Clean, Repair, or Tune Your Game Controllers With a Little Disassembly
Nothing ruins a kill streak like spilling Diet Mountain Dew all over the controller, making it sticky. Or maybe you just used it too much and worn out the buttons and joysticks. However, many gamepads are easy to repair by the user. Here’s how to open your Xbox or PlayStation controller and fix its buttons.
Cleaning the outside of your controller is easy enough , but if your controller’s buttons seem a little dirty or sticky, you can hack it and use a little rubbing alcohol to clean them. Alternatively, if you want to completely replace buttons and knobs, you can order new parts and replace them in most controllers. If you need a little customization, you can even order buttons and skins in different colors from sites like GamerModz , Evil Controllers, or Amazon .
Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers
The Xbox 360 controller is very easy to repair or set up as most of the parts are easy to remove. If you want to replace buttons or joysticks, you can simply disassemble the case and pull them out. You can then clean them with rubbing alcohol or replace them entirely. Note, however, that you can only remove the joystick handle. If you want to replace the trigger buttons or the stick mechanism itself, you need to unsolder themas shown in this video . If you prefer step-by-step instructions with photos, this guide is pretty good (and was the inspiration for this post).
Unfortunately, the Xbox One controllers are not that easy to use. You can open it and clean it if necessary, as well as replace the front of the case. But if you want to replace sticks or buttons, you need some soldering. The video above shows what you need to do, but it’s definitely more difficult. However, the upcoming Xbox One Elite controller should be more moddable, and it will release in October.
PlayStation 3 and 4 controllers
The PlayStation3 controller is fairly easy to modify; you can replace the thumb pads, the D-pad and all buttons. You can also replace the skin if yours is damaged or if you need a new color (just make sure yours is compatible – there are several different options for the official PS3 controller). It’s pretty easy to disassemble it; as shown in the video above.
The PlayStation 4 controller is a little more complicated, but still quite doable. As with the PS3 controller, you can replace the buttons, triggers, thumb pads, the D-pad, and even the battery (if you want to extend battery life). Some people have even changed the positions of the spacers for the Xbox sticks. The video above shows how to replace most of the buttons, andthis video shows you how to replace triggers. Just be careful with ribbon cables when you open it.
We could list all the existing gamepads, but you get the idea – many of them are much easier to disassemble than you might think.