Steam Controller Disassembly

Written By: Ben Klein

Published: 10/08/18

Comments: 12

Steam Controller Disassembly

Published: 10/08/18

Teardown

Introduction

Background: My left analog stick started having drift and left-right phantom input problems, so this controller was already on the deathbed.

For disassembly, I drilled two screws out because I didn't want to wait for a longer T6 driver, so this controller is permanently damaged now both physically and (already was) electronically.

Tools

Step 1

I did not have a long enough screwdriver, so I ended up drilling out two of the four side screws.
Go ahead and take off the back plate and remove the batteries.

Step 2

Start by taking out the 4 obvious screws, two on each side.
You'll need a long-necked T6 driver if you want to get these out cleanly. (At least 1" / 25mm.)
The pro tech toolkit does not have one long enough, so I used a slightly hacked hex key on two of them (stripping the heads) and ended up drilling out the other two because the hex key is not a good fit.

Step 3

These are hidden under the label, simply use a sharp blade or just punch through the label with something sharp.
There are two at the top just outside the holes showing metal, and one near the bottom center.
The two at the top are much deeper in, but my normal T6 fits just fine.

Why do they HIDE the inside screws, which wouldn't be visable, but then have visable screw holes on the handles? It's literally the worst of both worlds - either pull a ps5 and hide them nicely, or pull a ps4 and have them obvious and ugly, but don't do BOTH!

corganowade -

The bottom one is a long one, don't forget as later you will meet also longer ones.

lornlynx -

Also you can pull off the whole sticker, but they used a pretty glue. It even still held well after I was done with the reassembly.

lornlynx -

Step 4

Starting at the bottom center seems easiest and leaves the least amount of visual scratches.
Go all the way around, going below/behind the USB port. (see second picture)

I suggest opening it laying with front upside, that way you minimize the danger of losing the springs and also the battery hinges stay in place.

lornlynx -

Step 5

Upon removing the backplate, there will be two battery hinges that may come off on either side.
I recommend keeping them on the backplate for reassembly later.
Next there is the backplate release switch, composed of two plastic parts and two springs.
See the 3rd picture of those parts.

Note the little spring in the square hole for the D-shaped plastic piece (part of the backplate release switch). This spring is easy to overlook.

John de Largentaye -

Happened to me, had no clue where it was supposed to go XD

lornlynx -

Step 6

Two screws near the top center.
Two screws on the far sides on top of the battery holder plastic backings.
Don't take the motherboard off yet - there are ribbon cables attached underneath.

top two red circles are in the wrong place, they should be under the triggers.

Haitham -

Upper comment is correct, they are about a cm to the outer sides of the circles. The circled ones on top are blind, the board has no holes there. Maybe a prototype still had them?

Also all those four screws are long ones. The fifth long one you should have unscrewed already was the one under the sticker in the bottom middle.

lornlynx -

Step 7

Two screws hold each touchpad in place. They are mirrored across.
You might need to lift the motherboard by a finger's width to reach two of the four screws. (They are slightly underneath the battery holder plastic.)

Step 8

The only thing attached to the trackpads are the ribbon cables, be careful when lifting the motherboard off the front face plastic.
Watch out for the buttons falling out if you flip the front face over. There is a rubber/conductive silicone part that covers them all.

Step 9

This step is only needed if you are replacing a trackpad.
These ribbon cables are actually really easy to take out, just tug gently straight away from the board.
ESD-safe tweezers are recommended for re-insertion, as the stiff ends are very small and difficult to grasp.

Step 10

This thing literally just pops off using two plastic pressure-based latches. Just pull it in the direction the USB cable would go from the motherboard.
When the USB I/O panel comes off, so will the two bumper buttons. The two top bumpers are actually one long plastic part, who knew?

Step 11

The screw for the bumper setups is on the opposite side of the motherboard, under the trackpad location.

Author

Ben Klein

Member since: 07/08/18

238 Reputation

4 comments

Thanks for the pictures, one of the two springs at part 5 jumped out, And I could for the life of me not figure out where it belonged.

lornlynx -

Much appreciated! I'm about to pop mine over to give them a good clean!

Steph Meslin-Weber -

Thank you, i finally got around to ordering some long torx to be able to disassemble this. Added some tape to the top bumpers to make them less stiff, and swapped the stick to a convex one. I hate screws under stickers lol.

MrRooter forthewin -

@christianl49355 A year late, but one of the springs goes to the side of the battery cover release switch, on a small plastic peg, and the other goes inside the small square hole that the D-shaped component of the release switch pushes into. You can just see the one inside the square hole in the photo above.

Oz Browning -