PS3 Game Controller Durability - Your experience?

[jaybee]

How long do you find they last? Personally although I have always been a playstation fan, I find the controllers - despite being great for control - really bad for durability. I have had one controller die already and my current two have issues. One keeps turning off and not syncing plus the R1 button keeps failing. The other one has a sticky X button. Both of the left analogue sticks on these controllers the top pad has come loose and on one of them has come off. I don't play games that abuse the controllers either nor chuck em about.

@ £35 a pop it gets annoying replacing them. I gather taking them apart to fix yourself is a nightmare judging from a quick search online of people that have tried to do it.

 

[jaybee]

Hmm...i forgot to mention I have kids. Perhaps this is the problem. In fact...it's usually why most things in the house break.

 

[jaybee]

I decided I couldn't be bothered paying £35 for a new one and despite posts on the net stating if you take one apart it will take you a year to get it back together, I decided to go for it. Didn't have much to lose. I found it....well....yeah it's a fiddle but no worse than taking other things apart. In fact I had it all apart and back together fixed within 30 minutes including soldering.
Problem was the X button was shorting out something when you pressed it in hard. I cleaned all that out and also noticed that the cable going from the PCB to the battery inside, had worn and some of the wire was coming out of the shileding like it had been rubbing - god knows how as it's never been apart before. I soldered that back up and screwed it all back together. Stays on permanently now and it just needs the analogue stick pad gluing back on and I'm good to go. Saved me some cash atleast.