Spent 3 hours trying to fix a sticky right bumper on my Xbox controller

I was swapping out the bumpers on my Series X controller last weekend and ran into something dumb. The new bumper went in fine but it felt sticky, like it was rubbing on something inside. I spent maybe 45 minutes taking it apart and putting it back together thinking I bent the metal clip. Turned out it was just a tiny piece of the old plastic housing that snapped off and was wedged between the shell and the trigger mechanism. Could not see it until I used a bright flashlight and a dental pick to fish it out. Three hours total for something that was a two minute fix once I found it. Has anyone else had random plastic shavings cause issues after swapping parts?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverowens7h ago

Gonna be real with you, I've swapped bumpers on probably a dozen controllers and never once had plastic shavings cause any issue. Maybe you're not being careful enough when you crack the shell open. I always work over a clean towel, blow out the housing with canned air before I close it back up, and check the trigger channels with a flashlight before putting the new bumper in. Three hours sounds like you were diagnosing something that only happened because you rushed through the prep work. A little discipline in the disassembly step saves you from that whole headache. Your mileage may vary but I'd argue the problem was your method, not some random piece of plastic from the factory.

quinnj243h ago

Ngl, I don't think prep work is the whole story here. I've been real careful with my disassembly and still had random plastic chunks from the original shell or old bumpers fall into places they shouldn't be. Sometimes it's just bad luck with how the plastic breaks.