How Do You Deal With Thumb Stick Drift?

So I like to use Xbox controllers (doesn’t matter if it’s first- or third-party) because I like the layout, it’s just comfortable to me. However I’ve noticed that on all my controllers in the past few years, the left thumb stick will start to “give out” over the course of a couple months. For instance I’ll be pushing it forward all the way, but it won’t register for some reason and my character will only move a little bit. Sometimes wiggling it a bit will fix it, sometimes it doesn’t. And it’s not like I’m squeezing the hell out of the controller or mashing the stick constantly; in fact it’s made me try to be more delicate with my controllers, even though I’m just playing the games normally.

Is it just how controllers are, or am I just getting the shit end of the stick?

nucleative,

I’m on my 3rd set of Xbox one controllers. The old Xbox 360 controllers would last for years before needing new electrical components. But these new ones are just junk. I tried to resolder one but the tolerance in there now so tight that I ended up frying it… So gave up on that idea.

Excrubulent,
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

A lot of people have mentioned cleaning it out. If you can open it up and clean the potentiometers that are underneath the joysticks, that works best. I use isopropyl alcohol for this, just spray some over the pots and wiggle the stick around for a little while to move the internal wipers and clear away any gunk.

After that I add dielectric grease - I use lithium grease but there are other types - to the potentiometers after the cleaner has dried. This protects against particles and corrosion and extends the lifetime of the potentiometers significantly, and reduces how often you need to do this. It has to be dielectric grease because it is non conductive. Conductive grease will short out the pots and stop them working correctly.

I find the joysticks will last quite a few years after doing this.

I don’t know what people are talking about with how others use the controllers; the speed or violence of movement of the sticks should make no difference to how fast the potentiometers degrade. It’s possible if their kids are using the controllers, they just have dirtier hands and that’s making the difference.

Eventually however the controllers will degrade no matter what. If manufacturers used hall effect sensors or just added grease to the pots to start with, the controllers would last so much longer, which is maybe why they don’t do it.

electric,

Yeah, joystick build quality has been going down for me since the second Xbox One controllers. Last one I had couldn’t get past 4 months without a smidge of drift already showing (just past the free 3 month warranty, fuck you MS). Got a Hall Effect one from Gamesir this time and I forget it’s not an official one until I have to use the D-pad (really hate non-mechanical D-pads) but otherwise worth the $40 so far.

Oh also Hall Effect joysticks are just so nice to use. They feel frictionless.

victorz,

Can’t wait until an Elite that comes with Hall Effect sticks. Surely that is the next step for the next gen controller. Certainly at that premium price point.

ky56,

I have the Valve Index and my game plan is that I have a soldering iron and the Aliexpress link ready to go. I have not owned it long enough to know how good or bad the life span is yet though. Just based off the rumors I looked into how to get the stick replacement before buying.

Twitchy,

I can attest to how mine lasted which might help. I used it semi regularly maybe once or twice a week for the first 2 months. After on and off use it lasted for 7-8 months before the right joystick started to drift but I do know I could be a little rough with it while playing Boneworks so I’m sure that didn’t help.

I did the repair on the right controller with the cheap Ali express joystick and found it to be a massive improvement in quality and actually clicks in propperly now.

It’s not an amazingly easily repair and I’ll admit to damaging the capacitive touch on my joystick due to being a bit rough on the dissasembly. But if your half competent with soldering and got a decent toolkit then go for it.

Alpha71,

get something with hall effect sensors.

mnemonicmonkeys,

I like my Gulikit Kong Pro controller. It has an xbox-style layout when you swap around the face buttons and has hall effect sensors

Fubarberry,
@Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz avatar

I can usually fix most cases of joystick drift by taking plastic safe electrical cleaner, and spraying it in around the joystick. Works for sticking buttons too.

I usually use CRC QD cleaner, it’s usually $5-10 and is available at Walmart, Amazon, and a bunch of other places. If you use something else make sure it says plastic safe on the can.

Dariusmiles2123,

Do you do this without even opening the controller?

I might try this before opening my Ps5 controller if it doesn’t work.

Fubarberry,
@Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz avatar

Yes, with the controller off, I spray down around the stick. Wait awhile before turning the controller back on so that the spray has time to evaporate.

Someone told me it fixed Joycon drift (which it does), but since then it’s fixed a lot of non-joycon controllers as well despite the different thumbstick designs.

Dariusmiles2123,

Okay well thanks for the answer.

I’m gonna try to find an equivalent product then.

Rhynoplaz,

I used to think that Xbox controllers ALWAYS drift within a year.

Then I started keeping a secret controller away from the kids. It lasted years with no drift. I got a new one and let the kids use my old one… Drift in a month.

It’s not the controllers. You just drop it too much.

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble,

I’ve never had a controller with drift problems, and I know how I treat my controllers. I’ve seen people with controllers that drift all the time, and I’ve seen how they treat their controllers. There’s definitely a link.

That said high quality controllers (like first party ones) generally drift less, but not always (see switch joycons). If OP is killing his controller in months then something is going on.

GoodEye8,

but not always (see switch joycons).

And PS5 one. I’ve had a lot of controllers over the years and I’ve never had stick drift, except with joycons and the PS5 controller.

The switch pro controller is probably my most used controller, because it’s so ergonomic. I put the switch pro controller through a few thousand hours of smash bros. The stick is visibly deformed from mashing certain inputs over and over. And then a few thousand hours more playing Zelda and monster hunter (and souls games on PC). I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s had over 10 thousand hours of use. No stick drift on the controller.

I was gifted a PS5 controller because I was planning on getting the PS5. I never got a PS5, but that’s a different story. Anyway I decided to break it in to get comfortable with the layout and feel of the controller. Maybe max thousand hours of playtime which I’d consider it very light usage. And the left stick started to drift left. I’ve looked into it. It might just be an unfortunate speck of dust interfering with the sensor, but cleaning it requires almost complete disassembly and quite frankly it wasn’t that good of a controller anyway so it’s just collecting dust.

YuzuDrink,

I’ve been suspicious that newer production lines for joysticks have been cutting costs in cheaper materials for a while now. I usually replace the joysticks when they drift, but I’m also quite comfortable to taking things apart and fixing them.

I remember my old PS2 controllers never drifted and that was back when I played hard on them every day after school. These days I hardly have time to play during the week, and they regularly go bad within a year or two.

bob_omb_battlefield,

I’ve had drift issues with my pro controller several times and I think I have less play time than you. Many of these controllers use the same stick component inside.

stardust,

I got a 360 controller that is going strong but my Playstation and Nintendo controllers ended up drifting. I think they just don’t make them like they used to. My 360 controller is still one of my daily drivers.

altima_neo,
@altima_neo@lemmy.zip avatar

I dunno, my old 360 controller is so loose. I wound up getting an xbone controller a couple of years back to replace it.

slaacaa,

For me it’s the other way around, old X360/PS4 controller had some minor stick drift, but no problem with newet gens

slaacaa,

Same conclusion for me.

The way some of my friends use controllers wants me to not have them around my house. Loudly banging sticks against the outer extremities, while for me it never even makes a sound.

I take care of my controllers, and only had very minot stick drift on 5-7 years old X/PS controller.

electric,

It’s not physical damage, they really are just crap now. Used controllers for a decade and a half. Early Xbox One controllers lasted for years until the face buttons would become sticky. 360 controller was a tank, only had a loose trigger. All the ones I’ve had recently just keep getting drift.

seathru,

That is kind of just how non hall effect thumb sticks are. But I’ve had great luck with Deoxit D5. You have to take apart the controller so you can squirt it directly into the switch itself but as long as it’s not a mechanical problem like a weak spring, the Deoxit usually gets it working like new.

stealth_cookies,

Even some isopropyl alcohol works. My controller was drifting and I took it apart to blow it out and give it a good cleaning with alcohol. Works flawlessly now.

seathru,

Yeah alcohol works well. WD-40. too.

brisk,

WD-40 leaves residue, it is not suitable for cleaning

seathru,

It’s one of the messier options but it still works well. The switches in my logitech g604 have been bounce free for over a year now after hosing then down with WD-40. That’s longer than any of the warranty replacement mice lasted.

Deoxit leaves a residue, too, that will stain clothes. That residue is what helps the contacts from oxidizing again in the future.

Dariusmiles2123,

Was it an Xbox controller or a ps5 controller?

stealth_cookies,

Xbox. I can’t stand the controller stick layout of PS controllers.

dragontamer,

Controllers wear out with every click. Buttons and sticks, they all have a limited number of cycles. Like 100,000 cycles, but if you play a lot of video games, that adds up over the years.

Super Smash Bro Melee players regularly replace Gamecube controllers for this reason.

Maven,
@Maven@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

The solution to stick drift is buying controllers with Hall Effect joysticks; drift is caused by plastic parts literally grinding down and potentiometers wearing out. Hall Effect sticks don’t make contact, so they don’t have this issue. Since you like the Xbox layout, 8BitDo’s Ultimate controller could be a good third-party option for you.

morphballganon, (edited )

I replaced my Joycon stick with a hall effect stick. Now it just drifts in a different direction, and I can’t run full speed to the left anymore.

CORRECTION: I had to calibrate it. Now it works great!

Maven,
@Maven@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

DId you recalibrate it after the swap? That definitely shouldn’t happen.

morphballganon,

What do you mean by recalibrate?

Maven,
@Maven@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I mean going to the Switch system settings > Controllers and Sensors > Calibrate Control Sticks

The controller was previously calibrated to its old stick. If you change the stick, you have to recalibrate it.

morphballganon,

I had no idea this was a thing, so thank you!

Norodix,

As far as I know its the graphite parts inside the potmeter that wears down.

Maven,
@Maven@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

That’s probably true, but I’m not an expert, which is why I just vaguely described it as them wearing out.

Plastic parts grinding down was a separate clause, and is mostly a problem for optical disk sticks; the N64, most notably.

nix,
@nix@merv.news avatar

Do you know what port it uses to charge? It has a charging dock but i can’t find it it charges through USB C or what in the dock. I dont want to have to use the dock to charge it

Maven,
@Maven@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

It’s USB-C. You can see it in the photos. It can also use the cord to act as a wired controller.

Kanzar,

Dock charging is magnetic pins, but there’s a USB C port on the top too.

Gordon,

Do you know if the L2 and R2 use hall effect as well?

I play a lot of racing games, and I find that that L2 especially wears out prematurely on Xbox controllers.

Oddly I don’t have any problems with stick drift, just the L2 and R2 buttons become erratic.

Maven,
@Maven@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I don’t know, but I suspect they’d’ve advertised it if that’s the case.

For what it’s worth though, I’ve been using an 8bitdo Pro (the predecessor to the Ultimate) daily since early 2020, including a lot of Splatoon (a game with a lot of holding and mashing of both triggers), and the triggers haven’t gotten the least bit soft or drifty, and (according to the Windows controller config screen, at least) still smoothly pull through the full analogue range. So they’re doing something good, anyway.

willya,
@willya@lemmyf.uk avatar

Buy the part and replace it.

UndulyUnruly,
@UndulyUnruly@lemmy.world avatar

What part would you have to replace on an Xbox One Elite controller, and where can you source such part(s). I googled before with no luck. Would appreciate any help. Thank you!!

willya,
@willya@lemmyf.uk avatar

a.co/d/0afS9ti Looks like the regular, s, and elite 1 all use the same module.

UndulyUnruly,
@UndulyUnruly@lemmy.world avatar

Thank you!!

Norodix,

It happens because from normal use the potentiometer inside the joystick wears out. Usually you can buy joystick assemblies for a 1/10 of the price of a controller, so if you can solder its very affordable to repair them.

If you dont want to solder, you can extend their life by applying a bit of contact spray to the potmeters inside after disassembling the controller. But that can corrode other components, so be careful with it. Still beats just throwing them out.

pearsaltchocolatebar,

Many don’t require any soldering since they use ribbon cables.

Norodix,

I’ve seen those in disassembly videos of the steam deck and the switch maybe. But all the standalone controllers I personally have taken apart were soldered in place. eg. xbox360, dualshock4, some generic third-party ones.

brsrklf,

I can confirm in the case of switch joy-cons, sticks (and also rails, another weak part of those) can be replaced without any kind of soldering. It’s all ribbon cables.

ShadowRam,

Hall-Effect is supreme,

But we've been using potentiometers for controller joysticks for 25 years now... and yet it's only been a huge issue lately.

redcalcium,

How come nintendo switch (with replaceable controllers), has major stick drift issues, causing owners to buy several controllers over the life of the console, while nintendo switch lite (without replaceable controllers) seems to have more reliable sticks? Does nintendo manufactures the replaceable sticks with just enough tolerance to last barely outside the warranty period so their customers would buy more?

givesomefucks,

Why does the Geo Metro exist when everyone could just drive Ferraris?

If controllers arent replaceable, you’re going to make them more durable, which raises price.

It’s a trade off

redcalcium,

But Nintendo switch lite is the cheaper device here?

givesomefucks,

With non replaceable controller…

Like, there’s lots of different components. The cheaper overall may have better parts in a few specific areas, because if it breaks, the whole thing is broken.

Norodix,

What do you mean lately? I personally repaired a drifting xbox360 controller, and that console was released almost 20 years ago. I assume the controller was just a few years younger than that. I think eventually all potentiometers develop this issue.

astanix,

I deal with it by warranty replacement if the controller is still within warranty or buying a new one. I just have accepted the fact that controllers are replaceable items in my life.

dumpsterlid,

It’s pretty common for Xbox controllers to get stick drift especially if they are older. Controllers that use “Hall effect” sensors for the joysticks apparently don’t have this issue but I am not sure there are any affordable ones I can recommend. I am not sure how common it is for Xbox controllers to just have a stick straight up die, that sounds much more unusual and maybe like something that is more prone to happen with a third party controller?

I have never done it but you can replace just the joystick part on the controller and that may be a cheaper route.

Also, if you are playing on a computer, software such as steam will let you define custom dead zones to be just big enough to eliminate stick drift and no bigger which helps a ton.

I have bought multiple Xbox x/s (wtf is wrong with your naming scheme Microsoft seriously) controllers over the years used on eBay at the lower end of the price range ($25ish). I try to find listings that state the controllers have no stick drift. I guess one of the controllers I bought had a bit more stick drift than I wanted but I fiddled with the dead zone (in my case through steam settings) and the problem went away. For precision stuff I use an armor-x pro to give my Xbox controller gyroscope aiming anyways :P

This youtube channel is a great resource on all things controllers, the guy might come off as annoying at first but the info is extremely good. m.youtube.com/

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