fixing my ps3 controller with… electrical tape?

i’m not getting a ps4. i’m quite content with my ps3 — except for when either it overheats or the controllers decide to randomly push buttons for me when i’m playing a game.

not cool at all. especially when i’m on a breakaway down the pitch and my player decides to boot it into the stands sitting in the sideline (fifa)

this has happened to me before… it’s quite annoying. i used to think that it may have been interference effing with the connection from controller to ps3… but apparently it’s the contacts within the controller itself

to the youtubes! i found this great video tutorial, discussing the problem and also the solution. all i really needed was electrical tape and a jeweler’s screwdriver

video

note: i’m definitely not a patient person… i’m very heavy handed and get frustrated easily. THIS WAS EASY.

so i have three ps3 controllers — all that seemed to have the odd issue.

controller 1

i started with the oldest controller since the pad on the left analog stick was almost coming off. this controller must have been a super old model because it wasn’t exactly what the guy had in the video. in addition to the backpiece, there were two little pieces that sorta held the L and R buttons together. it was super delicate and fell apart almost immediately… it took hours for me to try to piece that bitch together that i finally gave up on it

controllers 2 and 3

frustrated with controller 1, i was about to give up and just order some new sticks at amazon for $50. but then i decided, why the hell not and tried one more time. i compared controller 1 to controller 2 and saw that they were different. controller 2 had the solid backpiece that was molded to fit around the L2 and R2 buttons. it was a lot easier to take off after removing the screws and nothing fell apart once opened. i was able to get a small roll of electrical tape behind the contact to raise it up and IT FUCKIN’ FIXED IT.

i’m so shocked that a little thing like this would work.

lastly…

so you want to make sure you have a newer ps3 controller before you start removing screws — make sure the backpiece sorta hugs the L2 and R2 buttons (as opposed to being separated by a separate middle piece of plastic).

also, not a whole lotta tape is needed, just a small piece and roll it up tight.