Please Help! Analog Sensitivity

[Adidab14]

Hi All,
I'm hoping someone can help me here. I've been a long time lurker here and this site has helped me so much but I can't seem to find an answer to this one. I've replaced a bunch of analog modules on all sorts of controllers and usually have no issues. However occasionally I'll have one that works completely fine, except the sensitivity is super high. Everything else is perfect, just the sensitivity is cranked up. I thought originally it was just a bad module but I've swapped out with ones I know to be perfectly fine and still get the issue. I'm assuming it's something to do with the solder job or something but I don't see any glaring issues. I'm sure there is something I'm missing but does anyone know what causes this? It's killing me having no clue what the problem is.
thanks a ton in advanced for any help!

[RDC]

Well, at least you're not alone now. I've never seen or even heard of that issue before, but the description of it alone I find puzzling and the next one you run across I'd like to get a hold of here. So this doesn't really help much, as all I have on it are questions.

What version controller(s) have you seen this on?

Both axis of the Stick are affected? or only one? or all of them on the controller?

What are the voltage measurements on the Stick when it's acting that way? The Wiper (center lead) should measure ~0.9v and swing form 0v to 1.8v max with the shell removed. Actual is ~0.45 to 1.5v with the controller together. No two controllers will be spot on with each other also.

What makes it go back to working normal? or does it? and if it doesn't then how did the controller act before? That's an important one as testing before hand isn't always done.

What are you using to test the sensitivity? and have you tried another app or device to compare the sensitivity and confirm it's acting differently? Power cycled the controller, removed all power sources, batteries and USB cable and let sit for a bit.


The only way to increase/decrease the actual sensitivity of the Analog line is to change the rate the voltage changes, or change the FW in the MCU so it can then output a different value than what is input from the Stick. Changing the POT value doesn't do that, so 10k, 1k, 100k, it's all the same there as they are just used as voltage dividers.

[Adidab14]

Thanks a ton for the reply! It's driving me crazy cause its happened like 4 times to me. I actually have one right now that I'm working on trying to fix this issue. It has to be something I'm doing soldering... or maybe the modules themselves but I doubt it.

Controller Models: Ive seen this on the 1537 as well as the 1697. Mostly the 1697 tho.

Which stick: I've never had this issue happen to both sticks. It's always just the one I replace.

Unfortunately I don't know the voltages as I currently don't have my multimeter with me. How would I go about testing the voltages while it's on the controller with a meter? (Sorry if that's a dumb question haha). I can tell you that the controller is reading 0-100% in both the x and y direction as it should. It just reached those values like twice as fast as normal.

I have never been able to get a controller to go back to normal after this which is what is making me think I'm breaking something or doing damage to the board or something but it's weird that the sensitivity is the only thing affected. All of the controllers with this issue had a different problem beforehand. Things like stick drift or one direction not working or maybe like the L3 R3 mechanism broke or something. But the sensitivity was always fine.

As for testing I'm using an Xbox app that tests all the buttons/rumble motors and tests for deadzones/analog movement. I also test each one in a game that utilizes the stick in a way that allows me to make slow and fast precise movements. Like an fps or something. The only thing I haven't tried is a different device like a PC. I'll try that tonight actually.

Initially I thought maybe the modules I had were seated too far from the board or something so last night I shaved one of them down and seated it deeper to no avail. Same issue! I can post a pic of the solder job if that may help as well.

Thanks again!

[RDC]

Are both axis of the stick changing sensitivity? Y-axis (up/down) and X-axis (left/right) or just one or the other of that stick changes?

Just check DC voltage from any Ground spot on the controller to the center lead of the POT on the stick axis. The 3 of them are AN+ (1.8v) Wiper (0.9v stick at center and changes with movement) then Ground.

Lets see the soldering, but of the 14 joints it takes to swap a stick there's none of them that could be left open or shorted to anything or even half connected to something they shouldn't be in there that I can see causing that issue.

[Adidab14]

The x and y are both super sensitive as far as I can tell but I'll verify tonight. It's interesting to hear you say that tho. The more I think about it the more I think it has to be bad modules? It's weird tho because on one of them I swapped the module with an OEM module that worked fine in another board and had the same issue. But maybe it wasn't the module I thought it was or something. In any case I'll check on it tonight and see what I find. I'll also add the soldering tonight as well!

[VaNDAL_UK]

I've seen this with cheap analog modules. The wiper inside to potentiometer does the clip protrude past the green plastic casing further than and original? If so...

Look at the carbon tracks in side. the inner one (trying to remember) isn't complete like the original this causes a huge dead zone in the center of travel and make the stick very sensitive.

I'll photo something later showing what I mean.

[Adidab14]

Yes! I actually noticed that the other day when working on a controller with a different issue. They definitely stick out farther but I'll have to take a look at the carbon tracks on there. Is there a way to fix that issue?