gruso
thunderbox
Well, I got somewhere with my idea so here are the pics! It's not as sexy as Dave's, but this is a mod that virtually anyone should be able to do. In short, it involves chopping out the center "crossbar" and fixing it to the four buttons to make one solid pad with a smooth surface.
The first step is as per Dave's; the center piece is snipped out (being careful not to wreck it):
Next, the tabs are snipped 2/3 of the way up from the bottom so they splay upwards. This will allow them to follow the angle of the button surface:
Using a soldering iron (I keep a spare tip handy for plastic work), the center piece is "tacked" into place:
Once it's tacked around the sides, it's flipped over and tacked around the bottom. Now it's solid:
After tidying up with a Dremel, here's the first reassembly:
At this point the opening was not really wide enough, because the pad now needs extra lateral room to pivot. Disassembled, hit it with the Dremel, reassembled, all good. The total size of the opening is only about 1mm bigger (all around) than you see in the above pic. I was worried that I'd have to add a pivot point in the center of the pad too, but it's not needed.
How does it feel? So very nearly like it came from the factory, I even surprised myself. To put a number on it, maybe 85% as good as a bought one. Which is still 100% better than GPH's effort. The button travel is still technically the same, but it certainly feels like less when when your thumb is rolling around on it.
I tested it with Ruckman first for basic 4 directional action, then D1X Rebirth (Descent) for full 3D navigation. It's a winner. [edit] Payback is an absolute dream to play now!
If you've got a steady hand (and a Dremel or equivalent) I highly recommend doing this mod.
The first step is as per Dave's; the center piece is snipped out (being careful not to wreck it):
Next, the tabs are snipped 2/3 of the way up from the bottom so they splay upwards. This will allow them to follow the angle of the button surface:
Using a soldering iron (I keep a spare tip handy for plastic work), the center piece is "tacked" into place:
Once it's tacked around the sides, it's flipped over and tacked around the bottom. Now it's solid:
After tidying up with a Dremel, here's the first reassembly:
At this point the opening was not really wide enough, because the pad now needs extra lateral room to pivot. Disassembled, hit it with the Dremel, reassembled, all good. The total size of the opening is only about 1mm bigger (all around) than you see in the above pic. I was worried that I'd have to add a pivot point in the center of the pad too, but it's not needed.
How does it feel? So very nearly like it came from the factory, I even surprised myself. To put a number on it, maybe 85% as good as a bought one. Which is still 100% better than GPH's effort. The button travel is still technically the same, but it certainly feels like less when when your thumb is rolling around on it.
I tested it with Ruckman first for basic 4 directional action, then D1X Rebirth (Descent) for full 3D navigation. It's a winner. [edit] Payback is an absolute dream to play now!
If you've got a steady hand (and a Dremel or equivalent) I highly recommend doing this mod.
