Problems with a stuck button on a gamepad

Praetorian Mage

I've got a Logitech Cordless Precision controller for my PS2. Yesterday, I dropped it, and afterwards, the X button would frequently get stuck down after being pressed. I tried wiping it down with a disinfecting hand wipe, because that had worked for me before with another gamepad, but that didn't stop it from sticking. I tried again, getting more aggressive about wiping it down and letting it air dry instead of wiping it dry myself. Now the button goes up and down just fine, but when I try to use it in a game, it acts as if the button is being held down. It would seem that I fixed one thing and broke another.

Is there anything I can do here?

Essee

Well, wiping it down isn't going to do anything in this case because this isn't about you spilling juice on your controller. :P I'm kind of an electronics amateur, but I would personally try to see if you can wiggle the button back-and-forth a bit (either while it's pressed down or while it's not), then try it again. You didn't immediately use the controller after you wiped it down the first time, did you? Liquid (especially the kind in hand wipes, which is obviously not just water and can leave a residue) and electronic bits really don't mix, so you should always wait a while for things to dry before plugging them back in when you're trying to clean them that way. Even if you don't think the inside bits got wet.

dispatch.o

Just open it up and find the offending contact pad and contact point on the board inside and clean both with 80% or higher rubbing alcohol. Check for any sort of cracks or wearing on the silicon and make sure the conductive material (usually painted in black or silver on the back of the silicon pad where the contact point is) is intact. My guess would be that the controller is a little worn out and when you dropped it you mis-aligned the contact pad and contact point on the board and it's being pinned down by debris of some kind or the controller shell itself.

When you wiped it down you probably got a little water in there and have essentially shorted (temporarily) one or more of the contact points. You may want to use a blow dryer on it before you go through the trouble of opening it all up. The reason you use a high proof rubbing alcohol is because of how quickly and cleanly it evaporates. Whereas water will hang out and be an asshole.