Xbox One Way to fix drifting left thumbstick without disassembling the controller

[Comic Capers]

I posted in a couple of other forums about this but so far have had no answer so I thought I'd try my luck here.

I have a Gears 5 Xbox One Controller which came with my Gears 5 edition Xbox One X a year ago and recently the left thumbstick has started to drift upwards, and then downwards when I correct it. I have read about dry lubricants you can buy to fix these but they are all North-American based and I live in the UK. My controller is out of warranty so can't be replaced for free.

Can anyone advise me of any dry lubricants I can find in the UK that will work or any other fixes that I could also try?

 

[d0x360]

I'm an ambassador and dry lubricant is a fix we have been told to not advise.

Usually drift is caused by 1 of 2 things. Either the area below the stick is dirty or a little plastic piece has broken which can cause the stick housing to move slightly. Usually the plastic gets broken during lots of heated gameplay where you are slamming the stick side to side or pushing harder then you think

I broke my first elite that way while playing Forza. I noticed that not only was I slamming the stick hard against the sides I was also pushing on it harder as if that would make me turn faster lol. Reminds me of pushing harder on an NES dpad to move faster when I was a kid.

Honestly your best bet is to take it apart and check which of the 2 issues it may be. Watch a video guide and don't worry it's not difficult to do even if it seems like it is.

If you see a broken piece of plastic right next to the stick (bent or snapped off) you can usually fix it by using super glue.

If nothing is visibly broken then just use canned air and give it a good cleaning.

If you really want to get deep you can take the stick from another xbox controller and swap them but that is best reserved for fixing an elite.

Lastly if you pull the stick up and it moves then the chances of fixing drift are slim...

 

[Comic Capers]

If I pull the stick up it does move but it's always done that, what's different about it if it's damaged?

 

[d0x360]

It shouldn't move up, at least not much. When you pull up on it and it lifts does it drop back down when you let go or does it stay?

Usually when it lifts up it means part of the housing that keeps the stick in place is broken in some way.

Having a stick that moves up when pulled doesn't mean it will drift, I've had an elite 1 that I got at launch and about a year in the stick started lifting (I noticed one day when I flipped it upside down to move the paddles and I heard the left stick "fall" and hit the outer shell of the controller.) but despite that and fairly regular use it still doesn't have any drift issues.

One thing it does do though is make it easier for debris to get in there which could cause drift.

 

[Comic Capers]

If pull the thumbstick up it makes a small click and then stays in place. The drift is getting worse and worse with every use it's now unuseable as a controller and I've had to switch to a cheap wired one for the moment.

 

[d0x360]

Interesting... I'd have to see the analog unit to really offer anything more. Usually if the housing is broken in some way it doesn't stay up when pulled (I also don't recommend pulling on them unless you already have drift and are checking what it could be).

Chances are if you have constant drift then there isn't much that can be done aside from getting a new one or opening it up and seeing if something is stuck in there.

There are good guides on youtube on taking them apart.

 

[d0x360]

Unfortunately these things can happen, there's a failure rate of about 2.5% which is essentially normal for electronics in the first year. Technically you could take the guts from another or new controller and put them in the shell that way you can keep the gears theme.

On the bright side it's better than the switch which has a 98% failure rate on the left stick. That's why you can buy repair kits so cheap and also why nintendo was kinda forced to forever replace them for free.

 

[Comic Capers]

Here's a link to a video of my problem:


I don't understand why I'm having this issue with a brand new controller that's only just over a year old. My previous Xbox One I got second-hand and had it for over 4 years with the original controller and I never had this issue.

 

[d0x360]

So it's drifting down... That's uncommon, usually they drift left or right not up or down and they also don't generally drift only for a split second then stop which is what it looks like based on the way it scrolls.

I know it sucks but it happens... I mean more often than not it's something the user did without even realizing they were doing it.

For example I do it quite often in racing games. I push the stick harder than needed as if it will help me turn.

Did you try calling Microsoft support (if you get an Indian try at a different time of day) and give them a sob story? I once had an elite that was at least 9 months out of warranty and I got them to send me a new one and I got to keep the one I had and I fixed it.

At the very least if you don't want to open it up yourself they could fix it for you.