More Xbox Controller Issues

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As of the end of September 2024, I have repaired and sold 16 Xbox One Controllers. I have encountered 3 controllers that have issues on the main IO board and one controller that will not power on. Stick drift aside, there are numerous other issues that can arise on used controllers. I have one with a broken wireless sync button, one with a non-responsive right button, and one with multiple non-responsive buttons. I tried to repair the one with the broken wireless sync button, but the surface mount switch pad was unrepairable. I would need a microscope to even attempt such a repair. I also need a high-quality Ohm meter to find bad components that are often no larger than a grain of rice. For that reason, I went looking for replacement circuit boards online.

I found several listings on Ebay, but most look like they are located in China and are most likely not authentic Microsoft circuit boards. The few US circuit board listings I found were for non-working boards. The one that claimed to have working IO boards was asking $18.77 per board with free shipping. After you add tax, the price is $20. That is the higher end of the going rate for a used controller that needs repair. I also found used circuit boards listed on ifixit.com for $14.99. But the price goes to $20 when you add tax and shipping. So, in order to get my 3 broken controllers working again, I would need to spend over $60 on circuit boards. I spent about $45 for the controllers and might be able to sell them for $90 after they are repaired. That would be a loss of $15.

That is still better than having 3 broken controllers sitting around. I could try to sell the parts separately, but I’m more interested in selling 100% working controllers. The more used controllers I acquire the more different problems I encounter. Some spare parts are good to have on hand, but not too many. If you specialize in a certain model controller, then you can use spare parts more efficiently. Thumb sticks are the most common item that needs to be replaced, and I like to include the battery cover with every controller I sell. They are often missing on used controllers. Matching the color scheme of the original controller is also important. Some people care about things like that. The controller I have that won’t power on will be used for parts, but I hope to fix the others so I can at least recover some money.

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