Opened up my Dualsense today to fix stick drift and...

...i messed up

My black DS from April 2023 started exhibiting some minor (at first) stick drift a couple of months ago something which some contact cleaner and compressed air would fix for a couple of weeks until...last night.
Performed the same fix again to no avail since the right stick would still drift to the left.

Having nothing to lose since i'm out of warranty, i thought of doing some potentiometer deep cleaning by following these 2 videos :





Everything went nice and (kind of) easy, didn't rip any ribbon cables, opened up the potentiometers, cleaned them well using contact cleaner, assembled the joypad back and now, BOTH my sticks keep spazzing out/spin continuously.
Needless to say, i'm pretty bummed since this seemed like an easy fix, not only because of that but because i actually managed to make things worse.
This is the 2nd controller that i have, i imagine that if it was the only one in use this thing would have lasted half the time of what it did now for fuck's sake.

I really hate to spend extra money on these shitty controllers man and i'd really like to try a last resort :
Would getting some new potentiometers fix the problem i'm having ? The way i see it, i must have done something wrong with the small rings inside the small housing (are those the actual potentiometers ?), They all fitted well inside the small housings (all 4 of them) but, it's no coincidence that both my sticks are now fooked, maybe i bent their metal parts ? Heck if i know, reopened the DS, placed them again inside the housings but still the same problem.

I can't solder nor do i have the time or the patience to be learning how to do so ATM - are the potentiometers i posted in that AliExpress link plug 'n' play or do they need soldering ?

Sorry for the rant boys and thanks for any help/insights

None of these are what I would categorize as a fix. It's more as postponing the inevitable.
The only fix is to replace the sticks with either new potentiometer ones, or even better, the hall effect type.
My tip is to have a hot air station to desolder those suckers, 'cause using only an iron is a much, much tedious job.
Hall effect replacements are easily available online. Just make sure you order the right kind for your brand/controller.
 
I have 4 dualsenses, and 3 with stick drift. Their quality build for the rubber is garbage at best.

I did clean then and got 2 fixed, but we all know it's just a temporary fix.
 
DualSense quality is the worst of any controllers I've owned.
None of my DualShock 1-4 controllers ever had any issues (my dualshock 3's batteries barely hold a charge now but that's just because they're old). I've had multiple issues with the DualSense controllers that I've owned over the years.
Plus they keep packing in new tech and features that make the controller heavier and more expensive, and that requires more battery drain as well.
I miss the simpler controllers tbh.
it's anecdotal.
The stick drift is affecting those controller the same as dualsense.
 
Cleaning original alps potentiometers is at best temporary solution, not a fix, cuz there's is layer of graphite that wears off and causes a change in resistance that results as drifting. (It's same issue for any oryginal controler on market like DS4/DS(5),Edge,XBox Controlers, Elites, JoyCOns, ProControlers, only DS3 controlers has magnetics potentiometers, or at lest some of it)
Only effective method is to replace the potentiometers with magnetic ones, called HALL EFFECT or newer called TMR (Tunnel Magneto Resistance), but imo HallEffect is good enough and cheaper.
Soldering required, it's not hard at all but do not recomend do it yourself if you have no experience.
After you should calibrate it from pc using this site: https://dualshock-tools.github.io/#
 
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