I wouldn't recommend a butane soldering iron for something like this. They have terrible temperature control. Get a Pinecil or something similar if you want a small, inexpensive soldering iron that has good temperature control. Butane is fine when you're dealing with household soldering, but not for anything sensitive.

The solder tip should always be stored covered in solder, this avoids oxidation of the tip.

Its awesome how easily they made this handheld fixable and moddable

For those of you who encountered this video after this comment, just know that Gulikit, the company that makes most if not all hall effect joysticks has made a version of the part that needs no soldering, the thumbsticks are all ready to attach its just pull out ribbon cable take out 3 screws, take out, put new part in screw down and re latch the ribbon cable

One thing that can help with solder jobs like this is a blunt tip, with a blunt tip the heat transfers to the solder much faster.

2 quick tips: I used a method I saw to pry under the triggers, it worked great. My wires had a glue blob of some kind, I used a sharp knife to free the wires before I desoldered. This also kept the glue off my iron.

Soldering: When I was installing my Gulikits, I noticed the stock stick had a little bit of glue over the solder. I had to heat my iron up a bunch more than normal to get the solder flowing under the glue, then I could see it and it flaked off. I noticed you omitted warnings this time, like removing your SD card before you snap it, not losing screws, and being gentle with little wires and cables. Those have value!

Warning: If you damage the ribbon cables they are not sold by Valve or Ifixit, at least not yet. There is absolutely no way to replace them with factory equivalents at this time.

Excellent video. Recommend helping hands for the next small soldering job. EXCELLENT choice to keep a little deadzone to fix the L3 & R3 push shifting your aim or movement.

Please remember to unplug the battery before working on the Steam Deck I've seen so many people forget that.

Just be sure to get the correct type. Newer Steam Decks use Controller-ID MHDA, older are using MEDA. Right now you can't get the replacement joysticks for the newer MHDA or type b joysticks, however, they are working on it. Just check first and be sure to buy the right ones or your capacitive touch on the sticks won't work anymore!

Pretty stoked for hall sensors to proliferate through the market. Controllers rarely change much generation to generation and I'd love to keep one for a decade plus. The biggest failure point is the stick so the more failure proof the better

After you screw in the stick but before you put the backing back, make sure you fully rotate the sticks both counter clock wise and clock wise quickly, slowly, softly, and with a bit of force and listen carefully. Do this to make sure there isn’t a “clicking” or “grinding” sound from the wire making contact with anything. My deck out of the box had a clicking sound on the right thumb stick when it’s turned counter clock wise, so I had to open it up to move the wire out of the way.

Great video, thank you for making it! How ever you should revise the part about soldering. It instructs people to make most of the day one soldering mistakes that cause people to shy away from taking on such jobs. With proper instruction (or at least leaving out the incorrect bits) new DIYers are much more likely to have success. To those new DIYers reading this. Just a few things to correct. You never "tin" the iron. Yes you can apply a small amount of solder to the iron to increase surface area for heat transfer. But you still need to correctly tin both the contact pad on the joystick, as well as the wire. You also need to make sure to remove the lead free solder from both components when using a different type of solder.

My computer is so loud it's actually louder than a dying Nintendo switch fan.

WARNING: The Gulikit joysticks return MAX values when pushing them about 3/4 of the way. This GREATLY REDUCES PRECISION for games where that last 20% really matters, like racing. When on the deadzone calibration screen you will notice the dot travels outside of the circle because the joysticks are returning values GREATER than the max. 14:01 WARNING 2: These only work for early Type A joysticks. If you install them in a newer Deck, the capacitive touch sensors (thumb detection) will NOT WORK.

Thanks for the tutorial decided to do this and it went great! It was my first time soldering as well and after practicing a few times on an old board I took the leap on the sticks. Everything works great and I’m loving the new sticks great video!

This mod makes me want a steam deck

Thanks for the video! I have a set of these for my Steam Deck but have been holding off on installing them for now.

Just upgraded mine with Gulikit joysticks, deadzone cut in half. Thanks for the walktrough!

My tip is always clean but thanks for the TIP!!! 😂

Just wanted to say thanks for the video. It was the perfect guide, and I was successful in swapping out my joysticks. All hail Craft Computing!

Thanks for the video, I was put off from doing this because I have never soldered anything before but you really dumbed it down and gave me the confidence to do it. 👍

The replacement Hall effect based Switch sticks from the same manufacturer is probably the best value product I've ever purchased. At 12€ shipped to my door for both the sticks themselves and all the necessary tools to swap them out.

Tell me you never solder without telling me you never solder 🤣

I bought the Gulikit Kingkong 2 Pro and I must say that thing is awesome.

I suggest using tape painters tape or bluetack for holding down what you are working on when soldering. Helping hands or a small vise can also be useful, but I generally find that tape or bluetack holds more firmly than helping hands and doesn't take as much run as a panavise.

They feel really good on the deck. I ordered some for my switch too.

Jeff's solder tips 😁

I just ordered the joysticks and I will give this a go on my Steamdeck.

I never realized butane soldering irons exist. If my steam deck sticks crap the bed I'll be looking into this for sure.

Thanks followed instructions exactly installed the sticks with no issue calibration was a challenge. I had to copy the calibration file to the desktop and make it executable otherwise permission issues from console..

If you're not interested in the captive Steam stick function like me, I highly recommend replacing them with aluminum sticks to avoid the plastic on plastic wear. Also, _disconnect the battery and then press the power button a few times._

That voice crack at the start lmao

this is a great idea, i'm definitely going to be doing this mod in a while. thanks for the steps as well.

Why don't they include sticks as well so you don't have to solder?

Hall effect joysticks still not only have moving parts but depend on them... It's just that the sensing element does not depend upon electrical resistance between physically touching parts. Instead, hall effect sensors work by detecting a *moving* magnet above a sensor which detects the magnitude of a magnetic field. This obviously makes for a much more reliable sensing element since physical debris or worn elements cannot interfere with the interaction between 2 physical contacts.

for solder iron i recommend the Pine64 pencil 25$, you can use steam deck charger as power supply for the solder iron

Why not just sell replacement joystick with pre-soldered new cap.

I was wondering when someone would get around to putting Hal sticks in a deck; about time! First vid I've seen concerning the matter - good stuff. Pinecil soldering iron (wireless usb charged) - look for v2.

I haven't had any drift, but the left stick rubs/grinds against the ring. So I'm installing these along with aluminum sticks.

Pretty Important, capacitive touch will NOT work if you have type B controls. Under system settings/Steam Deck Controller ID if it starts with MHDA then its a no go! I believe gulikit is working on a compatible version.

I don't get why they can't just ship with caps as well... Not like I am afraid to do this, but what if you want to replace the caps due to wear. They should have that as an option maybe?

Shouldn't the battery be disconnected before disconnecting components?

Also the GPD WINMAX 2 comes with Hall Effects sticks. Definitely a worthwhile and relatively simple upgrade for the Steam Deck.

someone gave me a butane soldering iron years ago and I've never bothered to try to figure out how to use it till now, thanks.

Will have to try these out. I feel like the steam deck sticks are just a touch too soft, so if these are a smidge stiffer and should basically never drift, I'm down to do this upgrade.

Replace thumb sticks with gulikit thumb sticks... Still have stick drift. So that's cool. Luckily my issues are on the LEFT thumb stick so I don't really care. The issue is that the stick has a little loose play on it and the sticks are so sensitive to movement that the play the stick has registers movement up and to the right. So even when the stick is centered it thinks the stick is being pushed up and to the right ever so slightly. 😕

I really don't understand why that company that makes these kit, doesn't give you a full made set.. with the thumbsticks already attached, this way it's just swapping out old ones for new ones.. this is a really weird decision in my opinion.. I would NOT want to do something like that (I also do not own a soldering kit, nor do I intend to buy one just for one time use). but if this company would make a FULL kit and we just swap it out (unscrew and re-screw the new ones) then I would CERTAINLY want to do this.. EDIT: or even better... let valve upgrade the old with the new Hall effect ones. Maybe as a standard for all versions OR only available on the 512 GB version..

Hate it when my stick drifts. Thanks for the video, you've earned my affiliate link purchase :-p

Why didn't they just include the joysticks in the package so we needn't solder?

Do you think they will make a kit where soldering is not required

I thinkn I'll do this just for fun tbh, great video!

I think I will do this eventually. I just need to work on my soldering skills, I also have a tendency to rush things.

My thum tab konsole comand is not giving me the calibration option. I also try the full command and nothing comes up. Please help

If you want to go cordless the Weller-BL60MP reaches around 1,000F. And being an electric iron it heats up rapidly and there's no fossil fuel involved.

totaly worth it. my steam deck got drift issues

I can't solder due to having essential tremors, once they make it so we don't have to do that I'll get these.

Just finished this mod!

Great vid but i have one question, how did u got past the „watch monitor” quest, i got hard locked and wasnt been able to play this game any further

Im ordering these rn 😩

I heard these sticks actually change the dead zone of the original thumbsticks from a circle to a square. I don't know why Gulikit would do this.

How can I change the deadzone outside of steam? When steam isn't running, things go haywire and randomly move up and down..

I really wish they make it for the joycons/switch :o

Keep your tips clean, gents

Do they feel radically different? I kid you not. Joycon drift is what kept me away from the switch. But my deck comes Saturday, and I've never used Hall Effect joysticks before. Any different in feel/sound?

Great video,though for an fps game, id say to just use gyro and/or touchpads.

I've never heard of a butane Saturday night (Edit wtf?) and I've watched lots of videos of other people's soldering before. Edit: I meant soldering iron how did it become Saturday night I have no idea.

Thanks for the video. Id use a different soldering iron, also have something on your desk to make sure your screen is ok, Also I see you took out the SD card which is good but you need to recommend it needs to be done before you unscrew anything. but good video though thanks

I'm not a gamer, so whether the joystick drifts or not is not particularly important to me. But if I could take off the two side controller wings and somehow add a keyboard the steam deck would make a nice little super portable laptop.

Unfortunately, these Gulikits have bad QA control. Some failures with left sticks (no idea why only lefts) is relatively common problem. I've just received mine and thought everything is good, quickly checked the movement and installed it. The installation is quite simple if you have basic soldering skills. I've assembled the Deck and calibrated. However, during the game I've realized that the left stick is not that smooth enough at the bottom right corner, I had to apply a bit more force to move it there. The right stick is completely fine and very smooth at any position. So at first I thought that may be I did something wrong but after disassembling it - turned out that it is some mechanical problem in the stick itself. So I had to send them back and order a new kit. I would rather go with original replacement but they are not available atm on ifixit. Considering that you have to solder the wire and then if later you find a problem - unsolder it again, I would not recommend the replacement if you have good working original sticks. If you still want to use the Gulikit - I highly advice to check everything before soldering and assembling the Deck, so you will not have to waste your time on doing everything backwards.

Steam have changed the controllers in some Decks I see meaning that these kits won't work in all decks now as it kills the capacitive touch on the button. I'm trying to find out if the manufacturer are making a kit for the other type?

Where can I get that solder tool

hi can you link that soldering kit you use? THANK YOU SOO MUCH

Thanks for the vid but is there a seller with different color joycons

Real question is - what was Ret wondering about?

I lowered the dead zone way more withe the stock joysticks

Mind-blowing.. a butane soldering iron. Wow.

It seems these joysticks are only working for revision MEDA (A) and not the newer revision MHDA (B).

i'm just waiting on that email now

Hmmm, thumbstick calibration doesn't seem to be on my steam deck? Update: for those not savy... you can find the binary in /bin/thumbstick_cal. You can then run cp /bin/thumbstick_cal ~/.local/bin. Then run chmod +x ~/.local/bin/thumbstick_cal. Then you can navigate to the directory with cd ~/.local/bin, then run the calibration software itself with ./thumbstick_cal

Is it possible to install such analog sticks on Dualschok or Dualsense controllers?

Did this mod to my deck last week and had hard glue over the solder pads that needed to be removed before it could unsolder.

Hey! I have those same snip! :D

Wonder can these be desoldered and put into a PS4/PS5?🤔🤔🤔

Can this be done on the onexplayer

Will the sticks work without the touch sensors?.

I want hall effect joysticks for the xbox controller.

Great video! Is it possible to do this kind of modding with a different controllers, like a base Xbox controller?

Anyone hear tiny clinking sound when moving steam deck analog specially when you move circly

Why is the term for determining the joystick distance with magnets called "Hall Effect"?

Not gonna lie -- I'd pay a little extra for these with new hats already attached and wired in. If I ever have to do this, I'm likely to set myself on fire.

but why cant gulikit release a kit with thumbsticks included , they can create a whole controller , but thumbsticks is too much

So, did this reduce input lag?

Anyone doing this. Just be advised the capacitive function doesn’t work on type b thumbsticks. If u have type b sticks, no point in soldering.

The misconception about hall effect joysticks. They don't fail sensor wise. But, they do fail mechanically. After so many years you're going to have to increase the dead zone because it won't snap back to center like it should.

Hopefully they will release an upgrade kit for the PS5 and PS4 controllers might as well include the Xbox controllers as well.

What is the ideal temp range for soldering the joysticks?

How's the sticks holding after 10months?

sweet!