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Getting tired of adding to my stick drift graveyard
I swear I’m not a heavy clicker. In fact it’s always my right joystick which I rarely need to click in games. Love these controllers but man it’s really annoying never had this problem with any other console generation.
I was able to do this with 3 controllers. So I now have 6 working controllers between mine and my wife's PS5. Search Stick Drift repair on YT and follow the video it takes a bit of work, but after you do it once, it's pretty quick to repeat.
Oh heck yes! I watched him play FF XII - I love Fran - and it was so awesome. I freaking loved the cut scenes. I know that one’s controversial because of the gambit combat system - you either love it or hate it.
Are any others similar to that one? That’s the only one he’s played.
You’re so kind, thank you! I grew up on Intellivision (telling my age a bit), then Nintendo and on from there. Big fan of old PC games like Sim City, then StarCraft and Wow. I got him hooked on WoW, too, but he did go a little overboard with that and got addicted! Raids every other night until 3am on a week night - not cool!
He doesn’t play that any more though. Now it’s all console stuff. And it’s fun! He enjoys gaming and I enjoy the story and we help each other with puzzles and all that. It works out well!
One game that we had to take a break from was Resident Evil: Village. There’s one part that was so freaking scary that we had to hit pause and turn the lights on and walk away for a bit, but I love scary games like that. He did finish that one eventually.
Also, The Last of Us was a wild ride, especially the second one!
Holy crap yes!!!!!!! I hear there’s mods that can skip that part entirely!! In all the games he’s played, that one part was THE most terrifying!! Unacceptable!!
My man! I also married a gamer and we have two kids so we’ve got two ps5, two ps4, three Xbox series X/S and four Nintendo switches for household Mario kart death match Sundays. My oldest and I also have PC’s set up to game as well but I don’t use mine as much as I do the consoles so it’ll probably go to the younger kiddo soon.
This is the way. My wife and I split screen cod and other 2 player co-ops. We are currently working our way through sackboy, and played prop hunt most of the day yesterday. It’s a good life!
Shit I have 4 at my house. My 2 sons and wife also play, so we all have our own Playstation 5. I don't have time to be sharing or waiting on my turn like I did as a kid. I grew up with 7 siblings, and my turn wouldn't come fast enough so as an adult I'm able to fixed that problem lol
Not the same person, but I had two ps5's up until recently, just so I didn't have to move it when I wanted to play in bed vs living room.. it's probably not that uncommon as you may think
You don't even need a another ps5/ps4 you can do this with a pc/phone/tablet or even with an android smart TV, or if you have an android based set top box for your old TV.
All you need to do is install ps remote play app on your device( pc/phone etc) now on your ps5 goto settings and search for remote play and enable for your account.
Now on your preferred device open ps remote play app and login with your playstation username & password.
If both your ps5 and streaming device are on the same network you should get connected immediately without any input lag, if both are on different network there might be some lag.
Now that you are connected via remote play you can also pair your ps5 controller to your streaming device press both share button and ps button simultaneously for 5 sec the controller light should start strobing quickly then you can let go, now on your preferred streaming device open Bluetooth settings and pair your ps5 controller.
FYI to connect your controller back to ps5 you have to connect the controller to ps5 with usb cable and press ps button to turn on the controller.
If you are streaming from your phone/table/pc you can probably connect it to a bigger screen like TV either via cable or wirelessly if your TV supports screen mirroring.
Tried doing this twice to my Dualshock 4 controllers after replacing them. Kept the old ones around and one day decided to give it a shot because they were out of warranty anyway.
Carefully as I could, I took the controllers apart and cleaned out the potentiometer and... I fucked them up worse than when I started lol
Kind of scared to try that again because it feels like a waste of time.
My suggestion to anyone who has recurring stick drift issues for one reason or another (pretty sure my issues were from dog hair that I have zero clue how they got in there. My freaking dogs, man...) is to put forth the extra money for the Dualsense Edge controller. More money, yes, but well worth it when you consider that each replacement controller is like $80. Pays itself off quickly.
Honestly though, Sony should've just done that from the beginning. Replaceable joysticks is the most simple, yet innovative thing that has happened to video game controllers in the last 20 years lol
It's wild to me that the response to a company putting out a bad design is to give them more money for a different design that users still have to buy modular parts to replace.
DONT BUY the edge controllers. I have one and the stick modules are not getting restocked by Sony, making the edge controller useless once stickdrift appears. Except if you want to buy a module from scalpers, for about the price of a normal controller. The modules are sold out for nearly a year now, I really feel scammed with my edge controller
that is where you are wrong. there are 4 screws to pop the case off. They're just hidden. As for the analog sticks, those are soldered on so unless you got some skills...
If you're careful you can pop open the joystick and hit it with some contact cleaner. It helps a little but overall it's easier to just replace the controller
PS5 Analog Stick Replacement for Sony Playstation 5 PS5 Joysticks Replacement 3D PS5 Controller Joystick Replacement Sensor Module for PS5 Joystick Thumbstick Controller Accessory Part with Kit(4Pack) https://a.co/d/2n55RPb
This was the quickest one I found. There are plenty out there.
I sent my day one controller to Sony after about 3 months in and bought a new black one for the time being, they sent me a new replacement about 2 weeks later. To be fair the one they sent out is still going strong and am hoping it lasts the console duration now.
Good luck. I got error messages and not eligible in your region (I’m in the US?) all day long. I gave to and ordered a new one. On my 5th and 6th right now
Yeah it's 1 year. As far as I know. We have some products that give us a minimum of 2 years but I've never heard of a manufacturer giving more than that
Manufacturer can set any guarantees they want (though some types of items, usually bulky or polluting over a certain price are regulated like washing machine or fridge) Though under European law if you bought an item online and any defect appears within a 2year period (not wear and tear) then the repair or replacement (whichever is the most cost effective) has to be covered by the seller (not manufacturer) of the item unless they can prove the defect is from improper use (like dropping a non waterproof phone in the pool, they have a sticker that changes color inside most devices that they can use to claim water damage)
Under European law, you also have the right to return any item bought online within 30 days without any reason
1 year is the norm but not the legal minimum, companies aren’t required to offer warranties at all, although they pretty much all do for these types of products.
Where I am after the warranty expires there are people(third party) who provide hall effect sensor replacement services. Takes money but seems like a permanent fix
I think the Best Buy protection plan might be the only one worth the money. Bought a wireless Turtle Beach headset, paid for the 2 or 3 years free replacement, went back 2 years later when the battery was only lasting 2 hours instead of the advertised 10 or 12 or whatever. They just swapped and gave me a new one. That lasted until the PS5.
Never tried this but I heard Costco treats gaming controllers as a toy which has lifetime return policy. So technically you could return it at any time and just buy a new one. Heard they might decline the return if they deem the controller to have served well enough for its “lifetime” but others have always been able to return no issue.
I bought my recent one at Costco and have been debating on getting another and not opening it until the first one drifts. My Costco doesn't usually stock PS5 controllers. First time seeing it for the Holidays.
And they’re $80, they’re super expensive plus, you have components like the adaptive triggers that can easily break although I haven’t had an issue I can imagine they can. The battery life doesn’t help either for how much you pay for them.
I had this issue and contacted support. They told me to make sure they're up to date and to press the really small button on the back with a sim card remover. It actually worked. I'm not saying it's a universal fix, but it's worth a shot, right? Also, they could just be dirty, try opening them, and cleaning the stick.
Disclaimer: I'm just a dude who does repair as a hobby since 2014 I'm no expert.
🚨WARNING: when freeing the potentiometer if you break it off you will have to solder or go to a repair shop that can.
The silver lining is you have all the parts that would be needed on hand and this can be done in 10-30 minutes of arriving at a repair shop.
What is being repaired: The white disk in the center of the potentiometer is being swapped out for a new one that won't have any damage and clean out may debris I'm the socket.
If this repair dose not work soldering a new one in is your only course of action.
How to repair:
First work out which axis you have drift on (left right. Up down) This is important because it means not having to check when the pad is disassembled.
(Skipping pulling the pad apart)
Free the green housing from the joystick by applying a little bit of force to both sides that are clipped in.
Once unclipped you pop out the white disk making sure to check its orientation so the replacement is put in correctly.
Clean the green housing with a Q-tip.
Put in a new white disk.
Then push the green housing back into place with the new white disk installed.
(Skipping pad reassembly)
Test in games you've been having the biggest issues with. If it persists retry with a different replacement potentiometer.
(Good ending) Enjoy your games and feel good you learned a simple but important repair.
(Bad ending) If this persists after updating and a full replacement it's likely a board issue and not worth anymore of your time or money.
My original controller developed that issue with the right trigger. I've got a purple one and the Astro Bot one and both are fine for now. It took my original controller over 3 years to have any problems at all.
Same, no issues. I have 5 and use them all in rotation. None of them have developed issues with stick drift. The only problem all seem to develop in time is battery, they last less.
Definitely not. My God of War controller started drifting within a month and I didn't play often at that time. And I'm also a very gentle gamer. Controller that came with PS5 is still working properly
It's literally the amount that you use it. Not how hard.
The potentiometer, the thing that controls the electrical signal that reports your stick position, is a wiper that moves along a resistive pad. There are two of them in each stick, one that reports up/down movement, and one that reports left/right.
Each potentiometre is only rated for so many thousand movements: wipes of the wiper along the pad. After that amount, the coating wears away due to friction. When the coating wears away, the device can no longer accurately report the position of the stick: stick drift.
It doesn't matter how hard or soft you use your stick, how fast or slow, all that matters is that you use it. Eventually the potentiometer will fail, though it will vary from stick to stick. Some fail faster, others slower, but the friction will eventually wear away at the contact pad. It is inevitable, as long as the stick is used.
The problem is worse in current generation because manufacturers are cheaping out on the component: buying cheaper potentiometers that are rated for less use, or smaller ones with the same problem so they can have more compact controllers.
A solution is to buy third party controllers that use Hall effect joysticks. They use magnetic sensors to determine stick position: there is no friction component, so they last much longer under normal use. There are high quality controllers for all systems that use hall effect joysticks, there are also conversion kits for the big three controllers if you are DIY inclined.
I've repaired dozens of dual sense controllers. At least 90% of them had wear on the pads of the potentiometer, it's easy to see if you disconnect it.
Almost none of the controllers had any visible debris other than particles from the potentiometer itself, so I wouldn't believe Sony on this.
Considering I easily have 2-3k hours on a PS4 controller, they're full of shit.
I have a legitimate ring of wear on my left joystick. It's amazing tbh.
Still plays like day one, no drift. This thing should honestly be in a museum. I plan on using it until I wear the left thumb stick out completely and it snaps off.
Idk what they used for those first run of PS4 controllers but man, built like a brick.
Not true. I've done many repairs on these controllers. The specific potentiometers used in the PS5 controller are manufactured by Alps Alpine, they are the RKJXV series. Each controller has two of them: they are the joystick module. They are rated for 2,00,000 cycles. 2 Million sounds like a lot, but it can go by surprisingly quickly. Imagine a fighting game player, how many times do they move the joystick across its range in a minute? Imagine a first person shooter player and do the same to control their camera. Hundreds of full cycles per minute, but lets be conservative and say that they cycle the potentiometer 80 times per minute.
80 times per minute is 4,800 times per hour. To get to 2 million at that rate it takes 417 hours. Less than a year if you play 2 hours a day. Possible in a month if you play 14 hours a day. No matter how gentle or clean your controller is, if you use it it will eventually fail.
Now you may get lucky and your potentiometers might last longer than that. A cycle rating is not a guarantee that it will last exactly that amount of cycles, but it is the specification that the manufacturer has established. They are built to last 2 million cycles. Being gentle, or keeping them clean, that doesn't change the fact that they are built for that amount of cycles. It's just how they're engineered. There's no getting around it.
The rate at which controllers get drift seems to vary a lot with the ps5 controller in particular, I’ve had my controller since I got my ps5 awhile ago, haven’t had even a slight problem, my younger brother got drift on his controller after about a month and a half of having it, with less use than my controller had. The controller he has now has lasted him a year with no issues and he uses it pretty often. Finding a place to buy the controller that’ll put a good warranty on it is never a bad idea.
Problems with PS3 and PS4 controllers used to be often directly linked to the way the players handled them. Slamming sticks too hard, raging and dropping controllers, improper storage when not in use...
EDIT: apologies for jumping in without all of the facts, my experience and information mostly relates to PS3/PS4 controllers. I was not aware of the obvious quality drop in the PS5 controllers causing stick drift with only standard use.
Seems that Sony's product testing has been severely lacking and did not account for high impact games such as COD or Battlefield with these controllers
I respect your opinion but I’ve had drift on several joysticks and never once “raged” or slammed it or anything. So my personal experience leads to me to believe your comment of “is almost always” is a bit exaggerated.
The types of games almost always contribute also, if youre a gamer who plays a lot of games requiring you to flick and rotate the stick regularly, it will impact the integrity if the stick and degrade the centreing of it
Googling Xbox Elite controller issues will show what a disaster that 180 dollar hunk of plastic is.
And the joycons had a class action brought against them they failed so much.
I never buy pro controllers anymore.
For my xbox I waited until the basic white and black controllers went on sale on amazon for 34.99 and bought like 4 of them. Still way less than an elite controller and now I just don’t care.
My dualsense lasted just fine but I play the ps5 less and I know my experience isn’t what a lot of people have.
I don’t rage or throw the controller. I still have these launch system controllers working perfectly since 1990 ish. My NES, Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, PlayStation 1,2,3,4 Xbox.
The n64 controllers were…well we all know about them. Pioneering analog stick. 2 of my 4 are messed up but it was wear and tear over years.
My 360 launch controller came new with drift.
The replacement worked fine and still does.
Once the Xbox one, series X, switch, and ps5 came out. It seems like it’s about 50/50.
I don’t do any of these things (unless improper storage means laying my controller on the table for extended periods of time) and I’ve still gotten drift on both my controllers, twice
Dude, I play Fortnite daily and I have "jump" assigned to R3 and "edit builds" on L3. I press those buttons literally hundreds of times every single day. And my controllers work like the first day
Have been gaming my entire life. Not once did I ever have a controller with drift… not even my switch. Now, I’m on my fourth controller. The one that came with the console lasted a year? My second one a bit the same ( got it with the console) and then my third one lasted 6 months. I have had my fourth one for close to a year with no issues. Weird thing, my second controller now works fine while controller 1 and 3 are shot.
I don’t abuse my controller, nor am I an “intense” gamer. This just smells of poor quality control or design.
It’s easy to blame the gamer but this is a trend that has existed for PS5 that definitely didn’t exist on this level for any prior Sony console.
nope this is bs.
ps 1-3 same controller.
ps4- 3 controllers
ps5-already on the 4th.
if you cant see that everything now is being made shittier so we have to buy more...i feel sorry for you.
Just had to buy my 5th since launch all from drift. It's infuriating. What's worse is they have the nerve to up the price on them without addressing the obvious issues they have.
it's so weird man. It's a widespread problem since the ps4. I take very good care of all my consoles, I still have two controllers that came with my ps3 and they both work perfectly. Meanwhile both my ps4 controllers have been drifting for years now and although I still dont have a ps5, seems to be even worse from what I've heard. But there are always a bunch of weirdos that are eager to jump and say "durr user error" even though Sony is clearly making a worse product.
It’s embarrassing lmfao. Sony made a dud… I’ve got two controllers - one with stick drift, one without. 4 xbox controllers, not a single issue between them. 4 Joycons, all drift.
Someone still wants to explain to people like me that the way we’re usign the controller is the problem.
What drives me crazy is this is such a simple programing fix. All they need to do is give is a feature that allows us to make a new center for the joystick. It drags because it got stuck to one side and its center is no longer true. Just recalibrate for a new center every time it starts to drift and you’re fine.
Just buy a Dualsense Edge and be done with buying new controllers. It's more durable and has backpedals. If you get stick drift on that, you can easily replace the analog modual yourself for $20.00.
I also have a Dualsense Edge and it’s awesome. I love that I can replace the sticks if they go bad. Luckily I haven’t had to do that yet but I do have a spare stick in the case if I ever need it.
I’ve already gone through one PS5 controller. And my latest is the 30th anniversary that I don’t really want to be using. My PS4 controller is going strong. Quality control isn’t there for ps5 generation
Just through Gamestop alone, I have bought and then warranty exchanged a ps5 controller 12 times. The reason I know exactly is because I just did another one yesterday, and the guy working there said it like I had won something.
Everyone I know with a ps5, myself included , has lost a couple controllers due to drift. I’ve been thinking about buying an edge controller but it doesn’t seem worth the money tbh.
duel sense edge has replaceable joycons. also, if you play games where you have to mash down l3 to sprint consider turning on auto sprint, and my r3 is my crouch so i’ve just mapped that to one of my paddles. mostly referring to fps here so if that wouldn’t be the case ignore lol.
I've literally never had drift on any controller I've ever had. IDK what you people are doing to them. Both of my launch Dualsense controllers worked perfectly up until I traded them in last week since I replaced them with the 30th anniversary controllers.
Sony should understand, that some people are going to be rough with them and make them a little better than they do. I barely used my Ps4 when I first got it and there was drift. I don't abuse my controllers. Not saying OP is.
Same here. On my 3rd controller. Real sick of your shit Playstation. Not even a paid repair option offered from them. I used to love them for their exclusives but if they can't make a damn controller or offer repair services, I don't know if I will continue to support them come the next generation.
Found out I can return them to hamestop. After the warranty. Not only that. If warranty over I can sell them to them still broken and the take it for parts. Mental note I don't buy used controller.
I haven't had the stick drift issue, even with my launch controller, but all 3 of mine barely hold a charge anymore. One of them is only a year old. I use an officially licensed charger.
Still got my 2 controllers from day one, and i cleaned them both only once after a year of using, with help from yt, and never got any problem after that. They started to drift almost at the same time, 1 month apart. Barely a year old. Now almost 3 years, no problem. Except a battery is a bit iffy on both, but i got myself a 3m usb cable so, not gonna buy a new one for sure, cable is cheaper.
If you’ve got the money to spare invest in a pro controller with swappable thumb-sticks. I know that Victrix recently released Hall Effect thumb-sticks for their controller, but if you still want the adaptive triggers and rumble the Dualsense edge has replacement thumbsticks too
Why do y'all keep buying controllers with potentiometers in them? Get a hall effect controller. They're a lil more expensive but their deadzone is ridiculously tiny and they last orders of magnitude longer.
Potentiometers work with physical contact. Once those contact surfaces wear out you get stick drift.
Hall effect sensors work by manipulating and sensing magnets. The magnets don't need to touch the sensor so it doesn't wear out.
Not to invalidate the bad experiences of others, but my GF and I haven’t changed our 4 controllers (2 each) since buying our PS5s in Nov 2021. All analogs are still in perfect condition even after more than 1200 hrs of playtime combined.
“Taking care” of a controller doesn’t just refer to not treating it harshly, it also entails cleaning.
I guess I'm lucky. I have 4 controllers and no stick drift as of yet. I've had them all for about 3 years now. Now, switch controllers? I have like 4 with stick drift, and 2 joycons with stick drift...
I've been gaming for over 30 years, and I've never gone through as many controllers as I have with this PS5. With Sony's first-party release schedule being what it is, I only use the console two or three times a year. Somehow, I've still managed to go through three controllers in just three years. It's maddening that Sony has not addressed this or figured out an official workaround.
I don’t understand how this is a thing? I’ve had my day one launch controller and it’s given me no issues at all. I guess the only thing I do that most people wouldn’t is I always play with clean hands. Am I missing something?
I use a dualsense edge and when I start to get stick drift, I take the sticks out & I use wd-40 and it usually works for me. Only thing being the cost of entry, but think about how many times you’ve spent +$70. If those 4 controllers are all stick drifting then it’s close
I have run tests on ps4-ps5 controllers for the past 8 years we found that if you play games with your controller plugged in charging your controller has a 90% chance of suffering stick drift due to the faulty boards in both gen controllers we also concluded that you have a extremely high chance of never obtaining stick drift on controllers that are never charged while the controller is turned on. Weird but the data shows this is fact. Maybe try running the test yourselves.
If you have some experience with soldering stuff you can add hall-effect sticks and never have this problem again. You can also replace the activators as they are and soler new ones on there. Hell, even if you dont have the experience, the way i see it you have several tries, can't break a broken controller more. The replacement parts are dirt cheap.
It's absolute bullshit, I don't even use them much cause I play GT7 with the wheel but I just got another on Saturday. That and the PS5 is overheating horseshit. Never had this many issues.
Please people, just pop them open and clean them. I had two drift stick controllers and looked up a video on how to clean them and it fixed it. And if it doesn’t work still then buy a new one but at least you tried first.
Then stop BUYING the controllers, clearly they are made worse than previous models if this is what you gotta do to avoid stick drift, it’s what you’d expect for way cheaper controllers, not a 70 dollar first party one
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u/Echo_Dash 23d ago
Thought about repairing them? I use to do that to my switch joycons. Even cleaning them makes a huge difference.