5replies
Is It Worth Repairing My Controller Or Should I Just Buy A New One?
Repair it. All three of your faults are replaceable parts, together they come to a fraction of a new controller, and none of them need soldering…
Thiago AlvesVerified Gamepad Tester team member
Hardware Repair Educator at Gamepad Tester
Shows players how to use a test result to find and fix a fault themselves.
Thiago teaches controller repair. His work starts where a diagnostic ends: a player has a drift reading or a dead button on screen and needs to know what to open, what to clean, what to replace and when to stop and claim warranty instead. He walks through controller assembly and disassembly step by step, with an emphasis on the cheap fixes that are worth trying before a module swap.
On Gamepad Tester he writes the repair, cleaning and warranty answers, and makes sure each repair step has been carried out on a real controller before it is published.
- Experience
- 11+ years
- Hands-On
- Carries out the repair steps published here on real controllers before the answer goes live.
- Answers On Gamepad Tester
- 5
What Thiago Works On
Controller teardownsstick module replacementcontact cleaningwarranty decisionssoldering
Tests Thiago Looks After
Button TestCheck each button for response, double presses and dead inputsFree · Open tool Stick Drift TestDetect unwanted stick movement while you keep your hands offFree · Open tool Joystick Deadzone TestMeasure and calibrate the deadzone on both analog sticksFree · Open tool
Questions Answered By Thiago
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My Controller Creaks And Feels Loose After I Replaced The Stick Module
You have almost certainly left a screw under-tightened or a clip unseated, and possibly cross-threaded one. Nothing is damaged. Reopen it, seat the…
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The Create Button On My DualSense Does Nothing At All Any More
Repairable, and it is a cheap part. The Create and Options buttons sit on a small flex membrane that is easy to reach once the shell is open, and at…
5replies
One Rumble Motor Is Much Weaker Than The Other After My Repair
Almost certainly the motor is no longer seated properly in its pocket. An actuator held loosely, or with its wire routed under it, transmits far…
5replies
My Controller Only Charges If I Hold The Cable At A Certain Angle
The port's solder joints have cracked from cable flexing, which is the classic micro USB failure. It is not dangerous but it will get worse, and a…
The Team Behind These Answers
Calder WrightFront-End Web Architect And Gamepad API Lead
Elena RostovaHardware Diagnostics Engineer
Garrett LindsayHardware Reviewer And Input Performance Specialist
Venom’s Tech (Abhishek)Peripheral Reviewer And Tech Journalist
Chloe HendersonHall Effect And Thumbstick Analyst
Devon MillerLow Latency And Input Timing Engineer
Liam DaviesBluetooth And Wireless Test Engineer
Nadia BrooksEsports Performance ConsultantEach answer is written by the specialist who owns that part of the hardware, tested on a real controller, and checked by a second team member. How we verify answers