My Elite controller started drifting on the left stick during a ranked match last Tuesday. Tore it down, swapped in a hall effect module from a local electronics shop for $9, and it's been dead accurate for 2 days now. Anyone else make the jump to hall effect sticks, or still using the factory ones?
A guy on the r/fightsticks sub told me last month to ditch the 2lb spring in my Sanwa stick for a 1lb one, and I thought he was nuts since I like heavy resistance. I finally caved after losing three straight sets in Tekken 8 last week, and the lighter pull makes my quarter circles way cleaner with less wrist fatigue. Anyone else found that softer springs actually help with precision, or do you prefer the stiff feel for accidental inputs?
Last Tuesday I was swapping a clear shell onto my old PS4 controller during my commute into Cleveland, and the face button springs launched everywhere. One thumbstick rolled right into this guy's travel mug, he just stared at me while I fished it out with my keychain screwdriver. Has anyone else had a mod part go rogue in public, or am I the only one who should have waited for my basement workbench?
He was right, the rubber pad under the cross was worn flat after 2 years. Picked up a replacement pad set for $6 on Amazon and it took maybe 20 minutes to swap, now it clicks like day one. Anyone else notice their dpad dying before the sticks on the standard controller?
My right stick on my old DualShock 4 started drifting bad around last month, so I ordered a whole new stick module from Amazon for like $15. But then my buddy who fixes consoles told me to try just swapping the springs first, and I grabbed a kit from a local shop in Austin for $4. I was skeptical but after 30 minutes of fiddling, the drift was totally gone and it feels even snappier than before. Anyone else skip the full replacement and just do the spring swap instead?
Swapped the drifty sticks on my old PS4 pad for some $14 Hall effect ones from Amazon and the soldering was way easier than I thought, took about 40 minutes. Did the same fix for a buddy's controller and now I'm wondering if anyone else has tried those metal stick caps, worth the extra cash or are they too slippery?
I was sure the $8 epoxy stick from Harbor Freight was gonna crumble after a week, but it's been 3 months and the stick on my old Xbox One pad is still tight. Sanded the base, packed it in, let it cure overnight. Has anyone else had luck with that stuff on thumbstick posts, or did I just get a good batch?
Tore down an old controller last Saturday to swap the sticks and figured the tension ring would be like a dime. It's actually smaller than a pencil eraser, got mine from a repair kit on Amazon for $8. Has anyone else botched the first install because they tried to handle it with big clumsy fingers?
I was complaining to a customer about my Xbox controller drift and how I was about to drop $60 on a new one. He asked to see it, popped off the stick cap, and showed me a tiny crack in the base where the gimbal sits. Said to wrap a thin strip of electrical tape around the stem before pushing the cap back on. I tried it at home and the wobble is GONE. Who else has a janky fix that works better than buying replacement parts?
Last weekend I dropped by a retro arcade in Austin and they let me open up one of their old Fighting Sticks to swap a stuck button. Man, the inside was a mess of ribbon cables and a board held down with double sided tape, no screws anywhere. It made me think about how far we've come with hot swap sockets and quick release panels. My last build took maybe 15 minutes to swap everything, this thing would take a solid hour with a hairdryer. Do y'all ever go back and mod older gear just for the challenge, or is modern convenience too good to give up?
A buddy of mine at an Orlando LAN party swapped his stick modules out last month and said something stuck with me: "you're not fixing drift, you're just delaying it." He was right, after 6 months of my DualSense jittering in ranked matches, I finally ordered a hall effect set and a soldering kit for $38. Has anyone else made the jump and noticed the tension feels different than stock sticks?
Last week my left joystick started drifting during a ranked match, so I pulled it apart expecting to replace the whole module. Turns out the little rubber contact pads under the board were flattened and shiny from two years of use. I sanded them lightly with 800 grit paper and cleaned the carbon contacts with alcohol, and it fixed the drift completely. Cost me nothing but 20 minutes, and now I check those pads first before buying any parts. Has anyone else tried resurfacing those pads instead of swapping the joystick module?
That cheap hall effect joystick kit cost me 40 bucks and 2 busted boards
Picked the Gulikit ones over the TMR style because they were half the price ($15 vs $30) and I figured I'd rather mess up cheap parts if I botched the soldering. Honestly, the calibration was a pain but the dead zone is basically zero now has anyone else noticed Hall effects feel a little loose compared to the originals?
Saw him at a retro gaming swap meet last weekend. He said "Your first joystick swap was a train wreck but you got tenacity kid." Anyone else got a mentor who still remembers your early mistakes?
For about 6 months I was sanding my replacement joystick shafts with the grain lengthwise. Felt like it was taking forever and the finish was always rough. Last week a buddy watched me do it and pointed out I should be going in circles with fine grit. Now it takes me 3 minutes instead of 15 and the smoothness is way better. Anyone else learn a basic skill backwards for way too long?
I used to think the default thumbsticks were just fine and that all those aftermarket ones were a waste of money. But about 4 months ago I finally tried a set of kontrol freeks on my Elite Series 2 after my buddy Tim kept bugging me about it. It took maybe 10 minutes to pop them on and I couldn't believe how much more control I had in Call of Duty, especially at longer ranges. Has anyone else been stubborn about a mod and then had it totally change your setup?
I went with a brand called ControlGripz because the reviews looked solid. Applied it carefully, followed the heat gun instructions to the letter. After 3 weeks of normal use (maybe 10 hours total) it started lifting at the edges. Now at 6 weeks it looks like crap with glue residue all over. Anyone had a specific brand of silicone grip that actually held up long term?
I started swapping thumbsticks around 2010 with a beat up DualShock 3 and a soldering iron I borrowed from my uncle. Back then you had to carefully desolder the whole stick module and put in a new one, took me about 45 minutes per stick. Fast forward to now and everyone's using those little metal contact boards you just plug in, no soldering required. I tried a set of those on my Series X controller last month and they felt off, way too sensitive and the deadzone felt weird. Swapped back to a set of standard conductive rubber pads from a 2015 Xbox One controller I had laying around and it felt right again. The metal ones cost me $12 for a pack of four and I ended up tossing them. Am I just old school or do the rubber pads actually give better control for twitch shooters?
I was at Game Haven on 3rd street last Saturday looking for a used fight stick to mod, and every single custom controller they had on display had these cheap knockoff joysticks that felt all loose and wobbly. Like someone just grabbed the first $5 stick they found on Amazon and called it a day. I get that theyre trying to save money but it ruins the whole point of customizing your controller you know? The dead zones were huge and the resistance was way off compared to the original parts. I actually picked one up to test and it just felt like plastic scraping against plastic. Has anyone else noticed shops pushing these low end mods just to make a quick sale instead of actually helping people get better gear?
I kept seeing people spend 40 bucks on aluminum thumbsticks when their real problem was just the surface texture. The stock caps on my Xbox controller felt slick after 30 minutes of Halo. I swapped them for some concave rubber ones from a cheap 8 dollar pack on Amazon. It took maybe 2 minutes with a plastic pry tool. Now my thumbs don't slide off during intense fights. Has anyone else found that a simple grip change fixed more issues than a full shell swap?
I put these metal thumbsticks on my Xbox controller last January and just realized last week that the resistance has nearly doubled. The extra weight is wearing out the tension springs way faster than the stock plastic ones ever did. Has anyone else had this issue with metal sticks ruining the feel over time?
I finally got around to swapping out the joystick modules on my old Xbox controller last weekend. Followed a YouTube guide step by step, desoldered the old ones, soldered in some new ones from a kit I got online. But now the right stick drifts hard to the left every time I let go of it. Did I mess up the soldering job or did I just buy cheap junk modules? Anyone else have this happen after a swap?
Last week someone named @glitchythumb said I didn't need to sand the metal shaft before putting on some new aluminum thumbsticks. I figured he knew his stuff so I just shoved them on. Now one of them is wobbling like crazy after 3 days of Apex. Gonna have to take it all apart and do it right this time. Anyone else get bad advice that cost them a controller?