Seems the controller is pretty difficult to open up and repair, bordering on impossible to do alone.
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Gamers Nexus: Google Stadia Controller Tear-Down & Disassembly Nightmare
- Thread starter Deleted member 1849
- Start date
Seems the controller is pretty difficult to open up and repair, bordering on impossible to do alone.
It was absolutely a conscious effort to be $hat-heads about it. Just watching the teardown and how it was assembled, they could just as easily (easier in fact) simply used 6 number 0 philips or torx screws instead of the clips, NOT hidden the other screw under a glued hidden plastic plate, and thus needed less plastic for the internal frame (rigitity increased by the cylindrical screw mounting array instead).
This would allow for easy repair for busted analog sticks, triggers, and crucially the battery.
But no, they deliberately made a hunk of disposable garbage. At least it's not mandatory for the service to work.
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I don't even see there being any question on that matter. It's pretty difficult to make something that hard to repair completely by accident. Nearly every design decision from the screws under the plastic plate to the extra strong clips.
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That's one of the big arguments for right to repair.
Less e-waste from people throwing out perfectly fine electronics that should be repairable, means less trash in landfills and a much more environmentally friendly industry.
So, there are 10 massive fcking clips holding the faceplate. How the hell could you open that thing without destroying it?
We are blaming google for a controller now...assuming there is a warranty on the controllers you would need to send it to them for repair so who cares how difficult it is for them to open?
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I believe people should be able to repair their own shit. Also, warranties don't often last forever.
Nearly other controller is easier to repair than this.
No manufacturer has created a controller with the intent for you to repair it yourself. The fact that you can is a happy event but it was not in their design
Yes! I wish more people got involved with this issue. Louis Rossman on YouTube has been a fantastic advocate for this, and you're spot on, we need to really start changing the common practice of making stuff deliberately obtuse and difficult to repair and maintain. So much stuff that could have an extended lifespan and reducing ecological impact just gets binned because the corporations would much rather you trash it and buy another one to replace it.
It's not even a case of them wanting to do the work themselves, they have no policies for many repairs at 'authorized' venues, and just as often overpriced them beyond what an entire replacement would cost.
Says it's not working twice before saying they don't have the activation code yet but it won't probably work anyway.
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Controller being hard to access and thus trash for attempting personal repairs or recycling in general is bad practice though. I've solved minor Dualshock issues with ease and it's saved me money and hassle. Disappointing the same isn't true for this (though I'm using DS4 for Stadia atm anyway lol).
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Controller being hard to access and thus trash for attempting personal repairs or recycling in general is bad practice though. I've solved minor Dualshock issues with ease and it's saved me money and hassle. Disappointing the same isn't true for this (though I'm using DS4 for Stadia atm anyway lol).
Yep. EVERY one. My son replaced his DS4 battery when he was 11.
I can't believe people can be so cavalier about stuff being rather intentionally made to be disposable landfill toxic ewaste.
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Very few manufacturers design something to be repairable, but they need to go out of their way to make it this hard, and I believe any company that does that deserves to be criticized for it. I do the same to apple and other companies who do this too.
It it a conscious decision to do something obviously anti consumer (limit their right to repair), and it's also much worse for the environment. Why would I not criticize them?
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You don't some products are just made to break them open because the clips are one way.
Who cares about their intent? When my Xbox Elite controller started messing up, I repaired it. When my Vive wand started messing up, I repaired it. I can't think of a single controller that I couldn't open up and repair fairly easily. The fact that it's a controller with only a one year warranty and it can't be opened up with any relative amount of ease and repaired. That definitely sucks.
There really is a defence force for everything...
I'm saying that the premise of the controller being purposely hard to open was very unlikely a design decision.
If you are coming from a perspective where this kind of engineering isn't something you think about, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because I don't expect this kind of knowledge to be widespread.
However, in this case the smoking gun evidence is very early on in this video. The first screw in the center of the chassis is deliberately obscured by a glued plastic cover that needs to be heat gunned to be removed. That is impossible to claim inadvertent or accidentally difficult. It would be far easier to simply have a regular sticker across the hole, or a rubber plug/thin plastic cap. But nope, they glued a plate over it. More expensive than the alternative, and the only possible reasoning is to make it more difficult.
It doesn't stop there. In a standard controller design, the array of screws and screw receptor cylinders provide structural integrity. This using less plastic and being easier to assemble/disassemble. In the case of the Stadia controller, they obviously didn't want ease of use, and so used plastic clips instead, and not ones that can be accessed without damaging the unit. Ah, but that's not enough to keep the unit as firm as a regular design! So they had to add an internal plastic frame as well! Extra material, all in the pursuit of making a disposable, functionally impenetrable unit.
It's not defensible by claiming they did this by ignorance or accident. And given how often analog sticks, bumpers, triggers, and especially batteries can need TLC or replacement, it's a disservice to the consumer and the environment. It's so bad that I can virtually guarantee there is not even an official repair protocol for these. They will almost certainly receive the RMA units, trash them, and send new replacements. It's a very poor attitude to have towards the environment, and it is disturbingly common with big tech companies these days.
Tech Jesus is really a great host for this kind of thing. On numerous occasions he has revealed engineering and design issues with products, and then the manufacturer responds with improved designs based on his analysis and reporting. It's really impressive when you think about it, and credit goes to the mfgs that are willing to take (literally) constructive criticism and improve their offerings as a result!
I've opened every controller I've owned and thought the switch pro to be one of the hardest.
This one needed a freaking heat gun and a dremel... Jesus.
This one needed a freaking heat gun and a dremel... Jesus.
There's a world of difference between not intending a product to be repaired by the user but not blocking it and actively going out of your way to prevent a product from being repaired by the user.
This thing looks like it would prevent even an authorized repair technician from fixing it without destroying the shell.
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As Arkaign put it. It's possible that there is no official repair protocol, and that internally, they just scrap and send replacements.
Is that even legal? Sounds like something that would be at least in order to reduce waste.
Well, China is the wild wild west with regards to environmental law, and the US is pretty much the land of bought and paid for lobbyists by the corporations. The EU has the best laws in this regard, but it's hard to enforce things when they simply dump them in other countries beyond the jurisdiction, where it just ends up polluting the ocean, biomass, and Earth as a whole.
Specifically to this Google controller, the best you could hope for is that they would repair and reshell them to at least cut down on some of the waste, but that's doubtful. Workers are becoming less available in Shenzhen, where much of this stuff is outsourced to, so you see a decline in quality as well as spare labor for much beyond cheap volume production. If you want an example, look at GPU quality over the past 5 years. Some direct model replacements have begun to significantly cut corners due to the shortage of labor.
More than the controller, I might be more worried about the blatant use of liquid nitrogen for common use of splashing it here and there like a glass of water.
Yeah, the way he splashes it about without gloves, goggles or anything. And tipping that big 30l bucket with one hand. That could easily tip over and freeze his feet!
As someone who opened their launch day Switch Pro controller.... What? At what point do you want a heat gun or Dremel?
I wish all controllers were as easy to open as Joy Cons. Just 4 screws and you got that thing open. No sticker nonsense either.
I mean Google could care less... gonna be thrown on a barge and dumped on a beach half way across the world. Nobody in the modern world cares because they just want their new cool tech toy.
What a terrible way to design a controller. Changing the battery on that thing is pretty much impossible.
My knowledge on LN2 comes almost entirely from watching PC overlockers like GN, but my basic understanding is that LN2 evaporates near instantly if there is nothing for it to soak/pool into. Splashing it on bare skin won't cause injuries. Most extreme overlockers I've watched never wear gloves or goggles
My knowledge on LN2 comes almost entirely from watching PC overlockers like GN, but my basic understanding is that LN2 evaporates near instantly if there is nothing for it to soak/pool into. Splashing it on bare skin won't cause injuries. Most extreme overlockers I've watched never wear gloves or goggles
So apparently it's safer to handle liquid nitrogen without gloves, as if it happens to contact bare skin, some kind of barrier gets formed and protects you from that brief exposure. (i learned this from watching people pour it over their hands) On the other hand, having gloves on, enables the liquid nitrogen to stick to your skin and cause harm.
I was comparing this one with the pro. The pro was hard but nothing compared to the stadia one
I don't write good, sorry
It's actually more dangerous to use gloves, even, as then the gloves give the ln2 something to freeze to your skin. DO NOT use gloves.
Okay, that makes sense.
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People, please look up the leidenfrost effect.
Liquid Nitrogen touching skin briefly is perfectly safe. The temperature difference is so large that the LN will evaporate as it reaches your skin, and the vapor layer that forms effectively shields you from contact. It's the same thing which makes water droplets form on hot stovetops instead of the water spreading out and getting everything wet.
Liquid Nitrogen touching skin briefly is perfectly safe. The temperature difference is so large that the LN will evaporate as it reaches your skin, and the vapor layer that forms effectively shields you from contact. It's the same thing which makes water droplets form on hot stovetops instead of the water spreading out and getting everything wet.
Actually yes. I can't remember if it was Gamers Nexus or another overclocker, but I remember someone once mentioning that they take off their shoes and socks before working with LN2 incase of a spill.