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**Desoldering and Replacing Controller Sticks: A Step-by-Step Guide**

The process of desoldering and replacing controller sticks may seem daunting, but it's actually quite straightforward. In this article, we'll walk you through the steps involved in cleaning up a controller, including tear-downs, replacement of old sticks with new ones, and how to use software to test for drift issues.

**Tear-Down of the Controller**

First, let's take a look at what needs to be done. To clean the controller, we'll need to tear it down to its constituent parts. This involves removing various components such as screws, rings, and other plastic parts that hold everything together.

The tear-down process isn't too hard, but it does require some patience and attention to detail. If you're new to desoldering and electronics repair, this might be a good time to start practicing your skills before tackling more complex projects.

**Cleaning Up the Controller**

Once we've torn down the controller, we can move on to cleaning up the inside. This involves using a desoldering wick or a heat gun to remove any old solder that's accumulated over time. We'll also need to clean out any debris or dust that might be hiding in the nooks and crannies of the controller.

It's worth noting that some components, such as the switches under the sticks, may require special cleaning products or techniques. However, for most controllers, a simple desoldering wick or heat gun should do the trick.

**Using Software to Test for Drift Issues**

Now that we've cleaned up the inside of the controller, it's time to test its performance using software. One such tool is called Game Controller Tester, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft App Store.

This software allows us to test the sticks and other buttons on our controller, ensuring that they're working properly. If the sticks are not centering or moving smoothly, we may need to adjust them or replace them altogether.

**The Importance of Testing for Drift Issues**

Drift issues can be a major problem in controllers, causing frustration and disappointment for gamers. By using software like Game Controller Tester, we can identify these issues early on and take steps to fix them before they become too severe.

In this case, I was able to use the software to test my controller and identify the issue with the d-pad. By cleaning out the terminals and replacing the old stick with a new one, I was able to resolve the problem without having to replace any other components.

**Conclusion**

Desoldering and replacing controller sticks is a relatively straightforward process that can save you money and hassle in the long run. By following these steps and using software like Game Controller Tester, we can ensure that our controllers are working properly and providing us with a seamless gaming experience.

So if you're experiencing problems with your controller or just want to upgrade to a new one, now is the perfect time to take action. Let me know in the comments below if this helps you out, and don't forget to like and subscribe for more content!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome back everybody this is the last game hunter today we're going to talk about this nasty looking Xbox One controller now I bought this knowing that the d-pad was semi- messed up the analog sticks had drift um it's just one of those things where I only paid 10 bucks for it so what we're going to do is we're going to take this apart and I'm going to show you the quick and easy easy way to clean this first if you want to save the sticker you're going to use a knife here or whatever and you're just going to peel it up a bit and you're going to take that sticker off or you can just poke a hole by feeling around where the screw is just in the center and just poke the driver right through I personally want to save the sticker because I have another project for this controller I didn't buy it just knowing it's broken I bought it knowing that I'm going to do something for you guys so that's something coming up as as well so you know like share subscribe but anyway uh it was a bit of a nuisance to get the sticker off without ruining it as you can see here I had to peel it down quite a bit to get the you know a grasp on it now this controller again like I said it's an Xbox one uh Bluetooth controller but it is not a uh one uh x controller it's the first or the second I guess generation it's a 1s or Xbox 1X controller um you're going to need a T8 screwdriver and what I noticed with the T8 you're going to need a little hole in the center as the screw does have a uh little pin in it so I originally I tried to use just a regular T8 and it wouldn't go in so along here you're going to need to take this side piece off now the side piece you're just going to want to take either a really thin screwdriver or I just used a razor blade here and just got my fingers in once whoops and it went flying but look at how disgusting that is so there's two screws in here one here and one down the bottom of the grip right here uh so there's five screws total so the other side that you remove will have the exact same thing two more screws so let's get these screws out I'm telling you this controller is look at the dirt you can see it from here this controller needs massive massive TLC uh I don't even know what you know it it just bothers because that's someone's skin cells that's someone's dirt and here I am owning it so when you do that the top will just pull off no problems just like so and again um technically not going to use that anymore but in this video I'm going to show you how to fix the drifting issues without doing uh hard soldering the bottom just basically come right on out there you go so very simple uh it once you take those screws at the bottom of the top will completely let go so there you have it there's the inside of your controller um not a whole lot to when you look at it like that but there's quite a bit going on here so now we're going to take off this piece right here where the Xbox button logo is you just pry it with a little razor blade or a small flathead screwdriver and off it comes uh that's so you can get at the other buttons that you're going to be working on as well because if you're going to clean this part of bit then you might as well clean it all now another thing I want to show here is that you can see one stick stuck look at that one stick stuck this thing is terrible now the other thing with this controller oh and just a quick note if you wanted to and you want better battery life you could take out those Motors just by desoldering the two wires on each side it won't affect it it'll actually give you better battery run time so here I just pulled the sticks off you can see this thing is just disgusting it's just stuck like the there's nothing working right on this controller at all so now what we're going to do uh I'm going to show you a couple things that I did pick up these are new d-pad skins basically if I want to change the d-pad uh skin layout for the d-pad this is what these are I bought quite a few of them I think I bought a pack of 10 off Al Express I can put links to the stuff if you want me to um and then I bought a kit if I have to completely refurbished a controller now why I say that is this idea that I'm about to show you guys on how to fix drift on your Xbox One or PS4 or even Nintendo switch this will work on everything um it may not be a cleaning it may be that the actual switches are garbage so this kit came with you know extra sticks screws uh it's got screwdriver and there's a prying tool if you bought this kit um and then I new switches as you can see they don't stick right and the ones on the Xbox controller do now I don't know if that is actually what those Xbox controllers are supposed to do if you're completely moving them all the way over maybe they do stick cuz I found it a bit odd that both of them stuck no matter what I did uh but we'll get to that later so these guys need to be cleaned in order for this to work now Behind the Green so oh and what I'm going to use here is an electronic contact cleaner now in Canada I just went to Canadian Tire and I went to pick up their motor Master it's about 8 bucks in the states there's all kinds I could leave an Amazon link if you guys are looking for something um I just found prices on Amazon were actually a little more maybe it's better quality stuff I don't know so once you spray it in there good just swing the stick around over and over just to get that liquid moving in and pushing out that dirt and don't be afraid to spray it more than once because because this stuff will not hurt your product as you can see here I'm spraying again lots of it and just move it around move it around and this is key because that's how you're going to get it to uh soak in and and get in everywhere now where you see the green Parts on the sticks those actually can be removed I don't recommend it but there are sensors in there so I'm just spraying a lot and moving it around to hopefully get the Liquid in to clean the sensors anyway so I'm hoping I don't have to take those off and if I go to have to take those off at that point I'm just going to desolder and put brand new joysticks in now if you guys want to see that maybe this fix doesn't work for you comment below and I'll make a new video desoldering and putting into new sticks and show you how and basically more of a tear down on this controller as you can see the tear down needed to do the cleaning isn't that hard so this is all you need to do to do the cleaning now this is one of the new ones if you want that video let me know and I will do a full tear down and replace sticks in one of these I'll buy another one that's broken or you guys can send me one whatever you wish and I will fix it with a full tear down now there is software called game controller tester you can download this for free in the Microsoft App Store so anybody who has Windows 10 or I believe Windows 8 whatever if there's a Windows App Store you can go and download this controller tested uh testing software sorry and what it does you'll see you have uh your y AIS your X AIS and everything and if they're zeros then your your sticks are centering and that was a key because they were not centering um so you'll see when I hit buttons to light up or if I move sticks around you'll see the uh movement on the stick and so on and and that is important because if you're not swinging back or centering than I know the the actual switches the actual uh sticks see I'm moving around here let go they centered let go they centered uh that tells me I've now fixed the drift issue because I'm at 0% on the XY AIS not 1% 2% whatever meaning there's drift so that part has been rectified now what isn't rectified is this d-pad um it looks like it's doing okay now but I'm having to press quite a bit as you can see there I was pressing and it didn't even show up so the d-pad just uncp the thing from the bottom I found the easiest way to take that ring off was this from the bottom with my fingernail nothing needed very simple now the d-pad itself will just lift off it's just a plastic you know plus sign and those are your little terminals that are your culprit so what I'm going to do here is I'm just going to soak them down and then I'm going to just give it a little wipe just to uh just in case there something on it because if there's any type of oil film or anything between the uh connector and any which way from the plastic it actually will affect the way this works because that technically is dirt and dirt is not a conduct activity product some cases it is dust can't kill your products don't get me wrong but dirt will cause issues so now I've soaked this down pretty good I'm going to spray down a couple buttons on the top just to get get stuff in there I found that button right there the right button was a little bit flaky so I'm just going to clean it up and I might as well it's all open don't be afraid to soak this product down don't be afraid now what I'm recommending cuz I did spray a lot there is I'm going to let this controller sit after I work it in a bit just for about 30 minutes just to make sure that I'm not sorry when I power it up and uh-oh I kill something so let it sit on a napkin like I'm doing and just let it go so now I'm starting to software up again testing out the sticks making sure they're still centering cuz now all that's dry it's been 30 minutes so there's no lubricant in there anymore and my d-pad is now being very I had a problem with the bottom and had a problem with the top and now it's all working see that lights are flickering I can even go fast back and forth back and forth back and forth and if it stayed sticking or yellowing while I Let Go it means I have dripped I do not so the problem B seems to be rectified on this without having to change any parts whatsoever so comment below let me know if this works for you and if it does hey saved you a ton of money and saved you on buying another controller if it doesn't comment below let me know and say hey man I want you to do the video till next time guys thank you Game Overwelcome back everybody this is the last game hunter today we're going to talk about this nasty looking Xbox One controller now I bought this knowing that the d-pad was semi- messed up the analog sticks had drift um it's just one of those things where I only paid 10 bucks for it so what we're going to do is we're going to take this apart and I'm going to show you the quick and easy easy way to clean this first if you want to save the sticker you're going to use a knife here or whatever and you're just going to peel it up a bit and you're going to take that sticker off or you can just poke a hole by feeling around where the screw is just in the center and just poke the driver right through I personally want to save the sticker because I have another project for this controller I didn't buy it just knowing it's broken I bought it knowing that I'm going to do something for you guys so that's something coming up as as well so you know like share subscribe but anyway uh it was a bit of a nuisance to get the sticker off without ruining it as you can see here I had to peel it down quite a bit to get the you know a grasp on it now this controller again like I said it's an Xbox one uh Bluetooth controller but it is not a uh one uh x controller it's the first or the second I guess generation it's a 1s or Xbox 1X controller um you're going to need a T8 screwdriver and what I noticed with the T8 you're going to need a little hole in the center as the screw does have a uh little pin in it so I originally I tried to use just a regular T8 and it wouldn't go in so along here you're going to need to take this side piece off now the side piece you're just going to want to take either a really thin screwdriver or I just used a razor blade here and just got my fingers in once whoops and it went flying but look at how disgusting that is so there's two screws in here one here and one down the bottom of the grip right here uh so there's five screws total so the other side that you remove will have the exact same thing two more screws so let's get these screws out I'm telling you this controller is look at the dirt you can see it from here this controller needs massive massive TLC uh I don't even know what you know it it just bothers because that's someone's skin cells that's someone's dirt and here I am owning it so when you do that the top will just pull off no problems just like so and again um technically not going to use that anymore but in this video I'm going to show you how to fix the drifting issues without doing uh hard soldering the bottom just basically come right on out there you go so very simple uh it once you take those screws at the bottom of the top will completely let go so there you have it there's the inside of your controller um not a whole lot to when you look at it like that but there's quite a bit going on here so now we're going to take off this piece right here where the Xbox button logo is you just pry it with a little razor blade or a small flathead screwdriver and off it comes uh that's so you can get at the other buttons that you're going to be working on as well because if you're going to clean this part of bit then you might as well clean it all now another thing I want to show here is that you can see one stick stuck look at that one stick stuck this thing is terrible now the other thing with this controller oh and just a quick note if you wanted to and you want better battery life you could take out those Motors just by desoldering the two wires on each side it won't affect it it'll actually give you better battery run time so here I just pulled the sticks off you can see this thing is just disgusting it's just stuck like the there's nothing working right on this controller at all so now what we're going to do uh I'm going to show you a couple things that I did pick up these are new d-pad skins basically if I want to change the d-pad uh skin layout for the d-pad this is what these are I bought quite a few of them I think I bought a pack of 10 off Al Express I can put links to the stuff if you want me to um and then I bought a kit if I have to completely refurbished a controller now why I say that is this idea that I'm about to show you guys on how to fix drift on your Xbox One or PS4 or even Nintendo switch this will work on everything um it may not be a cleaning it may be that the actual switches are garbage so this kit came with you know extra sticks screws uh it's got screwdriver and there's a prying tool if you bought this kit um and then I new switches as you can see they don't stick right and the ones on the Xbox controller do now I don't know if that is actually what those Xbox controllers are supposed to do if you're completely moving them all the way over maybe they do stick cuz I found it a bit odd that both of them stuck no matter what I did uh but we'll get to that later so these guys need to be cleaned in order for this to work now Behind the Green so oh and what I'm going to use here is an electronic contact cleaner now in Canada I just went to Canadian Tire and I went to pick up their motor Master it's about 8 bucks in the states there's all kinds I could leave an Amazon link if you guys are looking for something um I just found prices on Amazon were actually a little more maybe it's better quality stuff I don't know so once you spray it in there good just swing the stick around over and over just to get that liquid moving in and pushing out that dirt and don't be afraid to spray it more than once because because this stuff will not hurt your product as you can see here I'm spraying again lots of it and just move it around move it around and this is key because that's how you're going to get it to uh soak in and and get in everywhere now where you see the green Parts on the sticks those actually can be removed I don't recommend it but there are sensors in there so I'm just spraying a lot and moving it around to hopefully get the Liquid in to clean the sensors anyway so I'm hoping I don't have to take those off and if I go to have to take those off at that point I'm just going to desolder and put brand new joysticks in now if you guys want to see that maybe this fix doesn't work for you comment below and I'll make a new video desoldering and putting into new sticks and show you how and basically more of a tear down on this controller as you can see the tear down needed to do the cleaning isn't that hard so this is all you need to do to do the cleaning now this is one of the new ones if you want that video let me know and I will do a full tear down and replace sticks in one of these I'll buy another one that's broken or you guys can send me one whatever you wish and I will fix it with a full tear down now there is software called game controller tester you can download this for free in the Microsoft App Store so anybody who has Windows 10 or I believe Windows 8 whatever if there's a Windows App Store you can go and download this controller tested uh testing software sorry and what it does you'll see you have uh your y AIS your X AIS and everything and if they're zeros then your your sticks are centering and that was a key because they were not centering um so you'll see when I hit buttons to light up or if I move sticks around you'll see the uh movement on the stick and so on and and that is important because if you're not swinging back or centering than I know the the actual switches the actual uh sticks see I'm moving around here let go they centered let go they centered uh that tells me I've now fixed the drift issue because I'm at 0% on the XY AIS not 1% 2% whatever meaning there's drift so that part has been rectified now what isn't rectified is this d-pad um it looks like it's doing okay now but I'm having to press quite a bit as you can see there I was pressing and it didn't even show up so the d-pad just uncp the thing from the bottom I found the easiest way to take that ring off was this from the bottom with my fingernail nothing needed very simple now the d-pad itself will just lift off it's just a plastic you know plus sign and those are your little terminals that are your culprit so what I'm going to do here is I'm just going to soak them down and then I'm going to just give it a little wipe just to uh just in case there something on it because if there's any type of oil film or anything between the uh connector and any which way from the plastic it actually will affect the way this works because that technically is dirt and dirt is not a conduct activity product some cases it is dust can't kill your products don't get me wrong but dirt will cause issues so now I've soaked this down pretty good I'm going to spray down a couple buttons on the top just to get get stuff in there I found that button right there the right button was a little bit flaky so I'm just going to clean it up and I might as well it's all open don't be afraid to soak this product down don't be afraid now what I'm recommending cuz I did spray a lot there is I'm going to let this controller sit after I work it in a bit just for about 30 minutes just to make sure that I'm not sorry when I power it up and uh-oh I kill something so let it sit on a napkin like I'm doing and just let it go so now I'm starting to software up again testing out the sticks making sure they're still centering cuz now all that's dry it's been 30 minutes so there's no lubricant in there anymore and my d-pad is now being very I had a problem with the bottom and had a problem with the top and now it's all working see that lights are flickering I can even go fast back and forth back and forth back and forth and if it stayed sticking or yellowing while I Let Go it means I have dripped I do not so the problem B seems to be rectified on this without having to change any parts whatsoever so comment below let me know if this works for you and if it does hey saved you a ton of money and saved you on buying another controller if it doesn't comment below let me know and say hey man I want you to do the video till next time guys thank you Game Over