SNES controller repair.

[Cravdraa]

Well, I'm at it again. My SNES has served me well, over the years.
A while back I replaced the batteries in a bunch of my old SNES games, and was met with much success. AI and I always had plenty of friends to join us in our gaming growing up, so naturally we had plenty of controllers and a multitap for 4 player action. Over the years almost all of them had stopped working in one way or another, and I'd been reduced to just one working original and two cheap knockoffs that worked but never felt quite right.

I'm no stranger to opening up controllers to see how they work and trying to fix them, but it's been years since I tried to fix the old SNES controllers, and the last time I tried I didn't know enough about how they worked. Thought it might be time to try again.

Cutting straight to the point, I now have 2 working originals, 2 working turbo controllers, 1 weird fighter controller that has the L and R buttons next to X instead of on the shoulders, 1 crappy knock-off, 1 slightly less crappy frankenstein that was made by combining the superior quality parts of a broken original with the second knock-off, and the leftovers from 2 broken controllers that I'm keeping for spare parts.

If anyone is feeling adventurous I could put together a little guide for anyone that wants to try fixing their own. It should work more or less the same with controllers for almost any system. The good news is that it's easy enough for anyone to try the simpler techniques.

[Jere]

Could be interesting, one of my Snes Controlers startbutton is behaving wierd an due to long and faithfull service i realy want to make it fitt for fight again, we still have DKC 2 to finish.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Frankenstein SNES Controller eh? Nifty.

[Dizzy]

I know I've repaired and/or modded the NES Light Zapper a time or two.

But given that my SNES isn't currently anywhere where it would get play, not right now.

[Cravdraa]

How to repair SNES and other old controllers.

Okay, first off the primary thing this guide will show you how to do is fix buttons that are unresponsive or no longer working. This can be caused by a multitude of problems, but there are 3 big ones that are the most common.

1. Dirt and corrosion build up.
In my experience about 90% of button problems are caused by gunk build up on the inside of the buttons and the circuit board contacts. It's also the easiest to fix.

2. Button damage.
I'll explain more indepth below, but this refers to the rubber button beneith the plastic shell. There are several options for dealing with this.

3. Circuit board contact damage.
This is damage done to the circuit board itself. Potential the hardest to deal with, but we still have a way to deal with it. This is usually caused by years of pressing a button too hard until it grinds away at the board itself.


Opening your controller and the basics of how it's buttons work.


SNES controllers and most others are held together with phillipshead screws on their backside. They're not difficult to remove, but it's very important to use the right size screwdriver or you can easily strip out the grips. then you either won't be able to open the controller or you'll end up with something like this:



This is one of my junkers that I use for spare parts. I'm using it for these pictures because it's circuit board and buttons are still in good shape and this way I don't have to open up one of my working controllers. It was originally broken when it's cord got ripped out. That exposed bundle of multicolor wires that goes to that jack in back of the board? It's not supposed to be like that. The black rubber sheath should run almost all the way up. The screw heads stripped out when I tried to remove them because I tried to use a screwdrive that was too big. I eventually forced it open for spare parts, and cut the tops off the screws with a hacksaw, so that's why it's so banged up.
But otherwise, it's pretty close to what your controller will look like when you first open it.
{note: I removed the cord from the jack for convenience sake in the rest of these pictures. This isn't nessecary or recommended, unless it's damaged and you want to replace it with a donor cord.}

[Warning: the L and R buttons are each held in place by a little metal pin that's not really attached to anything. It's very easy to lose, so be careful when you remove them.]


Moving right along, if you flip the circuit board you'll see something like this:

The front of the plastic shell, with the rubber button components still attatched, with the circuit board's button contacts exposed below.

Don't post yet.

[RPG Test Dummy]

meh

[Cravdraa]

How the buttons work.



The way the buttons work is fairly simple, the plastic buttons in the outer shell push down on the rubber buttons directly under them. Some buttons like the start and select are made entirely out of the rubber part.

The rubber buttons have small intents in them and inside those are attatched some small, round, metal contacts.



When the button is pressed this rubber indent is flattened, pressing the metal contact against the circuit board's contact, completing the circuit, and allowing an electrical signel to travel back to the game system.

Those white lines through the middle of the circuit board's contacts are breaks in the circuit. Touching both sides of it with the rubber button's contact at the same time allows the electric current to travel from one side to the other, sending the signal.
Button problems are caused when something prevents this from happening properly.


Cleaning button contacts.

As mentioned in the first post, dirty contacts are the most common problem. You might be amazed at the improvment made by a simple cleaning.
These are the recommended materials:

Some screwdrivers to get it open, a damp washcloth, a clean pencil eraser, and an unused toothbrush if you have one.

Once you've got it open, simply use your pencil eraser and/or tooth brush to remove the dirt from both sets of contacts. Even if you can't see any visible dirt, do it anyway. It can make a big difference even with worn contacts. Be careful not to scrub too hard, as you don't want to cause any damage.



Use the washcloth to wipe away any excess grime and dry it. Put the controller back together and you're done! {Make sure you put the rubber pads back in properly. an earlier picture showed how they're aligned.}

Plug it in and hopefully the button in question should be much more responsive now. This is both fast and relatively easy.

[RPG Test Dummy]

post

[Cravdraa]

Button Damage Repair.



This section refers specificly to damage done to the rubber button and it's contact.
The easiest course of action to take if the rubber button is damaged is always to replace it. Of course it's not always easy to find a replacement, especially since the main buttons in a typical snes share the same rubber button, so if you don't have one handy then we have some creative possibilities we can try.

Damage to the rubber part can happen with continuos wear. If there's a crack or tear in it, it may not make contact properly when you press it. In that case it might be possible to patch it with a dab of hotglue, or the adhesive from a tire patching kit.
I've repaired an old NES controller with hot glue before, and the button lost some of it's spring afterward, but still works fully responsive to this day.

If the contact itself is damaged, it's probably best if you can find a replacement. Even if you can't replace the rubber pad because of size issues, or because it's connected to other buttons, you can still cut the replacement from another button and glue it in place of the old one using a little hot glue, or any other sort of permanent adhesive that won't damage rubber. If you go this route, be sure not to get any glue on the side of the new contact that will face the circuit board, or it'll probably block the electrical current.

Finally if you just can't get any sort of replacement contact, you can try to make one. Attatching a tiny pad you've made out of crunched up foil in the place of the old contact should work. You could also try making one out of solder, but the quality and durability would vary depending on the type of solder used. Both options should work for at least a temporary period of time, but I lack the experiance to say how long they'll last. Could be a few hours of play. Could be years.


Circuit board contact repair.



The contacts on the circuit board are surprisingly thin. Prolonged use and abuse can actually leave them worn through to the board, ground down to nothing.
Even if it's damage isn't that extreme a pitted worn contact can make a button unresposive.

First off, I would recomend simply cleaning it. Even if it looks worn, sometimes that's all it needs. If that's not cutting it, then you have only one option: Rebuild the contact using solder.
This should only be attempted by somebody with at least some experience and an idea of what they're doing.

Take special note of the white circuit break lines in the above pictures. When rebuilding your contants you need to take the utmost care NOT TO CROSS THEM. If you do, then the button will be perminantly stuck on.

Carefully dab solder onto the old contact area. Try to keep it a flat, thin layer. Any globs could make the button work funky.

That's really all there is to it.
I hope somebody finds this guide helpful. Thanks for reading!

[Cosmonautical]

Cool little guide thing you put together, bud. I should probably cleanup my NES controllers, come to think of it.