to Sony PlayStation 5 It comes with a new controller called DualSense, which features a new design and an improved touch. Both are in our short probation period Control unit And the ForemanWe found the console impressive, other than the fact that its full potential is limited to just a few PS5 titles. The glory of DualSense appears to be short-lived, although we’re now reading posts from users complaining about joystick drift.
We’ve seen this infamous issue before, particularly on Nintendo Switch’s JoyCon controllers, but in this case it’s taken to a whole new level. to me IGNIn a class action lawsuit, a US law firm filed a lawsuit against Sony alleging that PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers are defective and describing Sony’s behavior as “fraudulent, deceptive, illegal and dishonest.”
If you don’t know what a joystick or joystick drift is, this is a malfunction as the controller detects movement on one or both of the analog sticks on your console even if you don’t touch it. To understand more about this issue, Fix it Deploy a detailed analysis of the control unit by disassembling and inspecting the various components inside it.
According to the analysis, joystick units are manufactured by a Japanese company called Alps (formerly known as Alps Electric, now Alps Alpine) that specializes in input equipment and sensors. This isn’t unique to the DualSense controller as iFixit claims to be the same hardware used in nearly every popular console, including the DualShock 4, Xbox One controller, Nintendo Switch Pro controller, and even the new Xbox One Elite controller.
However, the real problem is (perhaps) a smaller part called the potentiometer. Each joystick has two: one of them detects the movement up / down, and the other detects left / right movement. The way a potentiometer works is by taking a strip of a material with a uniform resistance value known as one end at each end to apply a known voltage across the entire strip. A third party called squeegee is added that slides back and forth along the length of the package. Depending on the location of the scanner, the voltage reading on the scanner will change. The scanner on the potentiometer used on the DualSense controller works in the same way, except that instead of moving in a straight line it is passed around a semicircular path made from printed carbon film. The joystick movement rotates two small axes, each of which is attached to the wiper. The position of the wipers is translated into voltage values, which are then read by the controller to determine joystick position and movement. Aside from that, the joysticks also include a spring that returns the sticks to their original center position and a push button that most joystick controllers have.
There are several reasons why joysticks may exhibit “drift behavior”. First of all, iFixit says the proposed life cycle of potentiometers is out of order. Alpen’s spec sheet for the RKJXV series, ThumbPointer (joystick) designed for gaming purposes, indicates a life span of 2,000,000 cycles. Variants of this model number appear to be listed alongside several PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch Pro Controller variants. An iFixit engineer continued calculating console interactions by testing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) over ten different 30-second intervals, indicating that nearly 100 full potentiometer cycles were performed. If you weren’t playing the first-person shooter as aggressively as COD, you’d still average 80 full revolutions per minute, which equates to about 2,000,000 revolutions in 25,000 minutes, and down to just 209 days of two hours of conservative play in Today. If you lift it 120 revolutions per minute, it drops to 139 days 2 hours a day. By default, this means Alps will only rate their joystick as between 4-7 months. While these numbers don’t really mean that every joystick on your DualSense controller is starting to drift, they may be a potential failure factor.
Several other factors may cause the joystick to bend as mentioned in iFixit. One factor could be the wear of potentiometers, as rubbing the wiper against the resistor pad causes a malfunction, causing changes in the voltage readings across the terminals. Another reason could be flexibility, as the self-centering mechanism can stretch over time, creating a new focal point. In this case, the potentiometers will continue to accurately read the relative position of the joystick, but the position itself is incorrect. Other potential factors for joystick slippage could include material stretching and contamination from dust, dirt, and moisture over time.
Either way, it’s best to set your expectations and include some repairs or even replacements in your budget, in case you need one within a few months. If you are planning to purchase the new PlayStation 5, you should browse Restocking guide
