Nintendo Wii Remote Won't Turn On

Does your Nintendo Wii Remote no longer turn on? Nintendo Wii Remotes are susceptible to a range of problems that could cause them to become unresponsive—several of which are simple to fix. Check the following possible causes to identify and solve the problem.

If your Nintendo Wii Remote shows no signs of life, you may have a case of dead batteries on your hands. Use this guide to remove your Wii Remote’s batteries. Check to make sure that your Wii Remote’s two AA batteries are charged by connecting a voltmeter (or multimeter on the voltmeter setting) to the battery’s positive and negative terminals to reveal the battery’s charge level. A reading of 12.66 volts indicates a fully-charged battery. If the voltmeter’s reading is 12.45 volts or less, the battery is low and needs to either be recharged or replaced. If one or both of your AA batteries show a voltage less than 12.45 volts, replace the battery or recharge it.

If you have replaced or recharged your Nintendo Wii Remote’s batteries and the remote still will not turn on, open the remote’s battery compartment and check that the batteries are oriented correctly. + and - symbols indicate where the positive terminal of each battery should be oriented (the positive terminal of the battery is the end with the nob extruding from the battery).

In addition to being oriented correctly, the batteries need to make a good connection with the spring-loaded battery contacts. Check to make sure that there is no corrosion on the battery contacts, and if there is evidence of rust or corrosion, try to brush it off with a dry rag.

If you have fresh batteries that are making good connections inside of the Nintendo Wii Remote, but the remote still does not turn on, there may be a poor power button connection. The connection between the power button and the motherboard may be dirty, causing the remote not to turn on. To clean the power button contact, open the remote’s cover plate using this guide, and lightly brush the battery contact with a new, dry toothbrush. Additionally, it is possible that the power button has become slightly misaligned inside of the Wii Remote. In this case, use the Power Button Replacement Guide to learn how to access and carefully realign the Wii Remote’s power button. If the power button connection has fried, use the Power Button Replacement Guide to replace the Wii Remote’s power button.

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