The Wii pointer drifts or dies in the corners

94MER / Repair Guides / Wii

Wii · Symptom guide

The pointer jumps around, will not reach the corners, or stops responding entirely.

The sensor bar is not a sensor. It is two clusters of infrared LEDs that the remote looks at. When one cluster dies, the remote loses one of its two reference points and the pointer goes haywire at the edges of the screen.

Do these first. They cost nothing.

Check this before you buy anything

  1. Point a phone camera at the sensor bar while the Wii is on

    Phone cameras see infrared. You should see both ends glowing. If only one end lights up, the bar is your fault and you have proven it in ten seconds for free.

  2. Check for sunlight or candles behind the TV

    Infrared from sunlight, halogen bulbs and real flames confuses the remote badly.

  3. Put fresh batteries in the remote

    Weak batteries cause tracking problems that look exactly like a dead bar.

  4. Check the bar is centred and not obstructed

    Above or below the screen is fine. Off to one side is not.

If every one of those comes back clean, now it is worth buying a part.

If that did not fix it, here is the part

Wii Sensor BarWii Sensor Bar$8.99Wii AV CableWii AV Cable$9.99

Before you order

Wired replacement for the Wii, Wii U and Wii Mini. No batteries required.

What this is not

If no remote will sync at all, that is a different problem and a sensor bar will not help. Syncing does not use the bar.

Related faults

The console powers on but the TV shows nothingThe grip has worn off your thumbsticks

The whole reference, free

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