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.
 
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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I'd dump the dualsense in a heartbeat if a decent third party options had haptics and adaptive triggers.

I've so far had 2 drift on me, one at the 2 year mark another at the 1 year mark.

Just waiting for the third to start drifting.
 
At this point I think the lack of hall is a design feature to ensure we must keep paying $80 over and over.
It's the best selling gaming accessory everytime we see sales reports. Sony are no doubt in no rush to make the sticks any more reliable as the fuckers are selling a shit ton of them.
 
It's the best selling gaming accessory everytime we see sales reports. Sony are no doubt in no rush to make the sticks any more reliable as the fuckers are selling a shit ton of them.

I'm not a big fan of Xbox controller quality either even though I prefer the shape and layout. Which is why even though I have a few used Series controllers for mobile bluetooth convenience, at home I still use 360 pads with the ancient wireless adapter. To play Sony games on PC lol.

I just noped out of engaging with this controller scam. Not interested. Never bought any officially licensed Joycon either beyond the pack ins. They did replace one for free though, but I don't have a huge amount of goodwill over it because they had to get sued first. If they really cared they could have fixed it then/upgraded the Switch 2 with hall. They didn't, so I'm gonna use old stuff and third party instead of rewarding them with a bunch of accessory sales.
 
My European DualSense works perfectly since launch day. Maybe it's because I keep it clean.
Its lottery luck. I bought an extra Dualsense at launch, the controller that came with the console got stick drift in both sticks (I can still play with it as moving the sticks around in circular motions temporary fixes the drift for some days), then my other Dualsense havent got any drift since launch, i already had to replace the baterry though cuz from the heavy use the old battery was only lasting 3h, but the sticks are still going strong.

They really need to implement better sticks tech cuz the tech used by all this console controllers is the most unreliable.
 
Dreamcast solved this 2 decades ago, modern game controllers are designed to fail as a continuous revenue stream.

 
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