Stripped screw in Super Nintendo controller and bad diagonals with replacement pads

Mugenmidget

It appears one of the screws in a Super Nintendo controller I wanted to open for repairs is stripped and there is not a defined cross-head shape like the rest of the screws in the controller. I am fairly sure this is not any other kind of bit as I have tried a few other heads already.

I tried to do a little research on it but it seems like most of the information out there for extracting these screws are not dealing with screws as tiny or confined as the one in this controller (or at least in a sturdier material). Is there any method for dealing with stripped screws in relatively fragile plastics? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Buttcleft

I've done this before.

Get a drill bit thats slightly smaller than the head of the screw, and drill down firmly but not harshly. You will know you are through when the screw head becomes a small ring flopping around, a ring because you drilled all the way through the head and broke it from the threaded part. Thats why you use a drillbit smaller than the head

Then you can just take the back off, grab the nub of the screw with needle nose pliers and screw it out.

PeregrineFalcon

What Buttcleft said. Drill it out, and once the rest of the screws are taken care of, just unscrew it with a pair of pliers.

Oh, and get a replacement screw, no one likes getting "the shitty controller" in multiplayer :P

Mugenmidget

Thanks a lot, it's good to hear you two speak from experience. Unfortunately I'll have to borrow a drill so I can't try it out now but I appreciate it. If anyone else still wants to chime in, feel free, I'll pop back in once I get this sorted.

Mugenmidget

Also, on the note of "shitty controllers for multiplayer", I wanted to open this up in the first place to mess with some pad replacements I've recently installed. It seems like this controller is horrible with diagonals and is completely unreliable for special motions in Street Fighter among other things. The pads should be brand new and aligned properly, is there anything I should be doing differently in replacing them? Or will they just become more natural with time?

PeregrineFalcon

Mugenmidget wrote: »

Thanks a lot, it's good to hear you two speak from experience. Unfortunately I'll have to borrow a drill so I can't try it out now but I appreciate it. If anyone else still wants to chime in, feel free, I'll pop back in once I get this sorted.

To be fair I've never done it on a controller, but that's SOP for getting a stripped screw out. Worked on everything else I've tried, from cabinets to cars to door frames. :P

Re the "shitty controller" bit, it could be that the pads are too soft, and aren't continuing to trigger the "down" sensor when the thumb slides to the side, or vice versa. Also check the contact areas to make sure they're clean.

AtomBomb

If you don't have a drill, you can get another bolt (not a screw, you want it to be relatively flat on the bottom) and super glue it to the head of the stripped bolt. You need to be careful not to get glue on anything but the bolt and the screw head. Let it set for a little bit, than twist the fucker out.

Do you have a tri tip bit? IIRC they were using those on the SNES (NES was just Phillips I think, or the star head ones) and a Phillips screwdriver won't work. Before I had the specialty bits I was always able to get by with little flathead screwdrivers. The ones that everyone has in the blue case with the clear top work great.

Mugenmidget

Thanks, AtomBomb, gluing a bolt did the trick and I didn't have to borrow a drill after all. They are actually supposed to be Phillips screws, or at least I would believe so since the rest of the ones in the controller were and came out fine with a tiny Phillips screwdriver I used.

Regardless your method worked so thanks a lot! Now about cleaning the contacts, what is a safe solution to use? They don't look dirty but I might as well make sure and clean them regardless.

illig

Nintendo has been using a special tri-wing screw design for years... are you sure they were phillips head?

dispatch.o

Mugenmidget wrote: »

Thanks, AtomBomb, gluing a bolt did the trick and I didn't have to borrow a drill after all. They are actually supposed to be Phillips screws, or at least I would believe so since the rest of the ones in the controller were and came out fine with a tiny Phillips screwdriver I used.

Regardless your method worked so thanks a lot! Now about cleaning the contacts, what is a safe solution to use? They don't look dirty but I might as well make sure and clean them regardless.

If you look around you can get 99% isopropal alcohol. Comes in the same type of bottle as normal rubbing alcohol but evaporates entirely.