What do you guys do when the rubber domes in your controllers start to disintegrate? The rubber cups in my old Saturn controller are getting really bad, mostly in the D-pad. Pressing on it feels really squishy and just unpleasant. Are there known substitutes or am I stuck buying another controller that will probably have the same problem?
Build an arcade stick around the controller pcb
>>3275724
I use my GBP to buy a new controller
>>3275724
>Are there known substitutes
Nope. No one has ever bothered to make replacements. Try buying a third party controller?
Mod it.
>>3275724
While perhaps not the ideal solution, there are tons of third party knockoff controllers out there and some sell for pretty cheap. Depending on the price it might be just as cheap to just buy another real controller that isn't shot, and some third party controllers will have shittier contacts than others, but I guess it depends on how much value you place on maintaining your hardware.
I had a USB knockoff NES controller that I didn't particularly like the build of, so I actually gutted the PCB from it and put it inside of a real NES controller. I was left with some leftover parts, and the rubber contacts I took out of it actually proved to be a viable repair part for another NES controller (although I used the original NES contacts in my USB controller because it feels more authentic).
I heard of someone gluing the sensor pads to the underside of the plastic button piece.
Do not cut them out, they will not bounce back when you push them in. If they are a little worn it should be ok if you glue it, if they are totally ragged and fucked then I would look for replacements. Check ebay, if there is a small obscure piece for something that no longer exists, a chinaman probably figured out how to make 20 billion of them.
Also, I'm pretty sure you could take your controllers apart and rub all of your rubber pieces with some sort of oil to keep them from drying out and falling apart. Not sure what would be the best solution to use though.
What is the best way to clean these rubber things when they are dirty?
If you use rubbing alcohol will it dry out and crack the rubber?
What about the black conductive parts?
Will rubbing alcohol erode it away?
pretty sure you can order replacement membranes for Saturn pads on yahoo japan.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement-Key-Pads-Button-Conductive-Pads-For-SEGA-SS-Saturn-SS-Handle-/321814571554?hash=item4aeda4aa22:g:~tIAAOSw~gRVsWnX
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Start-Key-Pads-Button-Conductive-Flim-For-SEGA-SS-Saturn-SS-Handle-/321814565733?hash=item4aeda49365:g:zkUAAOSwT6pVsWzr
>>3276592
Wool there you go!
>tfw everyone in this thread is actually replacing replacements put in by fools who replaced the perfectly good originals a few years ago when this started to become a meme.
>>3277517
Some replacements are better than others. In general I'm in favor of just cleaning the original contacts and using them for as long as possible, although there does come a point where replacement contacts are going to be the only good option left when the original rubber wears down enough.
I have one SNES controller that's pretty much FUBAR and replacement contacts only made it worse. The actual plastic ball pivot on the back of the D-pad is worn down and slightly flattened, so new contacts just make it easier to press all directions at once which can cause some lulzy (and usually unwanted) errors in various games, like making Batman walk out of bounds in Batman Returns, or making Link moonwalk in Link to the Past, as well as making fireballs in Street Fighter 2 a pain in the ass to pull off. I also had a Gameboy Color D-pad that was not quite that bad but it was getting there.
If the plastic is so worn out that it's causing input errors, then it's probably time to just scrap the controller for spare parts, and buy a replacement.
>>3278006
Honestly, I've had hundreds of controllers and hardly had any problems. Even the who N64 stick thing just hasn't been an issue. It must be some chemical they put in American cheeto dust or something because the problem just doesn't seem to exist here.
I absolutely do to clean the contacts on a controller every few years. There is no disputing that the metal oxidizes and builds up a layer that can cause a poor connection. But as for silicone disintegrating I just don't see it. I have silicone molds that have been through literally hellish conditions hundreds of times and are good as new. To be honest the only evidence of a pad going bad I've ever seen has been from a few tards who somehow ripped them.
I wouldn't be shocked at all if this turned out to be a maymay like adapter lag and burning at the lowest speed.
>>3278062
I had an NES controller where the silicone wore out and tore. I also had a GBA that I bought used and it was in somewhat rough shape, and I replaced the pads with some third party ones that I ended up loving because of their more tactile feeling.
The tactile feeling on silicone pads is what eventually goes away, but the smoother feeling of a worn pad is not necessarily unpleasant. My only frustration with it is when it reaches the point that the controller feels mushy and it's harder to press diagonals. If it reaches that point and cleaning it with windex no longer does the trick, that's when I'd consider replacing some parts.
>>3278113
If cleaning with windex is the meme solution I suspect there might be something in it that breaks down the silicone. I can't see any other reason why I've been using controllers without problem for 30+ years and all of a sudden every kid on the internet has their controller bits going to hell.
>>3278062
I blame the death of my n64 joysticks entirely on Mario party. There was one mini game where you had to move it in circles and as kids we would put the stick on our palm for maximum rotations. Unfortunately it really grinds up the joystick and now the poor thing is absolutely fucked. Good thing I have no friends to play with and one good controller left
>>3278301
I didn't start using Windex until a few months ago, and all my controllers that had problems were already that way. I've never had problems using Windex.
>>3278490
Mario Party was a scam to wear out controllers faster so that kids would have to replace them. Unfortunately Nintendo's jewery backfired because kids ended up injuring themselves, so Nintendo had to give away free gaming gloves to any of their customers who wanted them.
>>3278721
Then the case of the suddenly disintegrating silicone remains unsolved. I suspect mass hysteria.
>>3276389
Anything can be made if you're willing to pay for it. The problem is scale of economics. Generally speaking, you need to buy 10,000 of something to turn a profit on it.
>>3279405
>scale of economics
The problem is you can't even meme right. Also you pulled that 10k figure out of your ass. Some things you can turn a profit on 1 others take millions.
>>3279586
In the case of rubber contacts, I think they'd actually be really cheap to duplicate because silicone is easy to work with. From what I've worked with regarding it, it would be a matter of pouring a hard casting compound material like plaster or resin over a good set of contacts, removing the original, tying the mold halves together and then injecting it with the silicone (you would need the conductive pads in there too, obviously). The tricky part would be getting a consistent, accurate thickness with the mold so that the contacts aren't too thin or thick in spots, so several molds might have to be made.
You don't need a big factory for this kind of manufacturing, it can literally be done in a garage.
>>3279875
It would be easy as fuck. Only reason it doesn't happen is guys smart enough to do it are smart enough to not to blame their sucking on the controller
buy new ones duh
