Odd Tinkering's video: Restoring Broken Controller S for the Original Xbox - Retro Console Restoration Repair

In this week’s episode I will restore this broken Xbox controller S. The cable is broken, and the shell is yellowed. Also the thumb sticks need some restoration. When I tested it I was able get it working briefly but then the cable seemed like it was completely done. The footage of the controller connecting briefly was the last time I was able to see any signs of life. But luckily, I was able to pin point the issue so I could still repair the old cable and not change it completely giving it a few more years. The shell was also not properly closed and after opening it I found some pieces that held the screws had broken off. I hate this type of devices because as you might notice I can’t use my screwdriver set to open all the screws. I also used a correct size screwdriver without changeable tip. The problem is that most of these screw drivers don’t have magnetic tips so it’s sometimes frustrating to get the screws out. Other vise the controller was pretty simple to disassemble and there wasn’t too many parts. A lot of the parts were soldered to the board so I left them on. Besides a little dirt the controller had 3 major issues: pieces had broken off from the shell, the cable was damaged and the shell had yellowed. I started the process with retrobighting (removing yellowing from the shell). I just posted a video on my other channel Odd Experiments. If you want to learn more about this technique go check that out. Link to the video https://youtu.be/jdWRsjnVD3s Mean while I had the controller in the solution I stated working on the broken cable. The Xbox cable is very hard to work with because it has this big plastic piece (ferrite) near the controller and the most common place for the cable to break is from where the cable enters the controller. This often leaves very little wire to do a proper splicing. Because I also wanted to restore the controller visually close to original I didn’t want to cut the ferrite off, even though I think it might not be necessary even though I have not tested it. The ferrite is there to prevent electromagnetic interference. In order to find the broken part of the cable I had to cut it and then I tested which side was not intact. This is only good idea if you can pinpoint the problem. I could also have sliced the side of the wire open and tried to look for the broken wire. Then I stripped all the wires, wrapped them together and soldered them back together. All the joints were wrapped in electrical tape to prevent contact with the other wires. I covered all of this with black shrink wrap because the controller shell is transparent so I wanted the cord too look relatively original on the inside. After the cable was repaired and I rested that it worked took the parts out from the retrobrighting solution and rinsed them with water. After the parts had dried I used superglue to attach the pieces that had broken off. Then it was time to assemble everything. The controller not works perfectly and looks (close to) original again. The bellow links to amazon are affiliate link. I get a small fee of anything you buy after clicking them, but you pay no more than without clicking. This is a great way to support my channel. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out my new Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odd.tinkering/ T-Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/odd-tinkering-2 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oddtinkering SOME TOOLS FROM THIS PROJECT: SCREW DRIVER SET: https://amzn.to/2P0AmMp HYDROGEN PEROXIDE: https://amzn.to/2K5OmTS UV LED STRIP: https://amzn.to/2IqLmOA 99.9% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL: https://amzn.to/34Po8dX REPLACEMENT THUMB STICKS: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5575498514&toolid=10001&campid=5338525131&customid=&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FAnalog-thumbsticks-for-original-Xbox-controller-S-Microsoft-old-1st-gen-ZedLabz%2F272214704800%3FssPageName%3DSTRK%253AMEBIDX%253AIT%26_trksid%3Dp2057872.m2749.l2649 MY FILMING GEAR: MAIN CAMERA: https://amzn.to/2JvtKox MAIN TRIPOD: https://amzn.to/2OlpYgn MICROPHONE: https://amzn.to/2I80iDz VIDEO LIGHTS: https://amzn.to/2FpJDaB MAIN LENS: https://amzn.to/2Fm8yMk CINEMATIC LENS: https://amzn.to/2TmNdHH WIDE ANGLE LENS: https://amzn.to/2U7iJha GOPRO: https://amzn.to/2U3eqU3 THE WATCH: https://amzn.to/2NpDMJJ --------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE ▶▶▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_s... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Restoration playlist▶ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVIxIjRNxFv5VRUXt66VzBxOys1GpmBp4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------