Fix Stick Drift Permanently

The worse part of console gaming is that eventually you will encounter stick drift. Stick drift is when the potentiometer in the joystick wears out and starts malfunctioning. The good news is that most stick drift guides have you replacing the joystick but almost all of the time the potentiometer is the only problem. Most people throw these malfunctioning controllers out, but fixing stick drift can be quite easy and fun, not to mention cheap. You'll be collecting drifting controllers in no time!

This project will require soldering and desoldering equipment, along with the tools needed to open your controller. You will be replacing the malfunctioning potentiometer. I can vouch for these but I would recommend trying something like this since they're so cheap.

Using gamepad-tester.com I can see that the left stick has drift on the horizontal axis.

Search Ifixit and Youtube for specific instructions for your controller. The goal is to reach whichever board the joysticks are attached to. And remove it from the controller. Take off the joystick knobs too. In my case I also have to desolder the wires attaching the PCB to the Motors.

The green things on the side of the joystick are the potentiometers. The left vertical one senses vertical position. The front horizontal one senses horizontal position. Since I observed horizontal drift I will be replacing the front potentiometer.

I'll admit, I'm not the best at soldering so take my advice with a grain of salt, but the easiest technique for me is to bend off the potentiometer and cut it off at the base. Then I heat the joints, pull out the leftover pins, and use solder wick to remove the rest of solder. Do whatever works for you. After removing the faulty pot, its time to add the new one. sometimes this takes some trial and error because the potentiometers vary a little, and sometimes still result in stick drift. Click it into the joystick similar to how you removed the faulty one, and bend the pins so that they touch the pads of the PCB. Plug the controller into you computer, if it defaults to a position that is too off center, try a different potentiometer. If It appears random or doesn't change at all, the pins likely aren't contacting the PCB, or the PCB is damaged. If all appears as normal, then it's time to resolder!

This is the last stretch! Don't forget to put the joystick knobs back on and resolder the motors.

Sit back and enjoy a perfectly driftless controller!