HTC Vive Controller Front Panel Buttons Replacement

Written By: Christopher Amaro
  • Comments: 26
HTC Vive Controller Front Panel Buttons Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

17

Time Required

45 minutes

Introduction

The HTC Vive controller front panel buttons may be worn or can't click from extended use. This could cause functionality problems during use. When removing buttons be careful not to tear the rubber pinholes. This guide will show you how to replace the front panel buttons.

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    • Turn over the Vive controller so that the bottom saucer is facing up.

    • Use the T5 Torx screwdriver to remove three black 21mm screws from the bottom saucer.

    Where can I buy new t5 21 mm screws? Mine are getting stripped out!

    jeremyvanwoerden -

    Where can you get replacement batteries?

    Mike Justice -

    The middle bottom screw may have some form of warranty sticker on it if you have a Vive Pro wand (which is purple). Mine had this. Easy enough to remove and get on with it.

    sodiboo -

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    • Use the nylon spudger to separate the top and bottom saucer covers all around the edges.

    • Remove only the top saucer cover by pulling up with your hand.

    My top saucer was REALLY stubborn. Don’t force it with your hand, use the spudger to separate it at the seam. Try not to poke your spudger in too deep, there are internals just inside the seam.

    trevorsklar -

    The second time around, I learned why it was so stubborn. The picture suggests that you should start at the base of the saucer and work your way around, but that’s backwards.

    Start separating with your spudger at the distal side of the saucer and work your way toward the handle. Then for the last part, pull the piece up and away, like peeling a banana. See the second picture for the bottom half of the saucer, below. Do the same on the top.

    trevorsklar -

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    • Use the Phillips 00 screwdriver to remove the three silver 12.8mm screws from the exposed upper sensor panel.

    It’s Phillips 0, not 00.

    trevorsklar -

    You do not need to remove these screws to remove the bottom saucer. They provide stability to the two halves of the donut.

    pacoavocado -

    I had the same experience. Putting the screws back in made the bottom shell easier to remove.

    Nate Plamondon -

    I concur, you don’t need to remove these screws to take the bottom shell off.

    I found mine had ph#000 screws size, not ph#00.

    Rocko the fixit cat -

    please do not remove the Phillips-head screws it is not necessary to remove them.

    Darkwolf Darkside -

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    • Carefully pull away the bottom saucer cover with your hand.

    • To aid in removing the saucer cover, squeeze the base of the controller with your other hand, as shown in the second image of this step. Squeezing will make the clips easier to release and help prevent them from breaking.

    I found the re-assembly of this difficult until I concentrated on two areas - the lugs which go into the handle first, then the central ring. My earlier concern was for the optical sensors on the wings but these snapped into place easily as the central ring was manoeuvred.

    Doug -

    From what I can tell, there are two clicks on each side? one is quite easy, then the other one seems to require considerable force pushing down and on the side, I had to do it one side at a time and found two YouTube videos performing this step to use as reference. I have the vive pro wands and not the originals, so this may explain the difference. This felt very wrong to me.

    sodiboo -

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    • Use the T5 Torx screwdriver to remove the two black 5.2mm screws on the back gray panel.

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    • Turn over the Vive controller so that the exposed bottom saucer panel is facing up.

    • Use the T5 Torx screwdriver to remove the three black 5.2mm screws.

    Leave the middle screw where it is (the one being unscrewed in the picture). That screw holds the two halves of the photodiode assembly together, not the case.

    trevorsklar -

    five screws… two at bottom

    andrew sauter -

    I concur with trevosklar, don’t need to remove center screw to remove front panel (pad cover).

    Rocko the fixit cat -

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    • Use the nylon spudger to separate the front panel gently by running the spudger around the edges of the handle.

    • Only separate the front panel around the edges. Do not try to completely remove the panel yet.

    • Gently lift the right side of the panel to the left.

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    • Disconnect the upper ribbon cable gently by pulling the ribbon up and away from the motherboard with two fingers.

    • Do not try to disconnect the ribbon cables from the front panel.

    You do not have to remove the ribbon cables from the plugs…you can carefully work the battery holder around them and remove it…being very gentle. And the black part of the handle will stay attached to the cables and be in the way. But removing the cables does make it easier to access the area for the battery, just not completely necessary.

    controll -

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    • Disconnect the middle ribbon cable gently by pulling the ribbon cable up and away from the motherboard with two fingers.

    • Do not try to disconnect the ribbon cables from the front panel.

    where can one buy the ribbon cable.

    Luigi Munoz -

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    • Use the nylon spudger to lift the white tab by 90 degrees.

    • Disconnect the bottom ribbon cable gently by pulling the ribbon cable down with two fingers.

    Hallo what is the name of this conector because i Broker it

    Happy Forscher -

    Yeah I did as instructed only to realize after that my gen 1 vive controller does not do that, and i desoldered the power button ribbon. That cable, does NOT detach on my model. destroyed.

    Algol Gaming -

    On my controllers, there was yellow tape over these? and in some other places as well? Why?

    sodiboo -

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    • Use the T5 Torx head screwdriver to remove the two silver 4.2mm screws from rear plastic cover of the system button.

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    • Lift the plastic cover up and out of the front panel using your hand.

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    • Push the system button with your finger until it pops out of the front panel.

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    • Use the T5 Torx head screwdriver to remove the two silver 4.2mm screws from rear portion of the trackpad.

    • Lift the trackpad up and out of the panel using your hand.

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    • Use the T5 Torx head screwdriver to remove the two silver 4.2mm screws from the rear plastic cover of the menu button.

    • You may need to fold the ribbon cable to the left in order to expose the second silver screw.

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    • Lift the plastic cover up and out of the panel using your hand.

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    • Push the menu button with your finger until it pops out of the front panel.

    Okay great! But where can I buy replacement parts?

    Colton Hoffman -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Christopher Amaro

Member since: 16/10/17

960 Reputation

5 comments

Okay great! But where can I buy replacement parts?

Colton Hoffman -

Thanks for the guide! Even though iFixit doesn’t have the replacement parts, I was able to fix my button that was off-center and get my controller back up and running! The only issue is that with step 5, the T5 screwdriver that comes with the iFixit tool kits doesn’t work, as it’s too wide. I had to go out and buy a narrower driver, but still much less expensive than the controller. Thanks again!

Ryan Sandberg -

I had my front panel TOUCHPAD STUCK, in the sense it could sense my thumb touch, but NOT my thumb press on the upper-right part (presses on the other directions were detected). I figured out how to fix it:

The touchpad presses are detected by a little sensor on the controller: it’s the little pink button we can see on the picture of Step 8 on the dark-blue board. This button is pressed when pressing the touchpad, via a little black round plastic thingy behind the very center of the touchpad : we can see it on the top of picture of Step 11, the little black circle. If this black circle is off-center or simply *too low*, the contact with the pink button will not happen properly. I personnaly got the black circle thingy off, placed another thin layer of material below it (of approximately the size of the thingy) and placed it back, so it would be more in contact with the pink button. Solved on my both controllers !

Thanks for this really good guide which helped me solve this !

Jesuis Une -

Hi! My ribbon cable to the touchpad is damaged. Does anyonw know whre to buy a replacment? Seems like it’s soldered to the rumblepack also.

Andreas Andersson -

I replaced the little disc that Jesuis Une was talking about with a piece of PTFE used for mouse skates. The disc is 5/32 or 4.0 mm. I used a punch to knock a piece of 0.6 mm PTFE from the excess edging and it works like a charm.

Eric Tong -