Hardware I'm having a physical problem with my controller please help..

[kbf]

Everytime I click in the left stick like to sprint in COD for example it goes for a few secs but then stops sprinting and I have to keep trying again to make it sprint. idk why it keeps doing this I cleaned out the controller and even put a new stick on there and it's still doing the same crap.

It seems to be more of an issue (after testing) is clicking the stick not so much going forward, I tried it with oblivion for a bit and at the time of writing this post it was working decently but when I play a game like COD and try to press in the stick to sprint it sometimes does it but then stops after like half a second, if I sometimes press directly into the thumbstick instead of clicking in the stick and pressing up it tends to work a little better but still gives me the same problem.

 

[FAST6191]

When you say new stick what do you mean? If it is was just the plastic stick itself then that is one thing, if it was the assembly below it that is another. Replacing the plastic stick will likely not solve any real issues here (I am not expecting the little nub that does the pushing to break or deform enough to matter).

I have always had some issue with the clicky sticks on every device I have seen them in but the 360 was worse than a lot of them. What you describe sounds more like "switch bounce" which is a common failure mode of switches (get slightly corroded, dirty, bent or dented contacts and the electricity does not always flow, in turn disconnecting the switch randomly or making it seem like it is pressed a lot. You will tend to see it more with computer mice but any kind of switch they are likely to use for a user input device* is prone to it.

Solution is for the most part replace the offending switch. Theoretically you could repair the switch itself but there is a reason we have phrases like "beyond economical repair". I don't know if you can get a replacement kit for such a thing offhand, and frankly it is not a common failure for 360 controllers so I would probably buy a second hand one. If it is a fancy case you can swap it, if it is one of those fancy rotatable dpad controllers (in which case impressive work on breaking in) you could probably still buy a second hand controller and cannibalise the relevant parts for that one.

In the meantime many games will have a "toggle to run" option somewhere that you might be able to use.

*ponders playing games with a controller made from knife switches...

 

[kbf]

When you say new stick what do you mean? If it is was just the plastic stick itself then that is one thing, if it was the assembly below it that is another. Replacing the plastic stick will likely not solve any real issues here (I am not expecting the little nub that does the pushing to break or deform enough to matter).

I have always had some issue with the clicky sticks on every device I have seen them in but the 360 was worse than a lot of them. What you describe sounds more like "switch bounce" which is a common failure mode of switches (get slightly corroded, dirty, bent or dented contacts and the electricity does not always flow, in turn disconnecting the switch randomly or making it seem like it is pressed a lot. You will tend to see it more with computer mice but any kind of switch they are likely to use for a user input device* is prone to it.

Solution is for the most part replace the offending switch. Theoretically you could repair the switch itself but there is a reason we have phrases like "beyond economical repair". I don't know if you can get a replacement kit for such a thing offhand, and frankly it is not a common failure for 360 controllers so I would probably buy a second hand one. If it is a fancy case you can swap it, if it is one of those fancy rotatable dpad controllers (in which case impressive work on breaking in) you could probably still buy a second hand controller and cannibalise the relevant parts for that one.

In the meantime many games will have a "toggle to run" option somewhere that you might be able to use.

*ponders playing games with a controller made from knife switches...

Yeah I meant just the plastic stick I replaced, didn't seem to do much and I have to press kinda hard like right dab in the middle of the stick to get it sometimes to work.

I got this one second hand awhile back and yeah I don't really have the money to be replacing the mechanism, did you say this problem is less common on new 360 controllers? are you talking about the one with the flat D-pad? where can you even buy those? I can't see them on amazon(I'm from Canada so I use the .ca site) I can only find the original model..


Regardless iv'e tried everything so I think i'm just at a dead end now. Is it time to just get another one?

 

[FAST6191]

Yeah that seems like classic switch failure.

I have never heard of the stick buttons failing before in a 360 pad, whether that is from lack of use of such things or that most would not care (most games don't assign anything particularly useful to them as they are so awkward to use properly). They are switches though and thus able to fail by all the same means as every other switch and the things you describe are what I would expect with that and see in any number of other devices, and all the time in mice.

The rotating/transforming dpad

It was more that they are a later device and while I could possibly see it happening for an early controller that has been well used all these years* to pull it off for one of those would be impressive.
I could do searches of online shops around you but it would literally just be me searching. I don't know how rare or common they might be at this point.

*I will have to find the little shot MS had during an E3 conference once of their controller testing lab. It has buttons pressed millions of times by robots.

 

[godreborn]

are you talking about the dpad or the left analog stick? 'cause the only issues I've had are with the pos adjustable dpad. I've replaced mine from chrome, to gold, to blue, and finally to orange/red, so how many times have I replaced it when I don't even game that much? what happens is the dpad develops hairline cracks, so I assume you need to rotate the dpad kinda like tires on a car.

 

[kbf]

are you talking about the dpad or the left analog stick? 'cause the only issues I've had are with the pos adjustable dpad. I've replaced mine from chrome, to gold, to blue, and finally to orange/red, so how many times have I replaced it when I don't even game that much? what happens is the dpad develops hairline cracks, so I assume you need to rotate the dpad kinda like tires on a car.

left analog

I play a lot of FPS games on my 360 where I often need to sprint and it just won't do it sometimes and if it does it does it for like a second or two and then stops again. It's really annoying.

 

[godreborn]

hmm...I've changed the analog stick, but that piece that it affixes to, I've never messed with. maybe there's dirt around the edges of the stick?

 

[kbf]

hmm...I've changed the analog stick, but that piece that it affixes to, I've never messed with. maybe there's dirt around the edges of the stick?

Iv'e blown compressed air into it dude, it's still not working properly.