I carefully removed the plastic coverings for the buttons and directional pad, and cleaned them. I put some isopropyl alcohol on some q-tips and proceeded to clean the microfilm overlay. it is a microfilm overlay for the circuit board). Not having an engineering degree, I am not sure what the technical names are, but there is a green microfilm layer that looks like it has most of the circuitry (i.e. The directional pad is one large piece of plastic, with an additional crosshair plastic part, which looks like it helps apply pressure to the large plastic covering that helps make contact with the circuit board. The top shell contains four buttons with a large plastic covering that helps make contact to the circuit board. The next part of the project was fairly simple. I was left with an empty shell (the bottom), an empty shell (the top), a circuit board with attached battery, some shoulder button parts, and “part X” which was a little piece that did not obviously belong anywhere.
I just wanted to unstick the X button instead I had a $50 pile of junk on the kitchen counter. For now, we will call this “part X.” This deconstruction project was not going so well. At first I thought it went around the USB port, but it obviously did not fit. Once the screw was removed, another small piece fell onto the counter this time I had no idea where this part belonged. If the outer shell screws were small, this one is about half their size so supper tiny for lack of a better description. Once I got the two halves separated, I had to remove one screw that held the top part of the controller casing to the guts of the Sixaxis. Lucky for me, only the left side fell apart. You can imagine the cussing that ensued when a couple of the shoulder buttons “popped” out and onto counter and floor. Removing the five tiny screws that hold the two halves of the controller in place was straight forward, but getting the halves to separate was an altogether different experience.
Getting started was difficult the controller was a pain in the ass to open. I have cleaned plenty of controller and classic game cartridges, and these are all the tools that are needed. My mini screwdriver set, some isopropyl alcohol, and some q-tips. I figured the project only required a few simple tools. I have disassembled plenty of controllers for all manner of systems, but I have never had the opportunity (or reason) to dismantle a Sixaxis controller. I got the bright idea that I should take apart the controller, and clean the buttons figured some trash or sticky gunk would be causing the problem. Yesterday I noticed that the X button on one of my controllers was sticking.