From the Workbench

Stick drift happens when the tiny sensor inside an analog stick wears down from everyday use, causing your character or camera to move on its own even when you're not touching the stick. It's one of the most common issues we see, especially on controllers used heavily for competitive games.

You can usually tell early by watching the on-screen calibration test in your console's controller settings — if the dot doesn't sit still in the centre when the stick is at rest, drift has already started. Left untreated, it gets worse over time and can make precise aiming or movement impossible. The good news: it's a fully repairable fix, not a reason to replace the whole controller.

Dust builds up inside every console over time, clogging the fan and cooling vents. The clearest sign is noise — if your console has gone from quiet to sounding like a jet engine under load, that's almost always dust restricting airflow, not a sign the hardware is failing.

Other signs include the console feeling hot to the touch, games slowing down or stuttering during long sessions, or the fan running at full speed even during light use. A full deep clean restores proper airflow, drops internal temperatures, and often makes an old console feel new again — it's one of the simplest, most affordable ways to extend a console's lifespan.

Every console ships with a basic thermal paste between the processor and heatsink, applied on a factory line to keep costs down. Over a few years, that paste dries out and loses much of its ability to transfer heat, which is a big reason older consoles run hotter than when they were new.

Liquid metal is a much better conductor than standard paste — it can drop processor temperatures noticeably, which means quieter fans and more stable performance under heavy load. It requires more careful application than paste (it's electrically conductive, so precision matters), which is why it's best left to someone experienced rather than attempted as a DIY job.

When a controller starts drifting, it's tempting to just buy a new one — but in most cases, the rest of the controller is completely fine. The fault is almost always isolated to the small sensor inside one analog stick, not the whole unit.

A stick drift repair replaces just that worn part and recalibrates the stick, at a fraction of the cost of a full replacement controller. It's worth it any time the shell, buttons, triggers and battery are all still in good shape — which, for most drifting controllers, they are.

Restarting fixes a lot of minor software hiccups, but some symptoms point to a hardware issue that a restart won't touch. Random shutdowns during gameplay, a fan that's constantly at full speed even at the menu screen, or a burning-dust smell are all signs worth taking seriously.

Visible corrosion around ports, a console that won't power on at all, or repeated overheating warnings are also hardware-level problems. Catching these early usually means a simpler, cheaper fix — waiting it out tends to let a small issue turn into a bigger one.

Keep the console in an open space with a few inches of clearance on all sides — cabinets and enclosed shelves trap heat and restrict the airflow the internal fan depends on. Standing consoles vertically or horizontally exactly as the manufacturer recommends also matters more than people expect.

Wipe down vents every few weeks with a dry cloth or a can of compressed air to slow down dust buildup, and avoid smoking or eating near the console — both accelerate internal grime far more than normal use does. None of this replaces a proper clean every year or two, but it buys you time between visits.

A proper clean isn't just opening the case and blowing out dust — it starts with a full disassembly so every panel, fan blade and heatsink fin can be reached, not just the parts visible through the vents. Built-up dust is removed by hand and with compressed air, since dust compacted against a fan motor won't shift with air alone.

Once everything is clean, the console is reassembled, powered on, and run under load to confirm fan noise and temperatures have actually improved — not just assumed to have improved. That test step is what separates a proper clean from a quick surface wipe.