Cleaning a Dreamcast Controller

Well, I did this a few months ago and am FINALLY getting around to making an 'ible on it, so here goes.

Today we are going to be cleaning a Dreamcast controller. Pretty self explanatory.

You will need:
  -Long phillips screwdriver
  -A toothbrush or similar scrubbing instrument
  -Soap, I recommend Dawn for this
  -A dirty dreamcast controller

First thing you want to do is remove the six screws holding the two halves of the controller together. You will need something long to get the screws in the handles out. Next are the two screws holding in VMU slots and circuit board.

Next we will need to remove the analog stick and triggers from the circuit board. There are small screws holding these in, one for each trigger and two for the dpad. Remove them and pull them off of the board. You will want to pull the triggers out of the frame they are in and remove the springs, so you can both clean under there and also keep the springs from rusting. The analog stick should also be pulled apart by pinching the two clips on the bottom. Finally you want to remove the VMU bezel from the face of the controller by pushing the tab on the back out and rotating the bezel out.

I didn't actually take pictures of this step, but it is pretty straightforward. You basically want to use a small brush and some soap (I used Dawn) to give everything (minus the cable, circuit board, and springs) a good scrub. I will attach some pics from my Dualshock cleaning 'ible though. After you get everything washed, let it sit overnight to dry. You need to do this to let all the water in the screw posts and the little crevices evaporate.

After all of the water has evaporated, you can move on to putting the controller back together. First thing to do is to put the dpad and triggers back together. The triggers should just snap back together, but it might take a little but of force. For the analog stick you want to follow this order: base plate, ball with stick, collar (slot goes up), spring, upper housing, and finally the thumbstick. Simply screw the triggers and analog stick back on the way they came off.

Next thing we need to do is to put the VMU slots back onto the circuit board and then install that into the controller. The first part is pretty easy, just slide it down over the VMU plugs, open side on the same side as the analog stick. Next we can install the board with VMU slots into the front of the controller. Basically you just set it in, put the cable into its holder, and put the two screws back in. Finally, put the back on and screw the six screws back in. Slide in a VMU and fire up the Dreamcast! Anyone up for some Quake 3?