A teardown of Nintendo’s latest console has found that the core tech that causes joystick drift is still there. Plus it’s even harder to repair than the original.
Pressing down too hard breaks the pushbutton functionality. It has nothing to do with stick drift.
But since we’re talking about what causes things… You know what actually causes potentiometer-based sticks to fail fast? Sweat. That’s right!
The NaCL in your sweat—even the tiniest microscopic amounts—is enough to degrade the coating and the brushes on potentiometers. The more your hands sweat, the faster your sticks will degrade.
Got sweaty palms? Best to use hall effect sticks or save up to buy new ones on the regular! 😁
Also: If you allow your controllers to get really cold and regularly (and rapidly) warm them up with your hands while playing that can have a negative impact too.
It starts to separate the bottom half of the stick housing when you push on them hard all the time and causes it to drift. That’s why shimming them temporarily works.
Pressing down too hard breaks the pushbutton functionality. It has nothing to do with stick drift.
But since we’re talking about what causes things… You know what actually causes potentiometer-based sticks to fail fast? Sweat. That’s right!
The NaCL in your sweat—even the tiniest microscopic amounts—is enough to degrade the coating and the brushes on potentiometers. The more your hands sweat, the faster your sticks will degrade.
Got sweaty palms? Best to use hall effect sticks or save up to buy new ones on the regular! 😁
Also: If you allow your controllers to get really cold and regularly (and rapidly) warm them up with your hands while playing that can have a negative impact too.
It starts to separate the bottom half of the stick housing when you push on them hard all the time and causes it to drift. That’s why shimming them temporarily works.