@@SpringChickensOnlyMan Ideal solution is a heat fan firectly to the tube but not to the battery. But a simple lighter also works as I shown. If you don't have heat tubing - you can use anything to isolate the wires from each other, just make sure the isolation won't go off. Electric tape would be better than a plain duct tape due to different adhesive. Heat tubing will also increase stiffness of the wire in comparison, but since there's little to no pull for the wires while using the controllers almost anything will work.
@@SneakyJoeRu Thank you. Also I have an idea but it might require batteries different from the index controllers. I heard of a few numbers, 18650 and 21700. There are a lot of battery holders with red and black wires I might be able to solder onto the 1.2 connector to send power straight into the controller. I'm just not sure where to put a hole in the plastic for the wire to stick out because there's a lot of yellow tape near that ribbon cable and damaging that tape might ruin the ribbon cable itself. Reason why I'm saying this is because I wanna see if I can make a power bank on my wrists with battery swapping but sending power straight into the controller because trying to charge another battery while it's being used doesn't sound like a great idea because it'll heat the battery up more and make it degrade quicker. Plus having swappable batteries available and working might make them easier to replace them instead of prying a controller open over and over again. Glad aliexpress has a lot of useful stuff that could help and after all lithium batteries might be lithium batteries. It's too bad there's no guarantee the controllers will work with a battery that's not meant to be used with them but it might be worth a try. It's just I saw a guy do this with vive controllers th-cam.com/video/gAO0UOUTHQo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rGA6A5VrbnO48Kzb and something similar might be impossible with the valve index ones.
@@SneakyJoeRu Sorry if I'm talking to you to much by the way. I just like having backup plans for the worst yet to come. Something bad might most definitely happen sooner or later
Who ever designed the index controller can actually go off themselves. Probably the most aggravating piece of technology I’ve had to deal with in a long time
Believe it or not, my first off-camera disassembly was made either above a bathtub or in close proximity of a pan to isolate the fire. I know how scary it can be.
Saved me several hundred dollars with this one, thanks for the help. I ended up not having to drill out that one screw (just had to let the bit extend out more from my screwdriver and not seat said bit all the way, in order to reach) and my battery I got from an Amazon seller included a thermistor and battery management circuit. With the right tools it's a bit harrowing, but doable.
@@Cinnabuns2009 Because 2 years ago, when I made this video, there were no batteries on Amazon. I pushed a person in China to develop and test a solution for people. Since then some manufacturers copied it - if you know a reputable seller - feel free to mention their names. I only can recommend what I tested myself since I was helping with development.
Thanks for putting together and sharing this guide. For the one T5 screw you the iFixit bit doesn't quite reach for, I found that the bit was long enough but the magnet in the driver pulled the bit out. I used a bit of cotton swab stick to prevent the bit magnet in the driver from pulling the bit out of the screw and was able to get that one without drilling out the controller. I hope this tip helps someone else!
Thank you for sharing the video. I replaced my left Index Controller's battery earlier today. I purchased the replacement battery with an integrated BMS (3 wires) from China. While removing the old battery, I did not manage to remove the connector frome the PCB without damaging it. The only option I had was to solder three wires on the pads of the PCB. Sholdering on the PCB through the small gap that is available was not easy. As soon as the wires were soldered, used hot glue to secure them on the PCB and prevent damage of the pads of the PCB. Then, I used a multimetre to measure the resistance on each pair of the wires, to make sure there was good connection and no short circuit (it should measure KOhms). Then I connected the wires of the PCB to the wires of the battery, one at a time to prevent accidental short-circuit. Then I attached a USB charger to the Type-C connector and let it charge for 10 minutes, removed the charging cable and switched on the Controller to confirm it gets started. All good. I re-assembled the unit and tested with SteamVR. Again, no issues. Finally, I let it charge for an hour or so, until the orange light turned white. I haven't yet tested how long the replacement battery lasts, but this is as good as it could get, considering Valve had designed and manufactured the device in such a way that it is very difficult to repair.
Thank you for the tutorial. I had to drill out that screw as well. I don't think I would have been able to figure it out without this video. I may have swore a few more times than you did, but I got it done.
Huge thanks! This went absolutely perfect for me with no issues, the replacement battery you listed was perfect. You just saved me a TON of money! Process was simple, a little heat from the hair dryer on the glue blob and it lifted right up no problem.
Thanks for that message 🙂 (also please leave a review on seller's page, so we can keep working on a better battery in the future). You're the second person who reported successful repair, and this means that now Valve officially lost more money now than I paid them for replacement controller to screw around with , and it's now officially worth for me in moral way, considering their shitty replacement policy for Index controllers. I'm really glad I was of help here. Much love.
Good video, thanks. I attempted a battery replacement and found out that the left one uses t4 screws and right one uses t5, at least mine did, and I bought only t4 at the store that's long enough, so naturally I decided to drill out the right controllers screw and damaged the PCB in the process. RIP my right controller 😢
I just did the swap! Thank you! I used a heat gun low 180°f to soften the glue on the connector and used a plastic toothpick under it, and it came right up with little effort and no damage! Anyone worried about the battery, just don't puncture it and don't use metal. If you do puncture it it just shoots some flames, put it in a pan and take it outside. It happens!
Thank you so much!!! Both of my controllers wasn't charging and even if I manage to hard reset them and turn them on, everytime I plug in to charge they will just die again immediately. I follow your instructions and found out the battery's BMS gone faulty (I think somehow ONE of my charge cable killed BOTH of them) all I did was cut the white wire and now they are charging again! Now I just need to wait for the new replacement batteries to be delivered and replace them. Because Valve won't do RMA for my country and you just saved me $300 for new controllers! Lesson learned: Don't use some fishy made in china charge cables for your controllers!!!
Most likely batteries just ended their lifespan and failed to hold charge. There's not much to die in BMS, unless you were forcing high voltages on it. Cable is also unlikely to kill it, but a bad power brick might have. Yeah, Valve are douches when it comes to help with VR hardware. And when I think about many support cases I had with them, they were douches in general, so I'm glad I helped another poor soul to save some money :-) Good luck with replacements, and be sure to watch both videos for install instructions not to break anything.
Just repaired my left controller. Got an extra long and skinny T5 bit for the last screw. Ended up using a T8 for the larger screw, not a T9. Amazon has batteries that work and come with the BMS by "Cameron Sino." This video was hugely helpful, thanks.
Wonderful tutorial. This is far beyond my skills (and my patience levels) so I'll never do it. It's a shame, repairs like this shouldn't be this difficult because like you said it just creates e-waste. But that's the world we live in today.
Hearing this is beyong someone's level is kind of funny. I don't consider myself the most handy guy in the world, and the process is relatively simple if your hands don't shake like mine. Harvesting BMS isn't necessary if you want to use a battery which goes with one, I did it just to show it off, and to explain how to get one in case someone wants to experiment. The rest just requires some tools I've shown and patience.
@@SneakyJoesENG I have absolutely no experience or skills at soldering, nor do I have the tools or the confidence to crack up open my ~$300 controllers. More over, I do not have the patience to spend the time trying to do it myself. Either way, I am glad someone is out there doing this kind of content so other people can benefit from it.
@@darkl3ad3r Once you get to a point when one of your controllers stops working then you'll loose nothing by giving this a wee try. Honestly, it's a lot easier than it looks - the hardest part, by far, is having patience - and you might get lucky reconnecting the bigger ribbon quickly. Tinkering like this also opens up a whole world of money saving, and in this respect, TH-cam is very good (e.g. wire your own Cat7 ethernet cables? no problem...save a lot of money).
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for this video. The batteries I ordered came with a thermister (white wire) so it replaced the functionality perfectly. I followed this video step by step and had the repair done in about an hour (excluding the time it took to go to the hardware store and pick up a T5 torx head screwdriver that was narrow enough to take the controller apart.
Did you cut the wires or did you manage to remove the battery connector (without damaging it) ? I attempted the latter, damaged the connector and had to solder wires (and hot glue to secure) on the PCB, so it took me an extra hour to get there!
It is high-tech but the connector was hot-glued to prevent the replacement of the battery. Similarly, plastic parts are glued together to prevent disassembly and repair. Embedded, non-replaceable Li-Ion batteries are a trojan horse of electronics.
Big thanks for this vid^ My issue was not the battery. The strip/bus that connects the bottom chip to the top one unplugged its self when I dropped it on the floor. I was sure the thing was dead. I was just going to buy a new one but Steam don't have any. Was able to plug the strip back in with a pencil in the end, was like building a ship in a bottle because I only had the thing open as much as you did. I have previously sent a controller back and got sent a new one free. Same exact symptom, I knocked it, and it died instantly. No response to anything, totally dead. I'm now sure it was the same strip that came loose.
@@Sh4dovv its the top half of the controller. There's a data strip that connects the two halves together. It plugs onto the top half, flat on the surface. Just keep an eye out for a data strip that doesn't go anywhere. Theres only one
Great video. I need to get into my trigger to figure out why my trigger is clicking when it first starts to pull. This is the first video I've seen anyone open the bottom side.
So uh... when folding the black thing back down on the big ribbon, it popped out of it's hinge... anyone know if its possible to get it back in, or is it toast? It should have been super easy... it has wings that "lock" it in place for you to fold the black piece down... I wasn't counting on it being so incredibly fragile though. Edit: To answer my own question, I was able to detach the cable and carefully use sharp pointed tweezers to push the piece back into place - it didn't unhinge like I thought and was still connected. I tried again and somehow the gate flipped itself down when I sunk it into place. Feels wonderful.
Thanks. Lithium batteries are well guaranteed to wear out sooner or later. Maybe in the future people on TH-cam will tear down other vr controllers so we can replace the individual battery so that we won’t be paying a few hundred dollars for new controllers all the time. They charge us $270 for these and they permanently screw the battery in without giving us information on getting it out. Such a waste of money for them to make us put up with that
NP. I made the video because they made me waste money instead of helping me as they should. Now they lose money because of this. Screw Valve, honestly. XD
@@SneakyJoesENG Instead of asking Valve or steam support for help I may just get the battery on Aliexpress like you did. That way I can save money when my controllers battery goes bad
i'll propably buy a 3.8V battery that has a BMS already on it. that'l do fine. Tho i still have to figure it out and that WHEN it happens. When i have a index, dont got one yet
You can try to melt material back together or super glue it, but it won't be as stiff as it was before. It will not significantly affect the experience.
thank you this is like the only video on this but one question THE SCREW AT 3:20 WWWHAT SIZE IS THE SCREW AND WHAT SIZE SCREWDRIVER FITS IN THE HOLE EVERYTHING I HAVE DOESNT FIT
Hey, it's the same as the other screws, but it is pretty tricky to extract. I managed to extract the first one in my test controller, but failed to extract this on camera. Bonus for the fact that I showed how to open such screws to other folks who struggled.
They could have been designed to be repairable from the outset. They are actually made to prevent repair, so that the devices do fail and need to be replaced. As iFixIt reported, the cover that needs to be removed to allow for the disassembly of the parts, to gain access to the PCB, is glued with cement glue. Attempting to separate the parts breaks one of the parts.
Very nice and helpful video, thank you! My controllers are still pretty new and have no problems with the batteries, but when they'll need changing, I'll be sure to come back to follow this advice. I'm wondering, though, you didn't use the controller because you used a battery with lower voltage? Without it, won't the battery simply keep charging until it fails spectacularly?
No. It gets charged with 3.6v-3.8v on wires, and safe charge voltage for this battery is 4.2v, if I'm not mistaken. The BMS on the battery will just prevent it from overcharging and exploding.
@@MetalCanyon Without a BMS you need to use an external charger. Timing this is absolutely not an option since it will just degrade overtime and you'll miss charge stop at some point. Then you'll need a new house and maybe some limbs. Just get a battery with a BMS - almost all batteries I've seen of this form factor have one. :-)
@@blaxxun75 I don't have a spot weilder to securely solder bms to the battery. I was thinking of doing it with soldering iron, but decided it's not worth the risk. Hopefully the seller I've hit up will be able to wrap us some good quality replacement batteries soon and won't charge more than reasonable for those. I'm helping him with parameters now.
So you mentioned the valve index controllers could possibly be used without the battery inside of it. Is there any precautions I should take before I put the controller back together? Even without the battery inside I have a feeling the controller could fail or explode if I leave a wire or cord in the controller unattended. All I should need after that is a cord plugged into the bottom of the headset for it to work
Not sure about running it from USB, but it might work. The guy I mentioned was using extra long cables to connect to external batteries or a power supply to original battery plug to reduce weight of the controllers for high level beat saber.
@@SneakyJoeRu I don’t see a reason why someone can’t give it a shot. I bought my valve index controllers last week so I’m not going to mess with them right now. But maybe eventually I or someone can try removing the battery and running it through usb. Hopefully the controller doesn’t explode or anything after the battery was taken out. Do you know where that guy you mentioned went? I wish I could see what he did with his controllers
@@SneakyJoeRu Maybe the next time you have to replace your valve index you can try to turn it on through usb before you put the battery in and let me know.
@@SneakyJoeRu I'm just trying to find a plan to see if I can just have extra long cables in my valve index controller USBs instead of relying on the battery inside it that way I won't have to keep opening it over and over
EU has published an order that ask manufacturers must have their product's battery replaceable at March 2023. So I'm wondering if valve obeyed it and selling newer model of index controllers in EU or not?
My controller refuses to make any sounds & haptics after I dropped it, seems like one of the ribbon cables responsible for that got loose, does anyone know which particular cable is responsible and where is it located?
So I have a question. I hit the front of my controller on my desk and it caused loss of tracking but it stayed on but was blinking I finally go it turned off by holding buttons down power and b for 15 seconds ..but now it won't turn on ..but when I plug it in via USB it recognizes it and says I need to update and it does it and says successful but doesn't turn on still ... Any ideas ???
@@SneakyJoeRu I’m reusing the old bms, the battery size is definitely not right I used a vape battery from a elf bar and have interchangeable batteries using and Tp4056 to have a recharger.
Hey, I'd seek on aliexpress. You can try to contact the seller that manufactured battery from my description and send them photo and description of what was broke. They might be able to help better than I.
I was able to source a battery with the proper connector and the thermistor wire. DO NOT unglue that connector. It is near impossible to put back as it's just sitting on the board and needs down pressure to hold. Also the connector itself is EXTREMELY flimsy. It took my 2 batteries and 2 hours to get it to work, and I don't trust it at all. Cut the cable lile he does in the video, leave that glued connector alone. The grip ribon was a 10 seconds ordeal, a real piece of cake compared to this connector from hell.
I wish I had read your comment earlier. I damaged the connector and I had to solder three wires (and hot-glue to secure them) on the PCB. Took me an extra hour unnecessarily.
@@arysiuse it kinda is. It shouldn't overheat, however - this is what bms is for along other things. Thermistor should read this data and prevent it from charging too fast.
And why does the BMS need a termistor to know if it is fully charged when it can measure the Voltage? You dont measure the charging state by temperature...
Steam refusing to help you is is real issue here. Steam and all these companies should KNOW that batteries don't last very long. A controller that cost 300 dollars should have MODULAR parts. It's very easy to make parts modular so there isn't any excuse. Being able to pop the side off of a vr controller and slap a new battery in or replace a drifting thumstick should be a inexpensive and quick fix. It would save the company money on defective replacements too, instead of sending people a entire new stick they could just send the part. I don't get why they didn't think of this.
Yes, they're asses for designing it they way they did. But I'm glad to see number of sold batteries now which I helped the guy to design, and I just know that Valve lost a huge chunk of money they could keep if they didn't decide to screw me specifically. If I'm offended, I'll do everything I can to screw over the offender.
i think id rather take a dremel and cut through the plastic of the controller untill i reach the battery from a different angle before i take this thing apart
Sooo pimax sent me a replacement controller (left index controller) and told me to take the battery out of the faulty one and put it in the one theyre sending me because they cant send it due to customs (wtf bullshit is that), after watching this, they can get fked. thank you for this video, i sent it this to them and asked "wtf"?
What a bunch of fuckheads man... They refused me in getting a replacement, made me spend hundreds of dollars to get this video done, and now they're sending original controllers to other people?... Fucking e-waste shitting clowns. Also my seller has allowed to send batteries to Germany if you're from it. You can give it a shot. Taking our 1 battery is still safer than taking out 2 for replacement (I don't think a battery you've taken out this way should be used as cover may be damaged and can get worse overtime)
@@SneakyJoesENG far out you too hey, that sucks man :(, Im on my 2nd rma from them because the 1st one came in a squished box that already had stick drift, most likely another RMA that wasnt checked and just shoved in the post before the luna new year. my assumption is they dont have any index controllers left, which is why they have their "Pimax Sword" controllers. Im in Australia so Valve dont even sell their controllers or headset here. There is one retailer though who conveniently sell the controller separately so I picked up a left controller for $220aud which isn't tooo bad. Honestly Ive had enough of pimax, there's no 12k on the horizon the pimax crystal is a joke. I just wish there was another vr company out there that did large FOV headsets. Good luck with pimax man, i'll keep you posted with whats going on my end. Stay safe.
jesus fkn christ.... Valve but also Sony should be ashamed for themselves for not making the battery easily replaceable on their controllers. Why tf game controllers do not have replaceable batteries? it's not like they need to survive rain or pool diving as a phone might need to. It is despicable to make the battery almost impossible to swap on these...
I was able to reuse the BMS from the original battery, so that I now have a fully working new battery with a thermistor. (The battery that is sold with the thermistor was over 3 times more expensive, so I didn't get it) See how here: th-cam.com/video/LQig7AJJKNU/w-d-xo.html
It might be a bit dangerous to solder 3.8v bms to 3.7v battery. Might not be too critical, but just in case please consult with other electricians or people who work with batteries and understand their limits. With such mod I'd always keep an eye on the controllers while they are charging. And I'm not responsible if your house burns. I'd rather recommend to use the original battery without a thermistor with original battery bms.
i am not going to fucking do this, valve... what the fuck? why is the battery buried deep inside teh controller like this where you have to take the whole thing apart... this controller is only good for like 60 charge cycles max until it has a 3 minute battery life...
@@taiyoh04 You can look up what happens with a battery if you pierce or bend it. Liquids ad metals inside go into a rapid chemical reaction with oxygen, and it'll be either an explosion or a fire. So yes, this process, despite looking trivial, may be dangerous if you don't feel the limits, thus the warnings I constantly gave.
Whoever designed these controllers needs to stub their toe really hard. I should not have to perform surgery on a component that is likely to be the first to wear out.
th-cam.com/video/ODQ-un51vKE/w-d-xo.html You can now get the battery that you won't need to solder.
Quick question. If I get heat tubing what should I use to warm and shrink it? Couldn't we just wrap tape around it or something?
@@SpringChickensOnlyMan Ideal solution is a heat fan firectly to the tube but not to the battery. But a simple lighter also works as I shown.
If you don't have heat tubing - you can use anything to isolate the wires from each other, just make sure the isolation won't go off. Electric tape would be better than a plain duct tape due to different adhesive. Heat tubing will also increase stiffness of the wire in comparison, but since there's little to no pull for the wires while using the controllers almost anything will work.
@@SneakyJoeRu Thank you. Also I have an idea but it might require batteries different from the index controllers. I heard of a few numbers, 18650 and 21700. There are a lot of battery holders with red and black wires I might be able to solder onto the 1.2 connector to send power straight into the controller. I'm just not sure where to put a hole in the plastic for the wire to stick out because there's a lot of yellow tape near that ribbon cable and damaging that tape might ruin the ribbon cable itself.
Reason why I'm saying this is because I wanna see if I can make a power bank on my wrists with battery swapping but sending power straight into the controller because trying to charge another battery while it's being used doesn't sound like a great idea because it'll heat the battery up more and make it degrade quicker. Plus having swappable batteries available and working might make them easier to replace them instead of prying a controller open over and over again.
Glad aliexpress has a lot of useful stuff that could help and after all lithium batteries might be lithium batteries. It's too bad there's no guarantee the controllers will work with a battery that's not meant to be used with them but it might be worth a try. It's just I saw a guy do this with vive controllers th-cam.com/video/gAO0UOUTHQo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rGA6A5VrbnO48Kzb and something similar might be impossible with the valve index ones.
@@SneakyJoeRu Sorry if I'm talking to you to much by the way. I just like having backup plans for the worst yet to come. Something bad might most definitely happen sooner or later
@@SneakyJoeRu if I have to pierce a hole in my controller for wires to stick out for an external battery where should I put the hole at?
Who ever designed the index controller can actually go off themselves. Probably the most aggravating piece of technology I’ve had to deal with in a long time
My favorite quote from this is "it will explode and you will die" as I've fucked up many batteries by puncturing them and yeah it'd fucking scary
Believe it or not, my first off-camera disassembly was made either above a bathtub or in close proximity of a pan to isolate the fire. I know how scary it can be.
Saved me several hundred dollars with this one, thanks for the help. I ended up not having to drill out that one screw (just had to let the bit extend out more from my screwdriver and not seat said bit all the way, in order to reach) and my battery I got from an Amazon seller included a thermistor and battery management circuit. With the right tools it's a bit harrowing, but doable.
Glad I was of help.
Why wouldn't you tell us what the battery name on Amazon was so we could use one with a thermistor?
@@Cinnabuns2009 Because 2 years ago, when I made this video, there were no batteries on Amazon. I pushed a person in China to develop and test a solution for people. Since then some manufacturers copied it - if you know a reputable seller - feel free to mention their names. I only can recommend what I tested myself since I was helping with development.
Thank you, sir! Very helpful in my repair of both knuckles controllers getting their new batteries installed. The operation was a success!
Thanks for putting together and sharing this guide.
For the one T5 screw you the iFixit bit doesn't quite reach for, I found that the bit was long enough but the magnet in the driver pulled the bit out. I used a bit of cotton swab stick to prevent the bit magnet in the driver from pulling the bit out of the screw and was able to get that one without drilling out the controller. I hope this tip helps someone else!
Thank you for sharing the video. I replaced my left Index Controller's battery earlier today. I purchased the replacement battery with an integrated BMS (3 wires) from China. While removing the old battery, I did not manage to remove the connector frome the PCB without damaging it. The only option I had was to solder three wires on the pads of the PCB. Sholdering on the PCB through the small gap that is available was not easy. As soon as the wires were soldered, used hot glue to secure them on the PCB and prevent damage of the pads of the PCB. Then, I used a multimetre to measure the resistance on each pair of the wires, to make sure there was good connection and no short circuit (it should measure KOhms). Then I connected the wires of the PCB to the wires of the battery, one at a time to prevent accidental short-circuit. Then I attached a USB charger to the Type-C connector and let it charge for 10 minutes, removed the charging cable and switched on the Controller to confirm it gets started. All good. I re-assembled the unit and tested with SteamVR. Again, no issues. Finally, I let it charge for an hour or so, until the orange light turned white. I haven't yet tested how long the replacement battery lasts, but this is as good as it could get, considering Valve had designed and manufactured the device in such a way that it is very difficult to repair.
PS. I did keep a pot with a lid next to my desk, as others mentioned in their comments; just in case!
Thank you for the tutorial. I had to drill out that screw as well. I don't think I would have been able to figure it out without this video. I may have swore a few more times than you did, but I got it done.
Huge thanks! This went absolutely perfect for me with no issues, the replacement battery you listed was perfect. You just saved me a TON of money! Process was simple, a little heat from the hair dryer on the glue blob and it lifted right up no problem.
Thanks for that message 🙂 (also please leave a review on seller's page, so we can keep working on a better battery in the future).
You're the second person who reported successful repair, and this means that now Valve officially lost more money now than I paid them for replacement controller to screw around with , and it's now officially worth for me in moral way, considering their shitty replacement policy for Index controllers. I'm really glad I was of help here. Much love.
Good video, thanks. I attempted a battery replacement and found out that the left one uses t4 screws and right one uses t5, at least mine did, and I bought only t4 at the store that's long enough, so naturally I decided to drill out the right controllers screw and damaged the PCB in the process. RIP my right controller 😢
I just did the swap! Thank you! I used a heat gun low 180°f to soften the glue on the connector and used a plastic toothpick under it, and it came right up with little effort and no damage! Anyone worried about the battery, just don't puncture it and don't use metal. If you do puncture it it just shoots some flames, put it in a pan and take it outside. It happens!
I was actually doing my first replacement off camera with a pan nearby. It's thick and won't burn.
@@SneakyJoesENG not a bad idea! I've only had one pop off, was like a tiny road flare but was glad to have a pan to run it outside!
great video, honest and to the point with a little rant on the side :)
Thanks for the help, i used the new battery so I didn't even need soldering. Good guide.
Thank you for this video and the second one as well. It made it easy to replace the battery once I got it.
I also asked the guy to make proper batteries with matching connector ;-) glad to help my man
Thank you so much!!! Both of my controllers wasn't charging and even if I manage to hard reset them and turn them on, everytime I plug in to charge they will just die again immediately. I follow your instructions and found out the battery's BMS gone faulty (I think somehow ONE of my charge cable killed BOTH of them) all I did was cut the white wire and now they are charging again! Now I just need to wait for the new replacement batteries to be delivered and replace them. Because Valve won't do RMA for my country and you just saved me $300 for new controllers!
Lesson learned: Don't use some fishy made in china charge cables for your controllers!!!
Most likely batteries just ended their lifespan and failed to hold charge. There's not much to die in BMS, unless you were forcing high voltages on it. Cable is also unlikely to kill it, but a bad power brick might have.
Yeah, Valve are douches when it comes to help with VR hardware. And when I think about many support cases I had with them, they were douches in general, so I'm glad I helped another poor soul to save some money :-) Good luck with replacements, and be sure to watch both videos for install instructions not to break anything.
Instead, use fishy made in China battery replacements instead! 😂
Just repaired my left controller. Got an extra long and skinny T5 bit for the last screw. Ended up using a T8 for the larger screw, not a T9. Amazon has batteries that work and come with the BMS by "Cameron Sino." This video was hugely helpful, thanks.
Wonderful tutorial. This is far beyond my skills (and my patience levels) so I'll never do it. It's a shame, repairs like this shouldn't be this difficult because like you said it just creates e-waste. But that's the world we live in today.
Hearing this is beyong someone's level is kind of funny. I don't consider myself the most handy guy in the world, and the process is relatively simple if your hands don't shake like mine. Harvesting BMS isn't necessary if you want to use a battery which goes with one, I did it just to show it off, and to explain how to get one in case someone wants to experiment. The rest just requires some tools I've shown and patience.
@@SneakyJoesENG I have absolutely no experience or skills at soldering, nor do I have the tools or the confidence to crack up open my ~$300 controllers. More over, I do not have the patience to spend the time trying to do it myself. Either way, I am glad someone is out there doing this kind of content so other people can benefit from it.
It looks harder than it is. After all if it's broken whats the worst that could happen? You're gonna break it?
@@darkl3ad3r Once you get to a point when one of your controllers stops working then you'll loose nothing by giving this a wee try. Honestly, it's a lot easier than it looks - the hardest part, by far, is having patience - and you might get lucky reconnecting the bigger ribbon quickly. Tinkering like this also opens up a whole world of money saving, and in this respect, TH-cam is very good (e.g. wire your own Cat7 ethernet cables? no problem...save a lot of money).
Thanks so much for making this video dude. Just had my right index controller die on me so I'll be trying this repair soon!
Very helpful. Thanks. I am currently charging my controller with the new battery. Going to do a full test after a full charge.
Glad I was of help. Please update people here how it works for you :-) For me it was enough to resume playing with my controllers.
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for this video. The batteries I ordered came with a thermister (white wire) so it replaced the functionality perfectly. I followed this video step by step and had the repair done in about an hour (excluding the time it took to go to the hardware store and pick up a T5 torx head screwdriver that was narrow enough to take the controller apart.
Did you cut the wires or did you manage to remove the battery connector (without damaging it) ?
I attempted the latter, damaged the connector and had to solder wires (and hot glue to secure) on the PCB, so it took me an extra hour to get there!
This disassembly only made me marvel further at Valve’s incredible workmanship.
It is high-tech but the connector was hot-glued to prevent the replacement of the battery. Similarly, plastic parts are glued together to prevent disassembly and repair. Embedded, non-replaceable Li-Ion batteries are a trojan horse of electronics.
Big thanks for this vid^ My issue was not the battery. The strip/bus that connects the bottom chip to the top one unplugged its self when I dropped it on the floor. I was sure the thing was dead. I was just going to buy a new one but Steam don't have any. Was able to plug the strip back in with a pencil in the end, was like building a ship in a bottle because I only had the thing open as much as you did.
I have previously sent a controller back and got sent a new one free. Same exact symptom, I knocked it, and it died instantly. No response to anything, totally dead. I'm now sure it was the same strip that came loose.
Well, I'm glad it helped you :-)
Where is this located I dropped mine and believe it's same issue
@@Sh4dovv its the top half of the controller. There's a data strip that connects the two halves together. It plugs onto the top half, flat on the surface. Just keep an eye out for a data strip that doesn't go anywhere. Theres only one
@@dnrob7 so do I need the bottom off by battery or just the top part the pops off by buttons
@@dnrob7 I found it but doesn't seem to be unplugged not sure what's wrong now ... Weird just stopped powering on after hitting my desk a little
Thank you. Great video - saved for if/when I need it in the future. Hopefully when that day comes 3 wire batteries (in 3.8v) will be available.
I've gotten a seller to make compatible 3 wire batteries. Link in the description. I don't profit off of it, and I didn't test them.
Love the commentary informative and funny 😁
Great video. I need to get into my trigger to figure out why my trigger is clicking when it first starts to pull. This is the first video I've seen anyone open the bottom side.
So uh... when folding the black thing back down on the big ribbon, it popped out of it's hinge... anyone know if its possible to get it back in, or is it toast? It should have been super easy... it has wings that "lock" it in place for you to fold the black piece down... I wasn't counting on it being so incredibly fragile though. Edit: To answer my own question, I was able to detach the cable and carefully use sharp pointed tweezers to push the piece back into place - it didn't unhinge like I thought and was still connected. I tried again and somehow the gate flipped itself down when I sunk it into place. Feels wonderful.
Thanks for the video just ordered 2 batteries my right one stopped holding charge like yours did lol.... again thanks
Thanks that was super useful
i think i like the usb power banks tied with string solution better than risking breaking my controllers
It's a decent solution if you don't play beatsaber. Inertia on centrific force is too high and there's a risk those can get torn off.
Except..... if you have to tie a usb power bank to it with string, your controller is already broken.
BRO THANK YOU SO MUCH. I SOEBT THE PST HOUR TRYING TI SEE IF I AM ABLE TO LESVE THEM CHARGING OEVRNIGHR, I ALMOST ACTUALLY DID….
Excellent!
Thanks. Lithium batteries are well guaranteed to wear out sooner or later. Maybe in the future people on TH-cam will tear down other vr controllers so we can replace the individual battery so that we won’t be paying a few hundred dollars for new controllers all the time.
They charge us $270 for these and they permanently screw the battery in without giving us information on getting it out. Such a waste of money for them to make us put up with that
NP. I made the video because they made me waste money instead of helping me as they should. Now they lose money because of this. Screw Valve, honestly. XD
@@SneakyJoesENG Instead of asking Valve or steam support for help I may just get the battery on Aliexpress like you did. That way I can save money when my controllers battery goes bad
i'll propably buy a 3.8V battery that has a BMS already on it. that'l do fine. Tho i still have to figure it out and that WHEN it happens. When i have a index, dont got one yet
Do you have a link to the battery of the same format?
10:24 the little plastic piece that clamps down broke off. is there anyway to fix????
You can try to melt material back together or super glue it, but it won't be as stiff as it was before. It will not significantly affect the experience.
thank you this is like the only video on this
but one question THE SCREW AT 3:20 WWWHAT SIZE IS THE SCREW AND WHAT SIZE SCREWDRIVER FITS IN THE HOLE EVERYTHING I HAVE DOESNT FIT
Hey, it's the same as the other screws, but it is pretty tricky to extract. I managed to extract the first one in my test controller, but failed to extract this on camera. Bonus for the fact that I showed how to open such screws to other folks who struggled.
Valve need to make a revison to make it easy for replacement
They won't. They love applying glue to all their devices. Maybe they also like sniffing it, considering the amount they use.
They could have been designed to be repairable from the outset. They are actually made to prevent repair, so that the devices do fail and need to be replaced. As iFixIt reported, the cover that needs to be removed to allow for the disassembly of the parts, to gain access to the PCB, is glued with cement glue. Attempting to separate the parts breaks one of the parts.
"Thank you whoever designed this F****** screw." XD --- Thanks for posting this.
Very nice and helpful video, thank you! My controllers are still pretty new and have no problems with the batteries, but when they'll need changing, I'll be sure to come back to follow this advice. I'm wondering, though, you didn't use the controller because you used a battery with lower voltage? Without it, won't the battery simply keep charging until it fails spectacularly?
No. It gets charged with 3.6v-3.8v on wires, and safe charge voltage for this battery is 4.2v, if I'm not mistaken. The BMS on the battery will just prevent it from overcharging and exploding.
@@SneakyJoeRu That's what I meant. :) Without the BMS you have to pretty much time your charging and only charge after complete discharge, I suppose.
@@MetalCanyon Without a BMS you need to use an external charger. Timing this is absolutely not an option since it will just degrade overtime and you'll miss charge stop at some point. Then you'll need a new house and maybe some limbs. Just get a battery with a BMS - almost all batteries I've seen of this form factor have one. :-)
@@SneakyJoesENG Great video! Thank you. But why did you harvest the original BMS and not use it on the new battery?
How will you prevent overcharging?
@@blaxxun75 I don't have a spot weilder to securely solder bms to the battery. I was thinking of doing it with soldering iron, but decided it's not worth the risk. Hopefully the seller I've hit up will be able to wrap us some good quality replacement batteries soon and won't charge more than reasonable for those. I'm helping him with parameters now.
So you mentioned the valve index controllers could possibly be used without the battery inside of it. Is there any precautions I should take before I put the controller back together? Even without the battery inside I have a feeling the controller could fail or explode if I leave a wire or cord in the controller unattended. All I should need after that is a cord plugged into the bottom of the headset for it to work
Not sure about running it from USB, but it might work.
The guy I mentioned was using extra long cables to connect to external batteries or a power supply to original battery plug to reduce weight of the controllers for high level beat saber.
@@SneakyJoeRu I don’t see a reason why someone can’t give it a shot. I bought my valve index controllers last week so I’m not going to mess with them right now. But maybe eventually I or someone can try removing the battery and running it through usb. Hopefully the controller doesn’t explode or anything after the battery was taken out.
Do you know where that guy you mentioned went? I wish I could see what he did with his controllers
@@SneakyJoeRu Maybe the next time you have to replace your valve index you can try to turn it on through usb before you put the battery in and let me know.
@@SneakyJoeRu I'm just trying to find a plan to see if I can just have extra long cables in my valve index controller USBs instead of relying on the battery inside it that way I won't have to keep opening it over and over
EU has published an order that ask manufacturers must have their product's battery replaceable at March 2023. So I'm wondering if valve obeyed it and selling newer model of index controllers in EU or not?
They'd rather release a new headset and depricate this one. the design is shit.
My controller refuses to make any sounds & haptics after I dropped it, seems like one of the ribbon cables responsible for that got loose, does anyone know which particular cable is responsible and where is it located?
So I have a question. I hit the front of my controller on my desk and it caused loss of tracking but it stayed on but was blinking I finally go it turned off by holding buttons down power and b for 15 seconds ..but now it won't turn on ..but when I plug it in via USB it recognizes it and says I need to update and it does it and says successful but doesn't turn on still ... Any ideas ???
Check comment of Dan Rob under this video. It might help.
Will a 3.7v work or do I gotta buy the battery? I have extra 3.7v cells laying around just need to know if it’s good or not
If the size is right and the cells have bms on them to prevent overcharge or deep discharge - yes, they will work
@@SneakyJoeRu I’m reusing the old bms, the battery size is definitely not right I used a vape battery from a elf bar and have interchangeable batteries using and Tp4056 to have a recharger.
Can you help me. I broke black closer of ribbon connector. Where I can buy this one, or replace the whole connector?
Hey, I'd seek on aliexpress. You can try to contact the seller that manufactured battery from my description and send them photo and description of what was broke. They might be able to help better than I.
I was able to source a battery with the proper connector and the thermistor wire.
DO NOT unglue that connector. It is near impossible to put back as it's just sitting on the board and needs down pressure to hold.
Also the connector itself is EXTREMELY flimsy. It took my 2 batteries and 2 hours to get it to work, and I don't trust it at all.
Cut the cable lile he does in the video, leave that glued connector alone.
The grip ribon was a 10 seconds ordeal, a real piece of cake compared to this connector from hell.
I wish I had read your comment earlier. I damaged the connector and I had to solder three wires (and hot-glue to secure them) on the PCB. Took me an extra hour unnecessarily.
When I charge the new battery it gets warm- is this normal?
@@arysiuse it kinda is. It shouldn't overheat, however - this is what bms is for along other things. Thermistor should read this data and prevent it from charging too fast.
Thank you. Wow, my controller died after 3 years and steam support only tells me to buy a new controller.
Yep. Those fuckers that for some reason get praised for support beyond warranty period. Glad I was of help.
And why does the BMS need a termistor to know if it is fully charged when it can measure the Voltage? You dont measure the charging state by temperature...
You can read about thermistors in a battery. Yes, it can measure a voltage, but it's more precise and allows for a more secure charging.
i FUCKING DiD it idk how but thank you so much
woah that warning's a little over the top dont you think
It is. But better safe than sorry. ;-P
Steam refusing to help you is is real issue here. Steam and all these companies should KNOW that batteries don't last very long. A controller that cost 300 dollars should have MODULAR parts. It's very easy to make parts modular so there isn't any excuse. Being able to pop the side off of a vr controller and slap a new battery in or replace a drifting thumstick should be a inexpensive and quick fix. It would save the company money on defective replacements too, instead of sending people a entire new stick they could just send the part. I don't get why they didn't think of this.
Yes, they're asses for designing it they way they did. But I'm glad to see number of sold batteries now which I helped the guy to design, and I just know that Valve lost a huge chunk of money they could keep if they didn't decide to screw me specifically. If I'm offended, I'll do everything I can to screw over the offender.
i think id rather take a dremel and cut through the plastic of the controller untill i reach the battery from a different angle before i take this thing apart
Sooo pimax sent me a replacement controller (left index controller) and told me to take the battery out of the faulty one and put it in the one theyre sending me because they cant send it due to customs (wtf bullshit is that), after watching this, they can get fked.
thank you for this video, i sent it this to them and asked "wtf"?
What a bunch of fuckheads man... They refused me in getting a replacement, made me spend hundreds of dollars to get this video done, and now they're sending original controllers to other people?... Fucking e-waste shitting clowns.
Also my seller has allowed to send batteries to Germany if you're from it. You can give it a shot. Taking our 1 battery is still safer than taking out 2 for replacement (I don't think a battery you've taken out this way should be used as cover may be damaged and can get worse overtime)
@@SneakyJoesENG far out you too hey, that sucks man :(, Im on my 2nd rma from them because the 1st one came in a squished box that already had stick drift, most likely another RMA that wasnt checked and just shoved in the post before the luna new year.
my assumption is they dont have any index controllers left, which is why they have their "Pimax Sword" controllers.
Im in Australia so Valve dont even sell their controllers or headset here. There is one retailer though who conveniently sell the controller separately so I picked up a left controller for $220aud which isn't tooo bad.
Honestly Ive had enough of pimax, there's no 12k on the horizon the pimax crystal is a joke.
I just wish there was another vr company out there that did large FOV headsets.
Good luck with pimax man, i'll keep you posted with whats going on my end.
Stay safe.
jesus fkn christ.... Valve but also Sony should be ashamed for themselves for not making the battery easily replaceable on their controllers. Why tf game controllers do not have replaceable batteries? it's not like they need to survive rain or pool diving as a phone might need to. It is despicable to make the battery almost impossible to swap on these...
If you can't buy a new battery to easily swap, you can buy a new controller, which is more expensive and can have larger margin. Profit.
I was able to reuse the BMS from the original battery, so that I now have a fully working new battery with a thermistor. (The battery that is sold with the thermistor was over 3 times more expensive, so I didn't get it)
See how here:
th-cam.com/video/LQig7AJJKNU/w-d-xo.html
It might be a bit dangerous to solder 3.8v bms to 3.7v battery. Might not be too critical, but just in case please consult with other electricians or people who work with batteries and understand their limits. With such mod I'd always keep an eye on the controllers while they are charging. And I'm not responsible if your house burns. I'd rather recommend to use the original battery without a thermistor with original battery bms.
Next time use something plastic not a steel knife to open the battery cover. Your way causes damage.
Indeed. However Index controller's desogn is crap anyways, so I don't mind.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Controller
i am not going to fucking do this, valve... what the fuck? why is the battery buried deep inside teh controller like this where you have to take the whole thing apart...
this controller is only good for like 60 charge cycles max until it has a 3 minute battery life...
I've been using mine since 2018 and the battery in one of them just died. Battery life was great right up until it wasn't.
i almost blow up
It's not worth trying this if puncturing the battery is going to kill someone. I'd rather take my chances on the warranty.
is... it really gonna blow up if not careful?
@@taiyoh04 Not sure, but he mentioned it on two occasions, so it must be true.
@@taiyoh04 You can look up what happens with a battery if you pierce or bend it. Liquids ad metals inside go into a rapid chemical reaction with oxygen, and it'll be either an explosion or a fire. So yes, this process, despite looking trivial, may be dangerous if you don't feel the limits, thus the warnings I constantly gave.
Whoever designed these controllers needs to stub their toe really hard. I should not have to perform surgery on a component that is likely to be the first to wear out.