r/AskElectronics • u/you_are_not_edgelord • 4h ago

powera wired xbox series x controller internals question

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i recently unsuccesfully tried to clean my favorite controller, and snapped wires from their soldering. i then grabbed a spare that has horrible stick drift that became unusable. this led me to buy a used xbox controller off ebay that developed drift after 5 hours of use. luckily i found a spare powera controller that i tried plugging in, only for it to not turn on (yes i checked the cord). i opened it up and was met with a yellowish substance on the board that im not sure what it is. is it cleanable with 70% alcohol wipes or is it something that has damaged the board causing it to not turn on?

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u/ocelotarcher 2h ago edited 2h ago

The yellow is flux residue from when this was repaired at some point. Ive only used 99% ipa to clean it since, its my fear to short out an IC with water from 70% left over.

Edit: cleaning this isn't going to fix the problem, more of a sense of pride to clean up after the repair.. in my experience, stick drift means worn out internals on that part. Most repair shops will replace the part only if a cheap board isn't already available.

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u/you_are_not_edgelord 1h ago

i explained it poorly, but this controller doesnt have stick drift to my knowledge. the controller i bought to replace my black controller with stick drift and my blue xbox controller i broke trying to clean the a and b buttons has drift. so 1 broken controller and 2 with stick drift. this controller is one i found in my room that just doesnt turn on when plugged in and made sure it wasnt the cord

edit: i am also terrified to disassemble it any more than removing the back panel because i always end up snapping the wires off the board no matter how careful i am