PS3 controller isn't charging...

[Johnny Novgorod]

One of my two PS3 controllers isn't charging. It works fine and seems to be perfectly in sync, but the battery is half out and it won't charge. It's connected to the USB cable which itself is plugged in the PS3, but the little battery sign at the top right isn't replenishing.

Now I know it's not the cable, because I just charged my other controller fine. So it has to be the controller. I've tried turning it and the PS3 on and off, and resetting the controller as well (turned it off, paper clipped my way to the little button in the back, plugged it, turned it on, still nothing). Makes no difference. Controller won't charge.

Any suggestions?

 

[SnowyGamester]

You could try cleaning the charger port on the controller with blowing, compressed air, or maybe methylated spirits and gentle touching with a q-tip and looking to see if there are any issues with the pins being pushed aside or something but there probably isn't much you can do past that.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

You could try cleaning the charger port on the controller with blowing, compressed air, or maybe methylated spirits and gentle touching with a q-tip and looking to see if there are any issues with the pins being pushed aside or something but there probably isn't much you can do past that.

Tried blowing and whatever, didn't do anything.

Is it the battery then? I don't think Sony Store sells replacements... I don't get it. I've only had the controller for little over a year.

 

[SnowyGamester]

There could be a problem with the battery that is preventing it from charging but it could also be a problem with the charging port that you can't see (a loose connection somewhere). While batteries do fuck up it's generally not a sudden death so my guess would be the latter.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

There could be a problem with the battery that is preventing it from charging but it could also be a problem with the charging port that you can't see (a loose connection somewhere). While batteries do fuck up it's generally not a sudden death so my guess would be the latter.

I'm leaning towards that myself. But I'm afraid if I pry the controller open I won't be able to detect a problem if there is one, let alone put it back together afterwards.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

New Question: if I open up a PS3 controller, can I manually re-adjust its USB port (assuming it's the source of the problem)?

 

[SnowyGamester]

There's not much to adjust since it's connected directly to the board but it would give you a better look regardless. Perhaps try swapping the battery with your working one which could eliminate that as the cause. It's fairly straight forward. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZXCpCrASY]

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

There's not much to adjust since it's connected directly to the board but it would give you a better look regardless. Perhaps try swapping the battery with your working one which could eliminate that as the cause. It's fairly straight forward. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZXCpCrASY]

I think I'm gonna do exactly that. Thanks!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

There's not much to adjust since it's connected directly to the board but it would give you a better look regardless. Perhaps try swapping the battery with your working one which could eliminate that as the cause. It's fairly straight forward. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZXCpCrASY]

Hi, sorry to keep bothering but I've got a new question.

I jut unscrewed both of my controllers open (the one that won't charge and the one that still does). The batteries are plugged in fairly tight... how do I proceed? I've tried to pull them loose and they won't budge. Do I just keep pulling or is there a less violent way of unplugging them that I'm not aware of? Every video I've seen, they seem to come off relatively easy.

 

[SnowyGamester]

I dunno man I don't have a PS3 controller for reference. Probably check if there's a clip and if not just try to gently wiggle it loose without putting too much stress on where the socket attaches to the board. Depending on the shape of the socket you may be able to stick something between the plug and the socket and twist it to pry it off without pulling on the connections.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Welp, news update. It's not the batteries. I just switched them and both of them work just fine on either controller. So the problem is with one of the controllers, and NOT the batteries. As for what could possibly be wrong with a controller other than its battery... haven't got a clue. I guess it's tech support time.