I think i have found it... I think it is a X2.6 XEcuter Chip - Console has to go but thought I should know what it is im dealing with here
Last edited:
Vince's Repair Thread - (Console Repairs & Mods)
- Thread starter Vince
- Start date
I think i have found it... I think it is a X2.6 XEcuter Chip - Console has to go but thought I should know what it is im dealing with here
Well I won't say it was easy (desoldering is the devil's work) but I got the sticks in my dual sense replaced with the tmr ones from Aliexpress. It probably took me as long to do as it takes @Vince to repair half a dozen consoles...
Funnily enough I've spent some of yesterday and this afternoon trying to rescue an old Dualshock 4 (2019 but never realised it had drift from new, so pretty immaculate) but with no success. Was planning to solder in Gulikit TMR modules but for whatever reason; my lack of skills, or equipment I've struggled to remove the sticks from the board. Also had an older broken V4 Dualshock but I think I ruined that too. I think I'd be OK at soldering but removing existing parts is seemingly beyond me. Did watch a few Youtube videos but didn't change the end result.
So for now my adventures in trying to fit Hall Effect sticks is over. Also didn't realised how hard it is to find new, official Dualshock 4 controllers. Sony has quietly discontinued them and the usual places are rampant with fakes.
Last edited:
Funnily enough I've spent some of yesterday and this afternoon trying to rescue an old Dualshock 4 (2019 but never realised it had drift from new, so pretty immaculate) but with no success. Was planning to solder in Gulikit TMR modules but for whatever reason; my lack of skills, or equipment I've struggled to remove the sticks from the board. Also had an older broken V4 Dualshock but I think I ruined that too. I think I'd be OK at soldering but removing existing parts is seemingly beyond me. Did watch a few Youtube videos but didn't change the end result.
So for now my adventures in trying to fit Hall Effect sticks is over. Also didn't realised how hard it is to find new, official Dualshock 4 controllers. Sony has quietly discontinued them and the usual places are rampant with fakes.
Ive got tons of them here, nice blue one ive just put some halls in
Last edited:
Funnily enough I've spent some of yesterday and this afternoon trying to rescue an old Dualshock 4 (2019 but never realised it had drift from new, so pretty immaculate) but with no success. Was planning to solder in Gulikit TMR modules but for whatever reason; my lack of skills, or equipment I've struggled to remove the sticks from the board. Also had an older broken V4 Dualshock but I think I ruined that too. I think I'd be OK at soldering but removing existing parts is seemingly beyond me. Did watch a few Youtube videos but didn't change the end result.
So for now my adventures in trying to fit Hall Effect sticks is over. Also didn't realised how hard it is to find new, official Dualshock 4 controllers. Sony has quietly discontinued them and the usual places are rampant with fakes.
Yeah, removal and cleaning was a royal pain. I did actually cut the stick cages apart with pliers, just so I could then do a heatwave a few pins at a time and wiggle the sections free. A better blade shaped tip would help too but turns out you can't get them for the Parkside irons.
Nice.Ive got tons of them here, nice blue one ive just put some halls in
I've managed to source a new Dualshock 4 and want to fit a PAXO battery (easy not an issue). But I'm clearly struggling with removing the ALPS sticks. I tried wick and one of those cheaper suction pumps but didn't work. I assume the next step is to buy a vacuum desoldering iron, which are around £35. loathed to do it if it isn't a fairly easy/solid way to remove solder.
Are you using a desolder gun?
Wil say in advance, apologies not a regular in this thread in case alreadyy covered.
Ah OK. I that's where I take it where the tools can be quite expensive.nope I use hot air and a pump
Ooo Crystal Xbox, Vince finds all the nice stuff.
Whoops, thanks. Forgot about this, brain is like a sieve until the thread got bumped. I blame Spyro (Was playing the reignited trilogy and controller has been neglected. I will definitely get it dunked in soap and shell cleaned (so I say for the 100th time before something else grabs my attention).
@Vince. I didn't receive any of the mounting doughnuts things for the dualsense motherboard, not sure if royal mail stole them and we will have words again (they are unfortunately thieves around here
) or not sent yet.
Hot air that is suffiecent for the controllers is not that expensive. Cheap 858d clone that costs £25 or so is enough to for controlles. I used that for my dualsense.
Whoops, thanks. Forgot about this, brain is like a sieve until the thread got bumped. I blame Spyro (Was playing the reignited trilogy and controller has been neglected. I will definitely get it dunked in soap and shell cleaned (so I say for the 100th time before something else grabs my attention).
@Vince. I didn't receive any of the mounting doughnuts things for the dualsense motherboard, not sure if royal mail stole them and we will have words again (they are unfortunately thieves around here
) or not sent yet.Hot air that is suffiecent for the controllers is not that expensive. Cheap 858d clone that costs £25 or so is enough to for controlles. I used that for my dualsense.
Last edited:
My station is pretty expensive but I did years on a cheap 858d clone that was about £25 from china. I'm now using an Atten ST-862D which is a brilliant bit of kit. I use that to get the old stock out and just my iron and pump to clean up the holes. I did a video a few pages back on how to do it with a cheap pump and basic tools though.
PS5 pad boards are pretty thick so can take a bit of heat so you can work at 420c to 450c on them.
I do try
In this instance though it looks like the chip is probably worth more than the console. It's a pretty cool thing and the mods look nicely executed.I did try this technique on the second Dualshock 4 board after I messed up the first (a trace ripped off the board on the last pin - which I knew straight away). I think it works well, but feels fiddly and I still struggle with getting the holes clear of solder. This might be my cheap soldering iron that I am using.
I found two 858d clones each for around £25. I've also gone back and found that 72W soldering station linked in the thread for c.£25. So for both it would be £50 or so, which would significantly improve the tools I'm using. I also found a 2-in-1 SMD Hot Air Rework and Soldering Iron Station for £55 but I would assume the two earlier units are recommended given they are seperates.
- If I did go ahead and get this heat gun is it as simple as setting the temp at around 380-400C for 30 seconds, or so and the old ALPS module should just fall out?
- A few Youtube videos mention Sony's use of lead-free solder and how this is difficult to de-solder so they add some leaded, or low temperature melting solder first and then use the wick, or heat gun. Should I also be looking to buy some leaded solder too?
- Also what temperature should the soldering iron be set too when either using wick, or soldering the connections? One Youtube video said they have to run a high temp of 450C but this means not spending too much time so as to reduce risk of damage.
Thank you for the all the pointers so far and putting up with my many newbie questions.
Last edited:
I do try
Old Xbox chips are worth money? I would have thought with how easy it is to mod without, there would be no market for them.
I have done a grand total of one Dualsense, but it went fine, Vince probably has better tips but for me it was.
400C on the air temp with airflow at somewhere between 4-5 (sorry can't remember exactly). About 2-3cm from the board in sort of a circle motion over all the pins. Then when it was ready the stick didn't just drop out, it needed to be pulled, but basically no force, it just slipped out in one go. I also covered the plastic connectors in foil (whether you actually need to I don't know, but it was my first go with the hot air, so I played it safe).
100% get some leaded solder & add it to the points, easier to work with, lead free is awful. Shops aren't supposed to sell you leaded solder anymore unless you are a "professional" (a lot of the big electronic sellers just lock it behind business accounts), so you either have to import yourself or just get whatever random brand you find on ebay or smaller shops that don't care.
I don't get on with wick (at least for clearing holes, never have), I used a solder sucker to clear them. My iron was at 400C with larger tip to clear them with the solder sucker and and same again when soldering the new ones in.
Last edited:
Thank you that's really useful guidance.
So basically it's convenience vs cost; a heat gun is just going to be much easier than the chopping apart method, but also more expensive. I need to decide if it's worth it.
I have found a few sellers with '60/40/Tin/Lead', or similar. One has a skull branding with '63/37'. Is this OK, or do I need to keep looking?
EDIT: after botching up the 2 DS4's boards I then tried my attention on a 3 year old Dualsense with stick drift and again struggled with removing the solder. Tried to capture the stick I did remove but it looks like the middle of the 3-pins for the left sensor now has a burnt pad (for want of better term) and so is this board a lost concern?
Last edited:
Thank you that's really useful guidance.
So basically it's convenience vs cost; a heat gun is just going to be much easier than the chopping apart method, but also more expensive. I need to decide if it's worth it.
I have found a few sellers with '60/40/Tin/Lead', or similar. One has a skull branding with '63/37'. Is this OK, or do I need to keep looking?
EDIT: after botching up the 2 DS4's boards I then tried my attention on a 3 year old Dualsense with stick drift and again struggled with removing the solder. Tried to capture the stick I did remove but it looks like the middle of the 3-pins for the left sensor now has a burnt pad (for want of better term) and so is this board a lost concern?
Im going to do a ps5 pad after this xbox im working on so ill do a quick vid
Wasnt happy with how beaten up the shell was on this gears special:
It's not perfect but this is pre paint at the back so ill touch it up to look a bit better, rebuilt it using plasto
Its another one of those cool specials that makes a custom noise when you turn it on and off or eject a disc
It's not perfect but this is pre paint at the back so ill touch it up to look a bit better, rebuilt it using plasto
Its another one of those cool specials that makes a custom noise when you turn it on and off or eject a disc
Last edited:
Im going to do a ps5 pad after this xbox im working on so ill do a quick vid
Thank you & much appreciated. I will definitely watch it.
I've managed to pick up a cheap, used Dualshock 4 so now have two V4's en-route (one new, one used), my original 2014 V1 will battery issues, a Dualsense with the above board, another 3 year old Dualsense which is already getting loose on the right stick (blame Division 2 for this) and an old drifting Xbox One controller. So lots to work with as I never threw away old Playstation's controllers. I also have the case/shell and internals for the two V4 Dualshocks I mucked up. So real potential if I can learn this.
Its another one of those cool specials that makes a custom noise when you turn it on and off or eject a disc
Nice repair.
That was my second Xbox One X after my first one died 18-months in. Microsoft back then did make some wonderful special edition consoles. I also had the Halo Reach 360 with the two custom noises for start-up and shutdown. Also that Gears 5 Xbox One X had one of the nicest, if not the nicest special edition controllers too - which if I remember they sold separately too.
Last edited:
Also just finished a project Scorpio this morning and am now working on a PS5 with no display!
Last edited:
@Vince watched it and was very useful thank you. You make it look easy, although you need a new solder sucker clearly!
Also noted the 60/40 Weller solder.
So I've done a bit of research into the 858d clones and some of the variants. And I came across Yihua who have some nicer looking versions of the 858 etc. And then I found the Yihua 948-I Soldering Desoldering Station 2-in-1 (Amazon Link). Complete overkill, but this feels a more full proof method of desoldering. The hot air & sucker method still has steps where things may go wrong (although less then my wick + sucker method) and potentially damage a part. Something I've already done. I feel the options are the 858d rework station + new solder iron (£50-70), or move up to something like this Yihua 948-I. It seems to review well and is a good budget/entry level option that should easily do what I need for these controllers. I rarely use a solder iron but have done the occasional electrical device, toy & headphone repair over the years but current one was one of these cheap 60W irons I bought 5/6 years ago and I'm really certain isn't up to the task.
So any thoughts on this Yihua 948-I option?
Also noted the 60/40 Weller solder.
So I've done a bit of research into the 858d clones and some of the variants. And I came across Yihua who have some nicer looking versions of the 858 etc. And then I found the Yihua 948-I Soldering Desoldering Station 2-in-1 (Amazon Link). Complete overkill, but this feels a more full proof method of desoldering. The hot air & sucker method still has steps where things may go wrong (although less then my wick + sucker method) and potentially damage a part. Something I've already done. I feel the options are the 858d rework station + new solder iron (£50-70), or move up to something like this Yihua 948-I. It seems to review well and is a good budget/entry level option that should easily do what I need for these controllers. I rarely use a solder iron but have done the occasional electrical device, toy & headphone repair over the years but current one was one of these cheap 60W irons I bought 5/6 years ago and I'm really certain isn't up to the task.
So any thoughts on this Yihua 948-I option?