What to do with missing solder pad - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: ashybuuny
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2025, 11:50:19 pm
content: Hi there, I am trying to repair my Xbox controller with new joysticks. However while using hot air I seem to melted/ blown away the diode and the solder pad. Maybe I scraped it off by mistake trying to pull the joystick ? How do I fix this I really didnt want to buy a new one.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 11, 2025, 01:35:37 am
content: Given the sheared pins, it looks like it was mechanically removed. You and solder it back and recover the pads/traces using thin wire (single strand from a multi-stranded wire).How feasible it is depends on your soldering skills. It is generally not that hard, but having good soldering equipment and magnification helps.

author: ashybuuny
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2025, 11:56:20 pm
content: I actually found a reddit post after hours of searching and hours waster trying to fix this, (https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxController/comments/1fhd7st/xbox_series_x_controller_hall_effect_analog_bug/) In which u/NewspaperAfraid6325 has a write up for a work around for the hall effect joysticks specifically for Xbox controllers. I have replaced the ps5 joysticks before and they do not require any other modifications. This is due to the ps5 using a better hall effect joystick that reduces all jitter and increased accuracy, the Ginfull brand has different versions. V5 is what is used on ps5 controllers currently while the Xbox controller is stuck at V2/V3. I bought my hall effects from AliExpress picking the top seller with most sold and reviews.My problem regarding the Diode was actually a non issue, I found on another forum (https://acidmods.com/forum/index.php?topic=44500.0\) that it is for surge protection, as such I didn't really fix it and my main concern was getting the joysticks to work. I also found out, using this resistor fix on my third controller that I tried to work on 7-8 months ago that the resistor beside the joystick are needed for the joystick to operate. Without them it doesn't work and will go haywire.Onto the fix, the hall effects of V2 were either not the greatest as its a V2 and not the V5 like the ps5 have or the software/firmware of the controller does not like the hall effect and the design of the controller or its a bit of both. Either way I added resistors to 3 different joysticks on 2 different controllers, one of them the right stick didn't need it but, the left stick no matter what needs it. This is because the triggers are magnetic and will move the magnets in the hall effects giving lots of noise to the joystick input. I used 100k and 47k resistors for each axis and for the most part it did work, in terms of circular accuracy its little under 20% and some areas like the bottom left it doesn't reach the edge. Other users mentioned they used higher resistance like 150k and 100k to fix it but I personally don't have those resistors and I just wanted my controller to work and not go insane. Using the xbox calibration after adding the resistor and calibrating it a few times made my problems gone, no more stick drift, no more wild movement and no more holding the stick to one axis with a strong preference for up or down.If anyone in the future wanting to fix their xbox controller with hall effects Ginfull V2 this is the fix to make them work if they don't work for what ever reason. I really wish this was more accessible information that shouldn't have taken me so long to search for a random one off post and I wish the xbox controllers were better or hall effects were better compatible with them. At the end of the day I got two controllers working and mostly accurate and I got a new hot air station for rework because it made my life so sooooo much easier.

author: eTobey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 05:13:39 pm
content: Go to youtube, search for louis rossman (older videos) and northridge fix. They have plenty of repair videos, and also missing pads.I believe you just need to solder the one side of that part, an den solder a wire on the other side. Then fix the part with epoxy.