IIDX Controller Mod, Since people asked Options

[Madek]

Since people asked about it here, I might as well post it here also.

HERE WE GO~


Each little square is a 1cm x 1cm square cut out of a hard rubber material (I used Dr. Scholls womens heel inserts, but I've heard of people that have used a type of material like that of a magnet off a fridge, or a thin mouspad) about 1mm thick, glued onto the circut board. These will help the the corners not being able to sink down far enough into the casing that it will stick.


Then I shaved the corners of every key quite a bit using a metal file.


And also the front and back edges of the keys.


This step is really important. Cut small circles (I traced a dime, and cut smaller than that. Other people have used inside of a CD) out of a thin carboard material (A little thicker than a cereal box, a shoe box should be perfect thickness), and glue it onto the bottom of the controller so that the plunger covers the material. This makes it so that you dont have to push hard at all for the thing to respond.



And to answer some other questions I've been asked about..

-I kept the little black rubber slivers in my keys, I see no need to remove them and it makes the controller sound better (to me)

-Some people are scared to shave their keys, but I feel that it really does help it from sticking, since the edges catching the inside of the casing are a main problem for it.

-I used super glue to glue everything on that needed to be glued on.

-To find the Dr Scholls I used, go to www.savon.com, click the Shop A to Z tab, find Foot Support Devices, scroll down the list of product until you find "Dr Scholls Half Insoles Women" those are what I used.

Any questions, comments, improvements ask/tell here. :)

[DJ Sammy]

I have to ask, could you use an emery board to file the keys down?

[nytelyte]

I have to ask, could you use an emery board to file the keys down?

I, myself, went to Sears and bought myself a Hobby Rasp file... for like $6... a hard metal file with two sides to it... half of it is kinda fine, the other half almost has what look like teeth... I used the finer side to file my keys down.

[Madek]

I don't think emery boards would be rough enough to do much to the keys.

[Kilroy]

I don't think emery boards would be rough enough to do much to the keys.

Actually, an emery board is exactly what I used it on my keys. I haven't had to take the controller apart since I did it, and that was prolly about 4 months ago. You really don't have to take much off the keys. Matter of fact I found it helped more to take about 1mm off of the tops of the holes that the keys are in than to do anything at all to the keys...

[enojy]

wal-mart has a metal file in hardware for about four bucks, sounds very similar to the one mentioned above (fine/rough side, fine/smooth side.) it works great.

for people scared to shave your keys, just do it. the metal file does not do drastic shaving with one swipe, it takes a lot of tedious rubbing back and forth to have any effect -- so it's really hard to do any damage to the key (besides scratching the shiny tops... which shouldn't be a dire concern.) i'm doing it now pretty sloppily and quick, and it's working out just fine. for best results, shave every sharp edge (corners, sides, and the height of the corners.) it also makes the controller look a little extra sexy if done correctly

[Taren]

"Why do you need... Dr. Scholl's original songs?"

I "modded" my controller with some WD40 and some paper towels. I just sprayed the towels a bit and wiped down the sticky surfaces on the controller (outside edge of buttons, inside edges of button holes). Voila, no more sticky buttons. Not even on The Big Voyager.

[Devil Warrior]

All I did was magnet mod + filed the keys down, I think its prettier.

[GigaClon]

At first I did the Cardboard under the keys mod. but it kept moving.
So my Dad had some small washers (about the size of the rubber hole) so I used those with a couple of paper squares (like Cereal Boxes). and no problems here

[dj HaQ]

lol time for a new host. All those "user posted images...." =P

Edit: Decided to look at this thread and I recommend only one layer of shoebox per key, not two. lol. Definitely.

This post has been edited by dj HaQ: Oct 6 2004, 02:56 PM

[Taren]

This morning I cut up some cereal box cardboard and threw it on top of the keys for spacing. The thickness is 0.015", the same as five sheets of school paper. I put in two cutouts of those, and it seemed like it threw off my timing. (i.e. I was consistently getting -100 to -150 on my lower score records.) Which way do you have to adjust when adding spacers to the keys? I was thinking early. I don't like early.

Maybe I just suck. I haven't been playing much in the last week, but I did AA Holic 7 for the first time yesterday, so I can't be too bad off.

Maybe it was because I used slices of a Frosted Flakes box- that type of cereal only tends to raise tiger yamato scores, doesn't it? (GET IT?!?!)

I still sucked ass at 2002, though.

[bumm]

I've been trying to mod my controller, namely with the cardboard between the plungers&keys. At first I used a double thick credit card (like my pre-modded one came), but it didn't work properly. Now, I've tried using the cardboard, and I'm still having trouble.

The thing is, it makes the keys less responsive than they were in the first place. It feels like it's making contact with the board, but it doesn't register. I tried it with a different circuit board so I know it's not just the circuit board. Any idea's how I can remedy this? I'd like to start work on doubles soon. :\

[OnePhraseBlues]

what i did was first i cleaned the controller with rubbing alcohol. then added the cardboard circles in between the keys and the rubber stoppers. then just put it all back together and BAM! its fixed again no filing or any destructive operations needed

[Kidareni]

I will do anything but shave my keys.

Haven't needed to in the 2 years I've had it.

[Skyline]

I'm slowly but surely shaving dem keys. :/

Took out the rubber slivers on the button edges...although that did stop the sticking, my timing went to HELL. It was to a point where it made the game unplayable. That goes double for 6th Mix+Core Remix. >_<

So now they're back on, and every single one of the keys stick. Even Start and Select. YAAAY

EDIT[A]: Paper "insulation" around the inside of the plungers seems to be working nicely for the moment, until a more lasting fix can be made. Finally got the FC on Indigo Vision with this mod, go figure.

[rmz]

Took out the rubber slivers on the button edges...although that did stop the sticking, my timing went to HELL.

That's really weird -- when I took mine out, my timing improved. O_o

[Kidareni]

The only mod I've ever done to my preshusssss controller is the cardboard circles. Any sticking is resolved with a good cleaning.

I heart my controller and refuse to shave anything on it.

[deathrazor]

I heart my controller and refuse to shave anything on it.

Agreed. And all I did was the O-ring mod. Oh man is it awesome.

[Psydude]

Agreed. And all I did was the O-ring mod. Oh man is it awesome.

i tried out my friends controller with that cardboard mod, and i cant stand it. Although im sure i can fix it, every time my hands hit they keys it feels like they are being shot into the sky. Maybe its just me, but personally, when i press a button, i like for it to go DOWN.

[Lux]

O-Ring and mounting tape has been amazing to me. Yeah its ultra sensitive, but I have never had a sticky key, and haven't opened my controller since i put the rings in three months ago. Plus, the keys depress to flush with the casing. I've got the pictures of the sizes i used somewhere if anyone wants them... I used two sizes of rings to cover the entire base of the plungers.