think "if any device requests more than 5v, give it 9v." While the increase in voltage expected by the switch was 5v->6v?
What if the dock supplies 12v? That's also an acceptable voltage according to USB-PD spec.
Pop. There goes your switch.
Imo the real fault is with Nintendo, specifically around the protection circuits. If you want to use a physical connection standard in a nonstandard way, cool, people do it all the time. But you have to design protection circuits for someone supplying the standard protocol voltages.
I never even took my dock out of the box. Always played my switch in portable mode.
Same here
thats stupid
I have been using my Switch with the yesOJO projector(the Switch "docks' inside it) for almost 3 years now, with the official Switch adapter. No issues at all
I've been using the JUMPGATE dock (with a neat super nintendo style) for months now. Never had a single problem. It works just like an official dock. They tested and find the reasons for the bricks and created a secure third party dock, with updatable firmware. But they do recommend using the official charger with it. You should check it out, they claim their docks never bricked a single switch.
Woooowee! I am GLAD that I watched this before making a desperate purchase.
For the life of me, I can’t find an official dock sold anywhere. Closest I found ended up being reported as counterfeit. Didn’t know about purchasing refurbished though!
Luckily I’m just lazy and want a second one for my room... looks like I’m toughing it out in the meantime
The insignia one doesn’t brick any switches. It’s the only safe one
So far true for me as well, but I've refrained from using it because my switch has problems waking up. The name brand works.
Who tf cares just use the one that comes with the damn console
Lil Homo some people have more than one output in different places
That has to be the best intro from you so far! Lol'ing all the way from Ireland. I laughed so hard at your comparison with the doctor it resounded around the house, 😅🤣😆
At this point, people are more worried about their animal crossing villages rather than their own lives.
My issue with saying “only buy official Nintendo docks and nothing else” is violating consumer rights. If you design your system so that any 3rd party dock could fry it, then it’s just bad design and very anti-consumer. It not only hurts the people who may risk getting a different dock, but also all these businesses that make money from selling them. Nintendo is just trying to have their cake and eat it too
Well, I would use an original Docking Station if they wouldn't scratch and bend your Switch.
This is a real shame because I've had 2 defective Switch docks. My first one came with my Switch and it basically died after my warranty was gone and the second one WAS a refurbished dock
In the end, the official dock's issues won't ever be discussed in this manner because Nintendo Fanboys are... well... Nintendo Fanboys.
It’s the same thing with phone chargers. 95% of off brand power bricks just use a rectifier, a transformer, and some smoothing caps. The rectifier turns AC into DC. The transformer steps the voltage from 110v to the normal USB standard 5v. That’s fine most of the time, but some grids are unstable. If for whatever reason your outlet is putting out 140v (I’ve seen it before), your device is getting 6.36v instead of 5v. You’re slowly destroying your device. If you buy a flagship phone, just stick with the same brand power brick. iPhone and Samsung chargers have PWM regulators. Which is half the reason they cost so much. I paid $1500 for a phone, I’ll pay the $50 for an extra power brick that I know isn’t going to ruin my investment.
Hi Wulff Den. To your question about the 2A running through the switch, it depends entirely on the ratings of the components. If they are rated to handle that much electrical current then it is perfectly fine. If however the components are not rated for those levels then the components will degrade quicker and be more prone to failure. Engineers design with the worst case in mind (In this case how high can the voltage/current be) and implement safety features for when unsafe conditions occur. Not knowing what the ratings of the components are I would expect it to be fine.
I'm staying with the original. I've never brought 3rd party chargers for any of my Nintendo consoles, and I'm going to stay that way with the Switch. It's too risky, and I'm not risking breaking any of my rather expensive game consoles with chargers/docs that don't come from the same places my consoles came from.
TheMidnightwolf15 same. No amount of research is going to persuade me from using Nintendo, because this is their product and they know it, because they created it.
Soo it’s been three years, is there anything new on this front? Cabled docks?
I had a Wii Controller acting funny and I called Nintendo support. We did some troubleshooting and it didn't work....then he said...... Are you using AA batteries? To which I replied I was using a rechargable battery pack (which obviously is 3rd party as Nintendo didn't make those) and he was like "Ahhhhh, please remove that and use batteries" to which I did and it fixed my controller. The Nintendo employee was like "Yeah, never use 3rd party stuff with Nintendo. They're never made to function with our products properly"
I'm very happy with my insignia dock, works well, looks and feels higher quality than the re-shell I also did for my original dock.
IF you can even find or afford a switch at this moment.
I know right 😭😭😭
At the moment they are overpriced by scalpers
I found one at best buy. It was the only one in stock
@@potentpnut2211 Also the nintendo brand new kit of dock and charger cost 80$ + Taxes, thats way too expensive
@@cesarmendieta7954 I mean one comes with the switch
When I got my switch 3 years ago, I had no interest in playing in docked mode. I told one of my friends and his dock just broke, so I sold mine to him... for $20. About a month later I got the insignia dock without knowing about the danger of using an after market one. It has worked perfect for about 3 years now.
3rd party company’s just don’t care about the switch console, let’s be honest about that
They only care about the cash
It's so frustrating, I want a second dock so bad.
The Amazon's listing for an OFFICIAL Switch dock bundle is about 150, which to me is just INSANE. So I'm looking at so many options to find one of these dang things so I can minimize it and have a travel dock but the only option I see is to potentially ruin my Switch with a third party dock, or buy a refurbished one with an AC adaptor for a better but still gut wrenching 90 bucks.
"I'm no electrical engineer, but I bought..." Nah dude, your content is great usually but this sounds a lot like "I am no medical doctor, but common sense says that....." and stuff like that. Why not just collaborate with one of the hundreds of other video makers that could do the engineering behind and have something more than your opinion? That would be more responsible in my opinion.
He's literally doing the most responsible thing by telling you not to buy any third party docks
The point would still be the same. No matter what product if it's 3rd party you always have the chance of bricking your device.
Even if it's small you always risk your expensive product for possibly saving a few bucks on cheap knockoff.
That's like saying "don't mod your switch" or "dont open your switch to fix your joycons just buy new ones". Those are naturally the most responsible options. However it does not mean is not possible and that careful and thorough research shouldn't be done by the community to find better options. Is just it takes more than one person and it takes more than one opinion, and in general, is best is if is an opinion based on knowledge and not just an educated guess. That's my problem with the statement. It immediately reduces the corpus of techincal concrete knowledge that can be applied to the same level as an educated opinion and that's simply not the same.
@@oscarbarrios It's the exact same thing.
Modding or opening the switch has the same risks.
Even though if u know what your doing u always risk bricking.
Same with 3rd party stuff.
No one ever said you should not buy or do it. It's up to you if you wanna risk bricking your switch no matter how low the risk. It's your choice to make.
For comparison it's like fueling a car.
If you had the option to fuel your car with a 20% cheaper fuel but it has a 1% chance to break your car?
It's really a decision that everyone has to make for there own
Jimbo sure, but there’s thousands of positive comments and reviews for the Insignia dock and no known issues with it.
thanks... this info saved my switch... I was looking into buying a non-Nintendo dock until I saw your vid.. tnx a ton
I will tell you why people risk it, because Nintendo charges 3 times more than they should.
Would you more rather spend 80 Or Waste $300
@@criticalyeet1916 I Wonder how Nintendo would feel if we used that ultimatum as marketing for their competitors (who don't sell overpriced faulty hardware)?
I’ve been using my Insignia dock since it released. No issues. Wouldn’t recommend anyone else do it, I’m just a reckless maniac.
0. USE OFFICIAL NINTENDO SWITCH CHARGER
I purchased a 3rd party charger and dock with my refurbished Switch. All has been well since last October. Matter of fact I purchased a second one of each for a TV in another room.
I recently bought a "third-party" dock which is really just a new shell for the electronics of the original dock.
The USB Power Delivery specification revision 3.0 defines a programmable power supply (PPS) protocol that allows granular control over VBUS power in 20 mV steps to facilitate constant current or constant voltage charging.
I purchased an used switch on ebay and didn't come with a dock. I didn't have a lot of money around so I ended up picking up an insignia dock. That was a year ago and so far no issues with power delivery, hdmi displaying or the usb connection on it. It works well. Btw I am an actual electrical engineer and USBPD is not super complicated and hardware is smart enough to perform handshakes to agree on what voltage and current to use between the devices. The only concern I would have trying to perform measurements of usb c stuff is the fact that there is more than power going through at very high speeds and if the measurement device you are using is not properly designed, you could end up messing with those data signals as well.
I bought a stingray because I wanted to feel less suicidal during online SSBU. It works great. the built in ethernet port seems to function better than the nintendo ethernet adapter. I basically never disconnect from matches with it where the Nintendo adapter would still disconnect 1-2 times a day.
I use it with the original power cable from Nintendo. I never leave it on the dock during hibernationthough... I always disconnect it and plug it in to the switch adapter if charging.
FWIW, I’ve had the Skull & Co. Jumpgate Dock since they shipped their initial crowd-sourced campaign and had zero issues.
I had been considering a third party dock just so I could have one connected to other TVs in my house to easily play docked in other rooms without moving my dock but I am happy for this video to show me the potential dangers of doing that. My official VITA charger stopped working and I ended up only able to charge my Vita through a third-party charging dock, so I guess I became a little too trusting of third party devices like these.
I will be getting a second dock still but I will wait and shill out the money for an official one.
You can easily buy an official Switch Dock here in Denmark.
They are around $110 though.
The dock situation right now is so frustrating. The official dock is sold out everywhere, it looks like the SKUs are being end-of-lifed at some of the big-box stores, and there is no word from Nintendo about the situation. It appears to me that they are going to roll out an updated SKU, but are keeping tight-lipped for some reason (Nintendo gonna Nintendo). I'd really prefer to just do the Basstop mod on an official dock, but I feel like I'm going to end up with the Skull&Co dock unless Nintendo speaks up soon. Thanks for putting out another video on the subject, though, really appreciate it when you do the legwork on stuff like this.