Stick Drift on 360 Controller.

[chipsgravy]

I have a 360 controller that isn't used a lot as it has stick drift. I have taken it apart and tried cleaning it but it has had little/no affect. I was wondering if anyone has tried the FPS Aim Assist Rings that can be bought as it appears to be a centring issue and these look to help centre the stick. If so would the Xbox One pad versions work as I cannot find any specific to the XBOX 360 pad.

Could it be a cheap fix for a controller that will otherwise have to be chucked?

[Lebowski]

The drift is usually caused by wear to the sensors inside the potentiometers, you get drift and false readings of movement where their is none, so a fps aim rings may restrict the stick from moving but this isn't whats causing the drift. Id surgest you take apart the pad and clean the sesor some spray can of air, the best way to fix stuff them is to de-solderer and re-solider a new analogue stick module on their though.

this is super helpful in explaining how analogue sticks work and how to fix them

[MartyG]

There are no sensors inside potentiometers - potentiometers are simply voltage dividers on a rail which provide different voltage levels depending on their position (it changes the R1/R2 ratio). All of them have drift even new which will be calibrated out at the factory, over time they wear (because they have physical contacts moving against each other). The thumbsticks are also sealed units on the controllers, you're not going to get them apart without destroying them, so the only thing you can really do is replace the thumbsticks or buy a new pad.

You can adjust somewhat in software, but the problem will increase over time. Hall effect sensors in controller sticks are what we want (no touching parts).

The parts aren't too expensive (around £5-10), and although the replacement isn't 100% straightforward, there's no soldering required (they're on pin headers). If you're reasonably competent at taking things apart you shouldn't struggle too much, it's just a bit fiddly keeping all the parts in place when putting them back together again.

[Lebowski]

There are no sensors inside potentiometers - potentiometers are simply voltage dividers on a rail which provide different voltage levels depending on their position (it changes the R1/R2 ratio). All of them have drift even new which will be calibrated out at the factory, over time they wear (because they have physical contacts moving against each other). The thumbsticks are also sealed units on the controllers, you're not going to get them apart without destroying them, so the only thing you can really do is replace the thumbsticks or buy a new pad.

A potentiometer sensor measures the distance or displacement of an object in a linear or rotary motion and converts it into an electrical signal.

As i said if the potentiometer "sensor" gets worn or gunked up, it can give incorrect readings, this can be caused by dirt or crap getting on the track or it getting worn over out over time due to the physical contact it makes.

[chipsgravy]

Thanks everyone. I can take from all this that no it won't work and as its just a cheap wired controller that came with a console I shall chuck it out. I really don't have the skills to fix it or think its worth paying someone to have a look.

[MartyG]

[edit - not worth the argument]

[Lebowski]

Is it not that By moving the analoge around you can increase or decrease the resistance acting on the current flowing through this circuit and this translates into movement on the screen, I'm sure that's how the guy in the vid above says it works or am i being thick here.

[MartyG]

In this application (a thumb stick) it acts as a sensor changing the resistance relative to the position, which changes the output voltage which is then used as a further input which is processed. So you're quite correct there (you could argue that the potentiometer itself isn't really measuring anything, as this is simply a voltage divider - something has to do something with the output from it).

End of the day, the tech in controllers is cheap and prone to failure at some point - 3rd party controllers are likely not worth repair tho, given the component cost. An original 360 controller is probably worth the cost of replacing the thumbstick unit.