Help w/ Southpaw mod: Razer Onza

[cumbsie]

This is an old Razer controller I had to cut the cord off in order to get a new controller from Razer. So I decided to see if I could do a Southpaw mod with it.




I broke a pin in half here unforunately, the one the arrow is pointing at, but I think it is a ground pin.  It's still pretty close to the pad so it might be making a connection anyway. The pin on the top right is the signal pin for the RSC, correct?




I cut the trace for the LSC here. Again, I assumed this was the signal pin.





I cut traces for LSX and LSY here.





..and RSX and RSY here.








So I was successful in swapping the X and Ys of the sticks, but for some reason the LSC and RSC clicks didn't work at all. I have tried restoring the traces and they still don't work. A multimeter has confirmed that there is continuity between the pin and my fix so I'm not sure where I have gone wrong. Any insight would be appreciated.

[RDC]

You have everything done right, but the wires should be stripped far less than that, and the soldering could be a bit better. Redoing those solder joints is where I'd start.

Check the controller in Windows or some game and make sure that the LSC and RSC aren't being pressed all the time. That would mean there is a short to ground on those lines somewhere or the controller is bad.

The buttons are all Common Ground on that thing, so if you can't get LSC or RSC to register as pressed by connecting those lines to Ground, then the controller is bad for sure.

[cumbsie]

I think it was just the push buttons themselves that were bad. I had the analogs soaking in vinegar to clean them and I guess I should have actively dried them as opposed to just drying out in my window sill. They were still clicky though, that's why I thought I had done something wrong with the wiring. Is that something I could have confirmed with the multimeter?

So I ordered some new analog modules for the board and it turns out my wiring was sound. I definitely agree though that my soldering needed improvement and the leads were atrocious on those wires, so I redid most of it. Also it was impossible to preserve the old the analogs as they were integrated into the rest of the module. It's difficult to explain, but for anyone attempting to mod this controller, try and maintain all the original parts as they very much proprietary in some respects. 

I couldn't find thumbsticks for these particular analogs. They are labelled RSF and are smaller than the ALPS modules so conventional thumbsticks don't fit. I guess Microsoft has a monopoly on ALPS stock as far as controllers go. That's probably why all third party controllers are doomed from the start. The RSF sticks aren't *bad* but they certainly don't have the even tension of the ALPS modules (that's probably why the tension control idea was dreamed up in the first place.) I think this controller could have shone if Razer had used ALPS. I really like Razer and their products and am really impressed with this quality of the controller overall, especially when it was priced cheaper than its Microsoft counterpart. Razer also has great customer service, and replaced my controller outside of its year warranty. Microsoft would not do the same with a controller I had for four months. :/








So since I was almost successful with this one, I took my other Razer controller and opened it to perform the same modifications:











Unfortunately the wires were brittle on the cord and they broke off while I was fiddling with the controller. I really didn't want to remove that black epoxy again without a fume extractor. I really couldn't get it off without melting it and letting it crystalize and then scraping it off. It has a very unpleasant smell. So I affixed a USB cable I extracted from a Chinese knock-off PnC and that worked just fine.

Everything went back together and the controller functions as it did before, with the controls reversed of course. One small problem is sometimes the left trigger actuates when the left analog is rotated. I assume it is too much analog voltage? Additionally the LSC actuates randomly, but this seems to be only when the controller is idle. Any suggestions?

[RDC]

Soaking the Sticks in anything is never a good idea, let alone an acid. Yes they can easily be tested with a DMM, set it on Ohms or Continuity, pick 2 of the corner leads and press the button.

The PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 controllers also use Alps brand Sticks. I'm sure you can find some of that generic type and size with some Googling around. They're cheap, and that's the main reason why 3rd party controller makers use them.

There is no way for there to be too much analog voltage, unless you've bridged something while soldering in there. That's most likely from the Triggers being removed and reinstalled, iffy solder joint or improper alignment, they're also garbage as well like the Sticks.