I've had this kind-of-solvable issue with my Wii U for years now, and although I can revive it when it won't start, I want to understand what is happening and whether there's a more permanent solution I could apply.
Here's the basic situation: sometimes I try to turn on my Wii U and the power light on the console will blink red, failing to start up. To resolve this, I unplug it, pin the case fan in place so it won't wear from being spun too fast, and use my dust blower to blow warm air through the back of the console for a few seconds. Occasionally I'll have to do this a second time, but without fail, the console will turn on again once I've applied enough warm air. I want to specify that this is just warm air, it isn't as hot as a hairdryer for example, although I first heard about this solution from a video in which a hairdryer was used this way.
I've eliminated the case fan as the cause here: I replaced the fan when the console wouldn't start, but it still wouldn't start with the new fan. When I removed the fan entirely, applied the blower to the console for a few seconds, and reattached the fan, the console would start again. I have since re-installed the original case fan, and everything works just like before.
One possibility is the HDMI port: I've heard that it's not mounted very well, and it can get bent slightly out of shape if you leave an HDMI cable plugged in with even a little pressure pulling the port one way or the other. I always unplug the cable before turning off the system now, but that doesn't seem to make a big difference. Also, the console will sometimes fail to turn on even though I never plugged in an HDMI cable the last time it was on. If this somehow is the issue, I can't imagine the warm air from my duster is enough to bend it back into shape or re-solder the connections.
I've also heard that the power brick can cause this sort of issue, and the solution is to unplug it from the outlet for ten seconds or so, in order to make it reset. I've tried this a few times before without any success: I had to use the duster solution.
Does anyone have any insight into what's happening here? I've torn down my Wii U multiple times to be sure there isn't any excess dust or anything visually amiss, but I haven't found anything (not that I know what to look for really.) So I'm happy and capable to take it apart and correct whatever the issue may be. The console still works just fine once it boots up, and it never shuts down during operation: I really want to emphasize that the only issue I've ever had with this system is booting up. I'm mostly concerned that this bizarre warm air solution will stop working one day and I'll lose my Wii U forever.
Here's the basic situation: sometimes I try to turn on my Wii U and the power light on the console will blink red, failing to start up. To resolve this, I unplug it, pin the case fan in place so it won't wear from being spun too fast, and use my dust blower to blow warm air through the back of the console for a few seconds. Occasionally I'll have to do this a second time, but without fail, the console will turn on again once I've applied enough warm air. I want to specify that this is just warm air, it isn't as hot as a hairdryer for example, although I first heard about this solution from a video in which a hairdryer was used this way.
I've eliminated the case fan as the cause here: I replaced the fan when the console wouldn't start, but it still wouldn't start with the new fan. When I removed the fan entirely, applied the blower to the console for a few seconds, and reattached the fan, the console would start again. I have since re-installed the original case fan, and everything works just like before.
One possibility is the HDMI port: I've heard that it's not mounted very well, and it can get bent slightly out of shape if you leave an HDMI cable plugged in with even a little pressure pulling the port one way or the other. I always unplug the cable before turning off the system now, but that doesn't seem to make a big difference. Also, the console will sometimes fail to turn on even though I never plugged in an HDMI cable the last time it was on. If this somehow is the issue, I can't imagine the warm air from my duster is enough to bend it back into shape or re-solder the connections.
I've also heard that the power brick can cause this sort of issue, and the solution is to unplug it from the outlet for ten seconds or so, in order to make it reset. I've tried this a few times before without any success: I had to use the duster solution.
Does anyone have any insight into what's happening here? I've torn down my Wii U multiple times to be sure there isn't any excess dust or anything visually amiss, but I haven't found anything (not that I know what to look for really.) So I'm happy and capable to take it apart and correct whatever the issue may be. The console still works just fine once it boots up, and it never shuts down during operation: I really want to emphasize that the only issue I've ever had with this system is booting up. I'm mostly concerned that this bizarre warm air solution will stop working one day and I'll lose my Wii U forever.
