Poor Quality Controllers (or how my daughter destroys one a year)

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cheapchips

Veteran
Is it just my daughter that destroys controllers? We're on our third xbox controller in as many years due to thumsticks starting to not work in 'forward'.

I'm going to leverage my very lapsed soldering skills and repair a couple + try GameSir's reasonably priced controller which has hall effect sticks.

With all the chatter etc on joycon joystick drift I've come to the conclusion that console manufacturers just don't make kid proof controllers. Given how much they cost, it's a ridiculous state of affairs.
 
In the last two years, one PS4 sticks after only six months, change via Sony replace progranme, and one controller of our two Xbox serie S after also six month via Microsoft guaranty.
So no one to buy, but not a good thing for durability....
 
cheapchips said:
Is it just my daughter that destroys controllers? We're on our third xbox controller in as many years due to thumsticks starting to not work in 'forward'.

I'm going to leverage my very lapsed soldering skills and repair a couple + try GameSir's reasonably priced controller which has hall effect sticks.

With all the chatter etc on joycon joystick drift I've come to the conclusion that console manufacturers just don't make kid proof controllers. Given how much they cost, it's a ridiculous state of affairs.
Click to expand...
you'll probably be better with joycons tho.

because joycons got removable parts, including the sticks. zero soldering required.
the parts are also so cheap, you can buy a box of them from china for super cheap and be prepared for years.

hmm maybe thats why in the US and EU, joycons got unlimited until the end of time warranty?
EDIT: oh they were sued. so they were forced to give that warranty
 
Fingers crossed, I've never had any modern controller fail or deteriorate in any way. That includes the OG Digital and Dual Analogue controllers for PlayStation, Dual Shock 2 controllers for PS2, Six Axis and Dual Shock 3 controllers for PS3, the 360 controller, Dual Shock 4 controllers for PS4, Xbox One controllers, or Dual Sense for PS5 and Xbox Series controllers.

For pad failures, I'd need to go back to the original Atari 2600 controller, which were also popular on 8-bit computers like the C64. Once you had games which required 'waggling' (moving the stick back and forth rapidly), those things fell apart in a few weeks. Games like Daley Thompson's Decathlon and Hyper Sports, were controller killers. Ahh.. nostalgia.
 
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From a Reddit post by me from a few days ago. (XBOX)

I went through several controllers.

D1 felt unstable and squeaky. It probably still works but I never felt comfortable with that early production.

Midnight(December 2014) was the best normal controller I've used. Then one shoulder button broke. Great build quality for the 1st generation:)

Bronze(March 2017) started to break around 3 months. It was done at 4-5. Shoulder buttons again. A complete farce and the last normal I've ever bought.

Elite1(July 2017), the grip started to get loose at around 12 months and I continued until a shoulder button broke.

Elite1(Nov 2018), the grip started to get loose at around 12 months, did a horrible glue job and used it until some shoulder button broke again.

Tried my X1X's gamepad the first time and it felt completely unreliable to me as the shoulder button trigger was extremely sensitive which caused spurious activation during PvP. Instantly ordered another Elite. That controller felt really alien to me after using Elites for years.

Elite2(Dec 2020), worked for 2.5 years until drift got unacceptable in the last few months. IMHO great build quality.

Elite2(April 2023) currently using with no issues yet. But it's still too early:)

Just tear&wear from Destiny. I don't throw controllers around or drop them from heights. The Elite1's skin issues are caused by hand's heat/friction expanding the rubber and screwing up the glue. Fortunately MS removed the rubber skin with the Elite2.
 
orangpelupa said:
you'll probably be better with joycons tho.

because joycons got removable parts, including the sticks. zero soldering required.
the parts are also so cheap, you can buy a box of them from china for super cheap and be prepared for years.

hmm maybe thats why in the US and EU, joycons got unlimited until the end of time warranty?
EDIT: oh they were sued. so they were forced to give that warranty
Click to expand...

MS sells parts for their controllers so you can repair them.
 
eastmen said:
MS sells parts for their controllers so you can repair them.
Click to expand...

To me, the problem has never been parts availability but whether the thing itself was designed with repairability.

For example, Xbox controller joysticks are soldered.
 
orangpelupa said:
To me, the problem has never been parts availability but whether the thing itself was designed with repairability.

For example, Xbox controller joysticks are soldered.
Click to expand...
what part? I can fix the xbox series controllers in a few minutes.

www.microsoft.com

Buy Replacement PCBA and Motor Assembly for Xbox Wireless Controller

Replacement PCBA and Motor Assembly for Xbox Wireless Controller allows you to self-service your Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 at your location.
www.microsoft.com

www.microsoft.com

Buy Replacement Input PCBA for Xbox Wireless Controller

Replacement Input PCBA for Xbox Wireless Controller allows you to self-service your Xbox Wireless Controller at your location.
www.microsoft.com

It's just not really cost effective to buy official parts
 
eastmen said:
what part? I can fix the xbox series controllers in a few minutes.

www.microsoft.com

Buy Replacement PCBA and Motor Assembly for Xbox Wireless Controller

Replacement PCBA and Motor Assembly for Xbox Wireless Controller allows you to self-service your Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 at your location.
www.microsoft.com

www.microsoft.com

Buy Replacement Input PCBA for Xbox Wireless Controller

Replacement Input PCBA for Xbox Wireless Controller allows you to self-service your Xbox Wireless Controller at your location.
www.microsoft.com

It's just not really cost effective to buy official parts
Click to expand...
I've mentioned joystick as an example.
 
orangpelupa said:
yes, with enough skill and tools, things became easy/quick to do
Click to expand...
I'd hardly say I have enough skill and my tool is a $10 kit from amazon. It's one of the most basic things you can solder.

Next you are going to say that there shouldn't be any screws in a controller because not everyone has the tools or skills to use a screw driver oh and the ribbon cables shouldn't have a latch because you need some time of small stick to open them and not everyone has that.
 
eastmen said:
I'd hardly say I have enough skill and my tool is a $10 kit from amazon. It's one of the most basic things you can solder.

Next you are going to say that there shouldn't be any screws in a controller because not everyone has the tools or skills to use a screw driver oh and the ribbon cables shouldn't have a latch because you need some time of small stick to open them and not everyone has that.
Click to expand...

That's actually harder to self repair than with screws.

As that would mean it'll use plastic clips that need to be pried open and/or glues that need to be heated and replaced.

Btw the skill required to use Solder properly is on a different level and reach than unscrewing things or flipping flex cable connector locks.

At least in my region. Heck, I need to got to electric tools shop to buy Soldering tools. While I can buy (or borrow) screwdrivers on a bunch of places.

Screwdrivers also doesn't need special handling care to properly screw and unscrew stuff.

Sure, there are a lot of proper screwing and unscrewing etiquette, like for example, you should unscrew first then screw in, to find the right alignment, then you screw it in. Especially with plastic holes.

But even if you didn't, it'll usually be fine.

On the other hand with soldering iron, even the handling of the soldering iron itself need to be known. Even simple stuff like "don't let the hot head touch anything when not being used" is not intuitively known, despite it obviously should be known as it is a hot thing.


Anyway, the point is that switch joycon doesn't need soldering, to replace the sticks. One less skill needed.

With enough skill and tools, anything can be easy and quick enough to fix yourself. Including Solder reflow, and even reballing.

Some xbox 360 service expert even able to reball in minutes.

And this made me remember that it is so hard to find people offering Solder reball service in my region... Even for stuff that already have reball stencil.

Oh and also made me remember ps portal. Where repairability design is also need to be considered.

Not all people have thermal pads or heat gun and know how to properly use them.
 
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eastmen said:
I'd hardly say I have enough skill and my tool is a $10 kit from amazon. It's one of the most basic things you can solder.
Click to expand...
The vast majority of people have no soldering experience or skills and expecting them to solder things in terms of 'user maintenance' is an unfair ask. Whereas everyone can use a screwdriver or various plug-in designs. Anything designed to be user serviceable needs to target the lowest common denominator. Above that, it's a 'professionally serviceable' device, even if the 'professional' is just a mate with a soldering iron.
 
Controllers have never really been that reliable, especially since the introduction of analog sticks, but it feels especially bad since they're so expensive nowadays. It's also why I would never in a million years pay the $150+ for these 'Elite' sort of controllers. They are coming with some really great functionality improvements, but not an equal level of reliability improvements to match.
 
eastmen said:
Yea its what 4 points ? Takes 2-3 minutes to swap out.
Click to expand...
It's 14 points per stick. 3 for each potentiometer, 4 for the tac switch, and 4 for the anchors that hold the stick to the board. It's easy compared to some things, but it's also easy to pull traces off the board if you don't know what you are doing. It's not something I would describe as 'user replaceable".
 
Seanspeed said:
Controllers have never really been that reliable, especially since the introduction of analog sticks, but it feels especially bad since they're so expensive nowadays. It's also why I would never in a million years pay the $150+ for these 'Elite' sort of controllers. They are coming with some really great functionality improvements, but not an equal level of reliability improvements to match.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's the biggest disappointment for me. I'd love a quality controller that last because it's all quality parts but it seems what we've got is many bells and whistles made of short-lifespan plastics.
 
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