RetroGaming @lemmy.world sjmulder @lemmy.sdf.org 2w ago

How to repair unresponsive Mega Drive/Genesis d-pad?

I have the Mega Drive gamepad variation pictured in this article, where the d-pad is connected to a plastic circular piece on the back of the PCB where it triggers 4 rubber buttons.

But the down direction is very unresponsive. I've cleaned it well in the hopes that sticky plastic was the cause, but it wasn't.

Any tips? Replacement rubbers, a piece of padding maybe?

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I've never tried this personally, but I've seen a lot of articles and videos where they say the conductive coating under the buttons can wear out and cause them to become unresponsive and they were able to fix it by applying some graphite dry lubricant

Again though, I've never tried it myself so you may want to do your own research first
- I ended up applying something called Liquiwire, which seems to work well so far! I can finally play The Lion King properly again ^_.
  
  That's awesome! I'm glad it worked! I should look into some vintage controllers right now I'm playing everything on a retropie with a PS4 controller and it's just not the same lol
4 rubber buttons.

The coating of those buttons that contact the PCB isn't really rubber.

I’ve cleaned it well in the hopes that sticky plastic was the cause, but it wasn’t.

Between cleaning and years of wear, the conductive coating is likely gone. To replace that conductive coating you might have success with at Electric Paint Pen. Probably carbon based for those pads. Something like this.
- That looks interesting and worth trying. I'll have a look to see if I can find anything like that locally
  
  To test it, you could try rubbing the pad with a graphite pencil. Won't be as good or a permanent fix, but if it works then you will know what the problem is.
The PCB is probably shedding at this point, so the contacts have a gap. You could try putting a nub of something in there for added pressure, but it surely still won't feel right while playing.

Is buying a used controller out of the question?
- Is buying a used controller out of the question?
  
  The backup plan is to do either that or get an 8bitdo M30 with a retro receiver!
  
  I did get the M30. It's delightful but there's one problem - it looks like The Lion King is one of the few games the Retro Receiver has a problem with. Any button presses while holding a direction on the D-pad interrupt the direction on the D-pad. So a roll becomes a crouch and a running jump becomes a standing jump. I've reached out to support, hopefully they can help, otherwise I'll have to return it.

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