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The Nintendo DSi is the third iteration in the Nintendo DS line, and made its debut in Japan in late 2008.

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My Nintendo DSi Device Won't Turn On or Charge

Hi!

I found a used Nintendo DSi in a second hand store in perfect physical condition. When I tried to turn it on, the lights and the display turned on for a second or two, so I assumed the battery was simply dead from inactivity. There was no charger or pen with the device. Still, the price was right and the device looks great, so I bought it, thinking that I'll have to replace the battery only.

When I came home and hooked it up to my charger, nothing happened.
I left it there for an hour, but it did not start charging, even the lights wouldn't turn on.

I took another DSi that I own, put the battery from the new one in it and it works. Also, my old DSi was able to charge that new battery without issues.

The new one won't turn on or charge the battery.

I opened the new console to see if there's anything wrong in there. I'm no expert by any means, but the board and all the pieces look okay to the naked eye.

I decided to post here in hopes that someone might have suggestions that I could try to fix my new DSi. I also attached some closeup photos of the board as well as a video, which might be helpful for someone.

Any help is much appreciated! Let me know if I can provide more information or pictures.

Thank you!

PHOTOS: https://imgur.com/a/agcoHEa

YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/gmQyVQYKX6k

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Seems like you're not the first with this problem. You probably have a blown fuse, so check both for continuity. F1 is in the first pic, next to the charging port. F2 should be on the other side of the power board. The charging port could also use a cleaning. You might be able to use a toothbrush and IPA, otherwise swap the toothbrush for something like a smaller q-tip

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Thanks for the tip!

Could you advise on how I should test this out?

I've purchased a multimeter today and I've never used one.

I've put it to 20V and then touched the battery and it showed 3.58V, so I guess that's okay since it's rated at 3.6V.

I then touched both sides of Fuse 1 (next to the charging port) and it shows 3.87 V.

The F2 fuse (also labeled F1 on the underside of the right board) is a little tricky to reach, but it shows 0.

I'm not sure if I did everything correctly, so could you please advise if what I did and what I got makes any sense.

Thank you!

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@arminolat When you measure a fuse with a voltmeter it should show no voltage drop across it when power is present. So fuse F2 is good and fuse F1 is blown.

As a quick sanity check, put an alligator clip across F1 to short it and see if your DSi starts charging; my guess is you'll see it working. Soldering will be a little bit tricky on those tiny fuses, but can be done.

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Thank you! This might be a dumb question, but can I just put a drop of solder on the fuse, or do I need to use some fine tools to wire it?

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@arminolat Either one should work, the idea is just to bridge the contact points

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Thank you all! I'll test it out and come back with the results.

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Armin Olat will be eternally grateful.
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