Hardware my Vita has a creaky L button. How to fix?

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
It's a Vita 1000 which I got from ebay. It's in excellent shape, but the L button makes a noise sort of like an old springboard mattress or creaky wooden staircase.

I'm prepared to take apart the entire Vita in order to fix it. :evil: (unless there is an easier way) I mainly want to know whether I should expect any difficulties, and how to actually fix the L button afterwards. Will I need to replace something? (such as the spring or the entire L button itself) Or will lubricant work, or maybe just flexing the spring back into shape with my hands. No idea what to expect.

edit: Wow this looks pretty easy:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PlayStation Vita Left Shoulder Button Replacement/8084

There is hope! No idea what's causing it to creak, but I look forward to finding out.
 

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
>remove the 8 screws
> take off rear casing
> L button doesn't creak anymore
> reattach casing
> L button still doesn't creak
> re-insert screws
> L button still good!
> tighten the screws
> L button creaks
> aaargh
> loosen top left screw
> L button stops creaking
> dpad now goes boooing when you press and release it
> tighten screw
> dpad is fine. but L button creaks again
> remove casing
> stare at inside of vita
> reattach casing
>tighten screws one by one
> squeeze and bend casing near L button
> continue practice chiropracty a little bit more

a compromise has been reached. L button no longer creaks. There is a slight creak when pressing left on the dpad, but its probably caused by neither the dpad or the L button. Its probably just stress on the casing. Its a used Vita, baby!
 
D

Deleted-355425

Guest
cant remember where i read it, but you can find a hole near the bumper inside, there is a tiny ass screw inside of it and you can loosen it or tighten it and this will stop it squeeking :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: zeello

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
cant remember where i read it, but you can find a hole near the bumper inside, there is a tiny ass screw inside of it and you can loosen it or tighten it and this will stop it squeeking :)

Please try to remember where you read it. I was about to take the vita apart again just to see what you meant, but then I came to my senses. I shouldn't take it apart without more evidence, or unless the creaking comes back in which case I'd have to take off the casing again anyway.

The seam gap I mentioned in the other thread suggests to me that the casing has been bent slightly out of shape. The creaking is probably related to that. Also if I look at the volume buttons I can tell they are not flush. It curves downward toward the vol+ button so its like the vol- button sits on top of a hill.
 
D

Deleted-355425

Guest
Please try to remember where you read it. I was about to take the vita apart again just to see what you meant, but then I came to my senses. I shouldn't take it apart without more evidence, or unless the creaking comes back in which case I'd have to take off the casing again anyway.

The seam gap I mentioned in the other thread suggests to me that the casing has been bent slightly out of shape. The creaking is probably related to that. Also if I look at the volume buttons I can tell they are not flush. It curves downward toward the vol+ button so its like the vol- button sits on top of a hill.


Behind the left trigger on the top back of the vita, there should be little hole and in the hole there is a screw, unscrew it a small bit and this loosens the pressure on the shoulder button causing the squeaking to stop, your welcome
 
  • Like
Reactions: zeello and Margen67

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
Behind the left trigger on the top back of the vita, there should be little hole and in the hole there is a screw, unscrew it a small bit and this loosens the pressure on the shoulder button causing the squeaking to stop, your welcome

Just so I know what hole you're talking about, is it somewhere in this photo?
EEmLIrKv4dHKsk1j.medium


photo is from this page btw. posting that link here for quick access.
 

Arras

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2010
Messages
6,317
Trophies
2
XP
5,372
Country
Netherlands
My Vita creaks on basically all the face buttons (X [] O triangle) if you press them a certain way. I thought it was normal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zeello

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
My vita is different from the one in the photo. Where it says IRC-002, mine says IRL-002 and the screw above it is not there.

Edit: uploaded photo.
 

Attachments

  • 20150302_000126.jpg
    20150302_000126.jpg
    307.9 KB · Views: 339

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
Behind the left trigger on the top back of the vita, there should be little hole and in the hole there is a screw, unscrew it a small bit and this loosens the pressure on the shoulder button causing the squeaking to stop, your welcome

Wait, I just realized you meant on the outside of the case!

I already did what you said! In the 2nd post in this thread! I thought you were talking about something else so I started taking apart the vita. In fact just before taking off the vita's casing just now I tightened the screw you were referring to a little bit to see if the creaking would come back and it didn't. (But its hard to say, I wouldn't be the first time I thought I solved the creaking just for it to come back later.)
 

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
oh god that guy has a really creaky L button! Anyway no I haven't seen that vid, but like I said, I figured out the trick on my own. Read the 2nd post. I kept readjusting that screw trying to pare down the creakiness.

But I didn't like that loosening the screw too much causes the L button to clink when you tap the top-left part of the screen. You have to find a middle ground basically. I would've thought that once you solve the L button, that's that. But it isn't. On two occasions I had to re-adjust the screw. The first time I had to loosen it because the creaking came back. Then I had to tighten it because I noticed the clinking. It's starting to look like a cycle.

Call me crazy but I think I found another trick as well, to help boost the screw trick. Loosen that screw a bit then try to bend and twist the vita. I hear creaking when I do this. So it's like bending the Vita back into shape. This probably works even better if you take off the casing then twist each half. Also, while the Vita was taken apart, I loosened/re-tightened 3 of the screws on the motherboard closest to the dpad, I think that might have helped but who knows.
 

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
One tiny drop of silicone spray on the moving parts might help too.

I don't think that will work. While the casing is removed, the L button didnt creak. So I dont think lubricating it will do anything.

Anyway I'm testing a new trick which is to twist the vita. Its simply a question of which direction to twist it. Im thinking L button toward you, R button away from you. I hypothesize that twisting HAS to help alleviate the creaking, provided you twist in the right direction otherwise it might make the creaking even worse. But, its also possible that twisting in ether direction is fine.

Another thing I'm considering doing is loosening the screw on the R button, simply because I can't stand that the L button clinks/rattles but not the R button. By loosening the screw on both sides it at least makes it symmetrical, which goes a long way in making the Vita feel less broken.
 

zeello

The reason we can't have nice things.
OP
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
774
Trophies
1
XP
1,201
Country
United States
Okay you're all wrong. Including me. Loosening the screw doesn't work. Its like the towel trick. What DOES work is using a hole puncher on a piece of black electrical tape (from a roll bought at radio shack) so you have a piece of black electrical tape shaped like a dot. Stick that dot to the bottom of your L button. Voila. Creaking gone forever. Tighten those screws as much as you want.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Deleted-355425

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy: *teleports behind you* "Nothing personnel, kiddo" +1