How Do You Deal With Thumb Stick Drift? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by Zahille7@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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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?

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[-] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 5 points 9 months ago

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.