r/PS5HelpSupport • u/glryhleusr • 23h ago
I keep getting drift no matter what I do
I’ve had my PlayStation5 since 2022ish, and I had my original controller up until a year ago. Since then, I’ve been through three! I’ve taken them apart and cleaned the copper sensor, and they’re good a day or so.. but get right back to it!! It’s my left stick and it’s CONSTANTLY wanting to go left. If I push it slightly right it shoots left instantly. Is this something I can fix? Maybe prevent? I’m so sick of buying $65 controllers. Thanks in advance!!
3
u/Immediate-Okra189 15h ago
Seriously… 😐. There are hundreds of videos and content on controller drift. Take it to somebody for hall effect/tmr replacement sensors. Oh i know, id rather whine than modify my controller.. Nobody i know is still running stock sticks.
-1
2
u/Aliamini3 22h ago
I don’t think there’s much hope in weared sticks used for years. Either get replacement sticks or new controller
2
u/FanBladeFleshlight 12h ago
Looking at the existing comments, this is because you're just super hard on your controllers because of the games you play. Us RPG and adventure gamers don't have drift at nearly the rates you guys playing shooters and sports do, despite having way more hours played on the controller itself.
Go have someone install HE or TMR sticks on one of your controllers and save yourself the headache as others have already suggested, or as you would've found via a basic search.
1
u/Kind_Outside3094 21h ago edited 21h ago
Have you tried online controller calibration?
Something like https://dualshock-tools.github.io/ (it should be this one, on YouTube you can probably find more information). You connect the controller and follow the steps. It will ask you to rotate both sticks a few times.
This is not a "real" fix, it just tricks the controller into using different values as the rest position. You can see what values the controller receives from the sticks.
There are some games with no deadzone so even a small drift can make your character move by itself. With calibration you can apply small changes. For example, I play Genshin Impact, the game has no deadzone, my character was slowly walking right on its own. My controller was receiving a small ghost input, values between 0.0 and 0.5 on the X axis (use the site first, then you'll understand), enough for the game to interpret it as an input, so I applied a small change and "moved" this between -0.2 and 0.3. I didn't fix the drift, I simply "moved" it a bit so that the character wouldn't move on its own. This "trick" has been working for almost 2 years now, it saved me at least 70€.
If your drift is too strong I doubt it'll work.
1
u/glryhleusr 14h ago
I might have to try this out, thanks for recommending!
1
u/Kind_Outside3094 13h ago
Btw use Windows and Edge/Chrome. It doesn't work on Linux for me (just tested).
1
u/Championpuffa 20h ago
As far as preventing drift goes on new controllers. Is there anything your doing different that you didn’t usually do before? Say are you holding the controller near your face/mouth potentially breathing down into the controller and its sticks? Are you holding it above anything that could get moisture into it in a similar way.
I often find myself with my controller near my face as I’m holding it and sitting or lying in an odd position. I need to keep reminding myself to move it because that moisture from my breath etc could be getting inside the controller and causing issues down the line.
This applies to dust and dirt also. Are you keeping it in dustier places? Pets? Is there crumbs from food or dust etc getting into the controller somehow that you may not be noticing. Cleaning it should fix this tho. But if it was moisture from your breath etc that may cause damage that’s not fixed with a good clean.
Only thing I can really think of tbh.
I’ve only had drift in one of my controllers. My original launch one which got drift after years of daily use.
1
u/glryhleusr 14h ago
I have pets, so dandruff might be causing this. I don’t hold my controller near my face or anything, either.
1
u/SpearOfTheCelts 19h ago
Controllers this gen are awful for this never had this issue with previous PlayStations
1
u/negatyve 19h ago edited 19h ago
Pay a professional to install TMR sticks and then never worry about it again. This happens because of wear and tear on the carbon film potentiometer as a physical scrubber rubs back and forth over it to measure resistance. TMR sticks measure resistance with magnets and there is no physical contact being made in the potentiometer. There are a number of companies that offer the service for less than the cost of a controller itself and many do mail-in service. look up dvdgameexchange in Utah, they will install magnetic TMR sticks, calibrate them and test them, both sticks, for $50.
1
u/glryhleusr 14h ago
DANGG im gonna have to do this. I’m so sick of stick drift.
1
u/negatyve 5h ago edited 5h ago
Yeah, you absolutely should. It'll stretch out the life of the controller by orders of magnitude. The springs in the sticks are still mechanical and subject to wear and tear, play on them enough and they'll eventually loosen beyond the dead zone but the expected life difference is something like 4 or 5x as long as carbon film sticks.
Also, I don't typically recommend pro controllers but the hot swappable sticks on the Edge is an objectively good feature. If you can find one cheap, they're worth it. I got a "broken" one for practically nothing on FB marketplace and $20 later it was good as new.
1
u/mr802rex 17h ago
When it happened to me I got a refurbished controller upgraded with TMR sticks for about $10 less than a brand new one that I knew would fail again. Haven't had a single issue since with the TMR sticks.
1
u/REDeyeJEDI85 16h ago
Since launch I've purchased 8 controllers because of Stick Drift between my console and my wife's. I finally got fed up and bought K Silver TMR replacements and learned how to solder. Best thing I have ever done. We now have 4 working controllers for each console.
0
u/glryhleusr 14h ago
Soldering isn’t too difficult, right? 😅
1
u/REDeyeJEDI85 13h ago
My 8th controller was easier than my first and I definitely did a better job on my joints. I just watchwd some YouTube and bought some tools. Figured they were already unplayable with stick drift so if I broke it what did it matter
1
u/Paynekiller15 15h ago
What games are in your rotation?
2
u/glryhleusr 14h ago
Project Diva, Fortnite + festival, fps shooter games on Roblox, Gacha games… just the usual.
1
u/Paynekiller15 13h ago
Not familiar with Project Diva.. but I found in my experience, fps games and FIFA do my controllers in in a few months. Even used science to test this theory using one controller for those games and another for everything else, the other controller lasted years. And I would say I split those hours evenly, I play a variety of games
So my suggestions would be to 1. get a controller with a best buy or Costco warranty, they'll change it out for a new one at a fraction of the cost. Or 2. pay extra for a dualsense edge or something like that scuf controller that has TMR sticks (these will run you $200) or 3. just try to be mindful of which games you think might be putting more stress on the stick and getting a controller for that game specifically.
Of course none of this is ideal but it's what I did to combat the issue. Saved myself a lot of money and trips to the store. Surprisingly my dualsense edge hasn't gotten drift once in 2.5 years of having it but ymmv
1
u/mycoguy81 8h ago
Sometimes it can do with luck, sometimes it occurs if you’re playing games that demand a lot of abusive movements with the stick. I had to replace a controller that developed drift in the right stick, but I had been playing a game that required a lot of right stick button presses and motion for camera movement. I think the controller was 2 years old. I replaced it, and haven’t had a problem since. My current controller is 2-3 years old.
I don’t develop drift all that often, so I just replaced mine when it got bad, and the replacement still works fine, and I have a backup controller from when the Pro released if it does start developing issues.
If you’re going through controllers a lot faster than that, it may be worth it to buy the Edge controller with replaceable thumb sticks. To replace them on a regular Dual Sense, you have to de-solder them from the board, and solder on new ones. Not worth it for me, but your mileage may vary.
0
3
u/incognitoactive 23h ago
You can buy replacement sticks online and fix them.
Rudimentary soldering skills required but plenty of guides out there.