Hey all,
I searched the site for threads related to drift and they are generally the same: I have stick drift, how do I fix it? I understand what the sticks are and what causes drift. I have also replaced many sticks and pots. I have also tried the “drift fix” mod which is great in theory however it cuts the range of movement requiring the shell to be modified. I have also done a good amount of reading on the topic.
I have dozens of sticks from mouser and from China. The pots all range in ohms with the mouser ones a bit closer to 10 ohms. Out of 20 sticks from mouser, 8 would be at 10 ohms the rest would be near it. China ones would be worse so out of 50, 10 would be 10 ohms.
My issue is when I get a controller with drift, my first process is reaching all the pots I have and pulling out the ones that are at 10 ohms. I replace them and sometimes the sticks are center and sometimes they are not. Does anyone know if Sony or Xbox have a calibration process? I mean mouser gets their sticks directly from Alps which are the same exact sticks Sony and Xbox use so how am I know 100% successful when swapping the pots? I also don’t see them testing each pot before installing them or do they test and then ship back the sticks not at 10 ohms which go on sale? I have tried to find info on stick calibration and there really isn’t much. I know Windows offers a joystick calibration option but once you unplug it, there is nothing stored in the controller. The only console that has stick calibration is Nintendo. I have tried it and it seems to work fine but again with the nature of the pots, it’s really a long-term bandage, not a fix.
Figured maybe we can make this a thread on the collective information since this is such a common problem. I personally have a box of 20 controllers waiting for drift repair but I am putting it off just because I know what a pain it will be.
