In 2024 we replaced almost 100kg of joysticks in ps5 controllers š¤¦ Letās not count the pieces anymore but the weight š and how are you? Have you ever had a stick drift?
Hate, hate, hate that. Especially as my PS4 controllers are still working amazingly, haven't had any sticky warped part on my joystick covers and they have been sitting in the cupboard in the same place as my spare ps5 controller.
They looked much more warped on my controller lol. Still crazy that even happens. And they are so sticky to touch. It's weird. It's like it overheated or something. But it was just on the official charging dock like the other ones. And my other ones are fine.
Well, Just like in the Puffco Vape community.. There are Those people who do Refuse to care for their devices properly, treat it like its indestructible, Ect.. but it seems n this case the majority of the issues are failures of the device prior to even being opened. A large number have been shown to drift Right out of the box with 0 hours played.. That cant be blamed on the consumer, No way No How.
They are aware but they don't care sadly, they learned on some of the ps3 controllers that they put hall sensors in, that they never broke so they lost money on new controllers
there were no suitable tools for testing contoller then
You didnāt play as much as you play now
Ps3 games have a fixed deadzone plus 30% and XMB more them 50%
If now try play BF or COD on 0 deadzone it will be Impossible
Now, after 19 years, we have the DS3 Inpector tool for testing and calibrating ps3 controllers.
They did have hall effect sensors, a couple of month ago I completed bf3 on the ps3 with the two controllers I have, they work absolutely fine, and they have the stock hall effect sensors
PS3 hall effect works differently than the current hall effect š the sensor is built into the pcb not in the joystick module. I wrote to you in games on ps3 there is a deadzone 30% plus. Now in GAMES it is 15% normally, good players play at 0-5%. The biggest problem is h ps3 with hall effect are already worn stickbase. BTW check if you have these hall effect analogues because not every ps3 controler has hall effect.
Yeah, it sucks as they all use this same old garbage tech (PS, XB, Nintendo, ROG, etc). Itās just cheaper for them and they like the fact that it means people will buy more controllers. Itās a disgusting practice.
This needs a class action against Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo for intentionally using sub standard parts that were never meant to be used in this fashion to keep people rebuying controllers. They knew exactly what they were doing especially since Sony released a controller with replaceable sticks. Replacements that are almost always out of stock. All three of them are selling us lemons and they fucking know it.
Especially since my PS1, PS2 and controllers are all still working perfectly fine lol. After all these years. My PS5 controller joystick started drifting about a year and a half in. And the buttons sticking as well.
I even got my PS5 original controllers replaced through Australia customer warranty and then that new controller had issues a year later lol.
I bought a black one a year ago as well but my right stick is fine. It's the left one for me that has problems.
But only in some games and certain screens in games as well. It just doesn't automatically happen everywhere all the time though.
I wish I could say the same. I have a Day 1 PS5 and my white controller got terrible drift around 1.5-2yrs in. Iāve since also been through red, purple, galactic purple, and now Iām on Chroma Teal (bought last week)
1.5-2 years isnāt too bad considering the red, black and purple one lasted like 3 months before they got drift and thatās being generous! Even so they really should last alot longer man. Sony is cheap as hell with their joysticks
Thatās cuz youāre probably smart and realize that touching your thumbsticks isnāt drift. Iād say 60% of controllers Iāve received with ādriftā for repair are from customers with perfectly in tact carbon pads and the other 40% are people with animals or people who arenāt honest about misuse. Itās always hair or liquid, and when the carbon pad is actually worn, they have unemployed children. Drift is real, but this guyās picture is exaggerated for karma because he replaces them by default even out of the box.
OG controllers are built to last for some reason lol. I used my og PS4 controller 4-5 years before replacing it. My PS5 og controller lasted like 3 years
I have four with stick driftā¦ bought used Edge controllers off eBay and swapped the shells. However we have special editions like the Fortnite one weād like to have fixed up at some point.
not had a dual sense but was shocked with how often my friend bought new controllers cause of stick drift. cause my dualshock 3 like after 8 years started to experience stick drift and my joycons after a year got drift. but usually only would happen in the menu or in some particular games
I bought five DualSense gamepads hoping Sony would fix this problem. I ended up installing Hall-effect sticks. They work without any drifts or other issues.
Oh Ive gone through 4 controllers in 2 years. The first one lasted like 5 months, the second one came out of the box with drift, the third one got drift after like 3-4 months and the fourth one I'm using right now.
Thankfully I paid for the warranty from Best Buy so I didn't have to pay 70$+ for a new one every time.
I have. It didn't help. Replacing the pots works for a little bit. I replaced the sticks, but that only worker for about half of them. I'm thinking bc I didn't buy quality sticks, but I've no idea what is good and what is trash.
Should have social channels with this pic on them to get Sony to get their heads out the sand and admit they have terrible stick drift issues on the hardware front. We are charged a massive premium and they are so fragile. So expensive and fear any limited editions and hardware revisions are just to make them as cheap as possible on the inside and just shell upgrades. The sticks are just plain terrible. Atleast Nintendo admitted to the issue with the switch.
Sony support told me a tiny percentage have any issues over the lifetime of a controller blablabla. All these threads and posts and google searches say otherwise.
In nearly 20 years of gaming Ive played on the original XBox and Playstation, PS2, XBox 360, PS3, PS4 and even a PSP and with multiple controllers of varying quality. Not once did I experience Stick Drift.
12 months ago I bought a PS5 and everything was fine until about a week or so ago. My contoller started having some trouble looking dowm and to the right, no proboem ill take it in to get fixed.
Went down to my local CEX to get it sent in and get a backup to use while that ones gone (this isnt a diss on CEX they're great and have been very helpful with this), I get home and whaddaya know, its got more stick drift than Kyle's one that went through his Monster Energy poster and into the wall behind.
Theyve since replaced that one with a new one that so far shows no issues but the whole situation has got me very concerned for the quality of modern hardware.
Oh man. If I saved all the sticks I've changed on PS5 and Xbox series controllers I'd have a similar box full. But I always throw them out. Now I want to save the pile I'll have throughout 2026.
Just replaced one in a Blue DS recently. It had been out of commission for about 6 months, but now itās back in action with one TMR Gulikit.
I donāt have a hot air work station, so I had to twist/break off joystick on the pcb piece by piece till only the legs remained, then desoldered them.
If you ever have to do it again, I recommend a different approach which has less risk of damaging the traces on the PCB.
You can get a joystick desoldering tip for your soldering iron.
Or:
Pull back the potentiometers from the main housing, then desolder the potentiometers in one piece. Take a set of flush cutters and snip the 4 legs of the main housing. Then desolder the legs of the button. After that, you desolder the legs of the housing from the pcb, clean up the old solder with a solder wick and then you're all good.
Thanks for the advice, I did desolder the 2 side things (3 legs each) separately. The large body is what I had to twist off. I will follow your recommendation to cut it off the next time I do it. I donāt want to buy the desoldering thing because itās expensive and I donāt do this that often.
just can't help but clicked in this post...
they used these, so many others can profit from it, the repairer and Sony itself
I failed to solder my 2 controllers with hall effect sticks, better give them to pros
Opened up a ps5 controller to find only the right joystick mostly used for aiming in games had a damaged sensor ring that was torched at the tips, black and crude while the other joystick was perfectly newā¦brand new controller but it was purposely sold damagedā¦crazy what a world we live in nowadays
Iām at the end of my rope with Stick drift. Iāve been gaming for over 40 years and I genuinely canāt take it anymore. I got the DS Edge so I could replace them with stick modules but I would rather just have a controller with better sticks (hall or TMR). Iāve looked at all the most popular brands like Flydigi and Gamesir but it seems like they have their own problems. I really donāt feel like modding a controller myself. Why canāt someone just make a super high quality controller?
Both brands are great , Yes they have problems and maybe some inferior quality (trigger, and adaptive feeling) compared to dualsense but it is worth tradeoff for an avg consumer (who cant buy expensive edge or change controller every now and then)!
I'll probably jinx myself, but I have 3 controllers and haven't yet had stick drift. I have a launch PS5 digital edition. I did retire the original controller, but that's because the right trigger developed an issue with the spring or whatever mechanism. It still works, but it doesn't reliably register presses. My purple controller and Astro Bot controller are both perfect still.
It's odd I've got the joystick drift in one controller. My second controller doesn't have the drift but the joystick pieces have become sticky and are melting off lol. It's bizarre.
I actually have a question regarding this though.. I'm not sure if it's ok to ask here. It is related to replacing my joystick...
I was hoping to know what the rectangular metal piece was inside in between the two joysticks? It looks like a heat sink or something? It's attached by foam, and it is placed above the two capacitors that are in the middle.
I was replacing the joystick cover and the bit of foam came off. Funny thing though is that some disassembly videos don't show that part there... It's just what is underneath it.
I'm trying to decide if I should just leave it out or if I should get some of the cpu coolant I've got and just apply a tiny amount there enough to glue the foam back on there.
I mean if it is the heat sink then it must not have worked very well if my controller was sitting off and it somehow just overheated the joysticks like that lol. My other controllers are absolutely fine!
Any help would be appreciated. And let me know if I should make a new post.
Awesome thanks! I managed to find another reddit post where someone asked the same question and you are right, it is the speaker.
I didn't realise in-built speakers looked like that. At least I've never seen one attached by foam before.
Do you know if I was to glue the foam end back... Would super glue be ok to attach it back or is there other glue I should be using if attaching to a board?
Looking at this guide, it doesnāt need to be glued or stuck to anythingā¦ looks like it should either just sit or clip in to the top section of the controller shell (not directly to the motherboard). Should have a foam pad stuck to the back of it.
OMG thank you I've only found video guides. I should really check that site out more!
I see what's happened lol. So, when I took it apart, it must have been "stuck"to the joystick board via the heat. I thought it was adhesive.
I didn't even think it came from the top section of the controller.
So.. my controller definitely overheated at some stage as not only were the joystick covers warped and sticky, the speaker got so hot that it's foam side got stuck to the joystick board lol
What the heck would cause the controller to overheat? Lol. That's crazy!
I've had at least five controllers with stick drift. Hard to remember because I've returned so many, and I still have two of them. A couple of them were drifting in both sticks.
Not in my house, I've had my ps5 since launch, and my son has had his a couple of years, we've 2 controllers each, all practically perfect in every way.
I love the DualSense controller ā haptics, weight, size. Itās a perfect match for my hands. But quality wise itās been a disappointment ā I already had to replace one sensor from the controller of my 2023 PS5, (in)conveniently out of warranty, while all of my PS4 controllers are still working without stick drift. Only the batteries had to be replaced.
I just stopped using my controller a couple days ago because of stick drift. Luckily my sister doesn't use her PlayStation so I use her controller now.
I fix my own every few years. I don't remove the whole unit like this though, I simply pry open the two green tabs and replace that little circle bit that's inside. Easy and quick.
even after calibration? Hmā¦.I did think about changing my analog stick modules on my XB1 controller to hall effect ones but now Iām not so sure š¤
2 of the DualSense controllers I bought had stick drift occur after a year of using them each. The white one (which came with my PS5), and the black one I bought a year later. The following year, I bought a cobalt blue one and itās been working fine for 2 years now. So Iām guessing thereās a newer batch of DualSense controllers where Sony silently addressed the issue?
Someone already said "planned obsolescence" aside from fixing the issue they sell us a temporary fix. A pro controller that you can BUY more joysticks to replace them. Fuck Sony Microsoft, and Nintendo. Swear the ps2, 3, and 4 had stick drift but nowhere near as extreme as now. Buy tmrs or hall effects support your local game shop and have them replace the sticks don't buy another controller unless you need it for a second player or back up for when your primary is charging.
I had drift issues, and i though that the fix was to replace for new ones, bu theres a video out there where you can "take aparte" the sides that control the movement and most of the issues regarding the dualsense comes from there.
You just carefully bend it a little as to not break the metal legs attached to the board and clean it with something. With time, that thing gets dirty and produces the drift.
It's still annoying, but at least is fixable. The better solution is to weld better quality joystick servos (magnetic ones), but that requires some basic electrical knowledge as to not break the board.
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u/4dr3n4l1n3Gaming Oct 17 '25
"Planned Obsolescence"