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Talismoon Xbox 360 Controller First Aid Kit

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  • 28-06-2010 11:10pm
    #1
    TouchingVirus
    Registered Users Posts: 8,584 ✭✭✭


    Just a little mini-review of this cheap product and what led to me purchasing it :)

    I don't like throwing out things that still have life in them so unless it's completely uneconomical (read: not fun) to try a repair I will try and repair it.

    A housemate's controller recently developed a problem that reared it's head during games like Fifa. When the left thumbstick wasn't touched and was in the neutral position the player would run north. As you can probably guess, not having a neutral no-movement centre for a thumbstick is a real issue :D

    Rather than throw it out and buy a new one, even if they're only €25 for a new official one, I took it apart to see if I could do anything. After figuring out it wasn't the thumbstick and rather the component under it that was faulty, I tried to find the part because it's a sealed unit and taking it apart would end in failure. ALPS is stamped on the outer shielding, so I found this - http://www.alps.com/WebObjects/catalog.woa/E/HTML/MultiControl/Switch/RKJXK/RKJXP1224002.html

    Needless to say I couldn't find the component available in the quantity I wanted, but I did find the Talismoon Xbox 360 Controller First Aid kit in several places. I bought it from GameTrain via Amazon.co.uk for €9.

    After taking apart the controller you have to remove the trigger button from the PCB which requires desoldering the potentiometer before removing it along with the plastic casing and button. After that you've to desolder the faulty component - all 14 pins on the thing :P

    Replace with one of the new ones from the box and solder that in place, happy days. I did the two of them in the one go, better safe than sorry. The kit also comes with new rubber buttonmats for behind the buttons but the existing ones were in great nick so I kept the new ones ;)

    Unfortunately there are a few small issues with the Talismoon replacement parts because they're not a direct replacement part from ALPS. The push-button (LthumbDown and RthumbDown) clicks a lot louder than the OEM part and seems to require more pressure to click. Neutral has more play before engaging directions. Place your thumb on the thumbstick and wiggle, there'll be a little play before an input is picked up. Double this and that's the play for the new unit - something you'll get used to no doubt but still a bit of an issue maybe if you want to "walk" in games rather than run :)

    Other than that though it's a grand job, I wouldn't have minded getting my hands on the OEM parts though just for handiness. I also kinda burned the port for one of the rumble units but a quick snip and a solder fixed that problem :cool:

    Desoldering Pump + Wick = WIN by the way. Burning out your soldering iron because you used too much flux in an effort to speed up the desoldering process on the 4 big joints belonging to the shielding and having to buy a new one isn't so much fun :o


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