WiiU gamepad hall effect stick

[D00MGUY]

Hi everyone, has anyone found any 100% compatible replacement sticks for the Wii U Gamepad? Maybe on sites like AliExpress where they are cheap? I'd like to find an affordable solution to the unwanted directional input problem.

 

[cutrus]

Alright, I just wanted to report that the TMR analog sticks from GuliKit for PS4 work without any issues. The only catch is that you need to swap the blue sensors with the black ones. Both black ones go to the right analog stick, and both blue ones go to the left. Other than soldering them in, I didn’t have to do anything else. And I didn’t need to swap the magnets either.

One thing worth paying attention to is what someone mentioned earlier: for some reason, the left PCB has Vcc and GND swapped compared to the right one. At first, I soldered analog sticks with black sensors onto both the left and right PCBs, and when the left PCB with black sensors was connected to the controller, it caused the gamepad not to power on at all. I’m describing this in case someone runs into a similar issue in the future.

 

[D00MGUY]

Alright, I just wanted to report that the TMR analog sticks from GuliKit for PS4 work without any issues. The only catch is that you need to swap the blue sensors with the black ones. Both black ones go to the right analog stick, and both blue ones go to the left. Other than soldering them in, I didn’t have to do anything else. And I didn’t need to swap the magnets either.

One thing worth paying attention to is what someone mentioned earlier: for some reason, the left PCB has Vcc and GND swapped compared to the right one. At first, I soldered analog sticks with black sensors onto both the left and right PCBs, and when the left PCB with black sensors was connected to the controller, it caused the gamepad not to power on at all. I’m describing this in case someone runs into a similar issue in the future.

Hi, thanks a lot for the tip, but I didn't quite understand why I need to buy the PS4 ones.
The GuliKit TMR still costs around twenty dollars; has anyone found a cheaper solution? maybe a solution that doens't require soldering?

 

[cutrus]

PS4, because these have two pairs of sensors - the second pair has the opposite pinout. So you do need to solder them, but you don’t need to cut any traces, make jumper wires or swap magnets for it to work. Also, this mod is reversible.

$12 isn’t super expensive, and I’m not sure how you’d make a cheaper solution without soldering - especially one with an extra PCB and connectors for such a niche console. It's unreal.

 

[Nevin]

So what was the consensus? From what I gathered, it was the Xbox sticks with both black on the left and both white/yellow on the right, but has anyone tested it on the Pro Controller?

 

[Iced_Tea_Addict]

After a little hiatus, I'm back to report that the cheap orange and black TMRs for Xbox work well, even working in VWii after a little messing around with the magnets and recentering with holding A, B, +, and - for five seconds. I'm now looking to make PCB boards just to make an install a bit easier.



I used the black modules in the left stick and orange in the right.



At this point, I just keep so many spares of these Xbox TMRs because they are crazy handy for controllers that don't have TMRs produced specifically for them.

(I have also noticed that the vWii issue only occurred with the newer 1-sided pcb boards, not the 2 sided ones that came with the original release Wii Us. Not sure if it is actually accurate to say that is specifically the issue, but weirder things have happened, would be funny tho.)

 

[Overengineering]

Are you still researching this? I’ve found some interesting schematics. It looks like the Switch Pro joysticks are fully compatible, so we don’t need to worry about pinout issues. If my hunch is correct, the Wii U GamePad uses exactly the same components as the Switch Pro Controller—the joystick caps and joystick modules should be identical, ALPS 10kΩ.

This schematic comes from k-silver, a manufacturer that produces Hall effect joysticks and TMR joysticks. The reason you might need to adjust the potentiometer could be that you’re using PS4 joysticks.

Based on these schematics, Sony made a complete revision with the PS5. The PS5 joysticks should now be identical to those in the Switch Pro Controller and Wii U GamePad.

Sorry that there’s some Chinese in the schematics. It shouldn’t affect readability though.（"适配" means exactly compatible）

 

[Iced_Tea_Addict]

Are you still researching this? I’ve found some interesting schematics. It looks like the Switch Pro joysticks are fully compatible, so we don’t need to worry about pinout issues. If my hunch is correct, the Wii U GamePad uses exactly the same components as the Switch Pro Controller—the joystick caps and joystick modules should be identical, ALPS 10kΩ.View attachment 586460
This schematic comes from k-silver, a manufacturer that produces Hall effect joysticks and TMR joysticks. The reason you might need to adjust the potentiometer could be that you’re using PS4 joysticks.

View attachment 586471

Based on these schematics, Sony made a complete revision with the PS5. The PS5 joysticks should now be identical to those in the Switch Pro Controller and Wii U GamePad.

Sorry that there’s some Chinese in the schematics. It shouldn’t affect readability though.（"适配" means exactly compatible）

They are compatible. With only one side of the Wii U gamepad, which iirc the right one. The other one has reversed power polarity. Hense why it is just easier to use Xbox or PS4 ones and swap the modules, since they come with both polarities.