Sony's Sixaxis and Dualshock 3 battery replacements

[McHanhan]

I was just wondering has anyone ever gone to Sony to get their controller battery replaced?. My Dualshock 3 is barely working now after about 8hrs of use but it used to work for about 15+ hrs on a full charge last month. There is a considerable decrease in charge holding capacity and since Sony uses batteries that are not user replaceable in their controllers I was wondering if anyone had a solution.

I checked on the internet as well and no one seems to know anything about a Sony batter replacement program. So I was wondering apart from getting a wired controller is their a way to get more life from the controllers.

Also has anyone else had the same problem with this issue?

 

[Carnagath]

Sounds like a faulty controller to me, since I have played a totally unhealthy amount of hours on my PS3 for more than a year and the controller still lasts the same. That aside, even if there was a way to replace your battery, I doubt it would be a 5$ affair... You're better off just getting a new controller imho.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

8 hours is still a pretty long time, don't you think? Surely you don't often play for that long without stopping? In which case you could simply charge it in the mean time.
Or, alternately, instead of buying a new wired controller, if you can find one, why not just get a long USB-mini USB cable and charge your current controller while you're playing?

 

[McHanhan]

8 hours is still a pretty long time, don't you think? Surely you don't often play for that long without stopping? In which case you could simply charge it in the mean time.
Or, alternately, instead of buying a new wired controller, if you can find one, why not just get a long USB-mini USB cable and charge your current controller while you're playing?

I would have thought 8 hrs to be a long time but my 360 controllers get about twenty hours on a single charge in comparison..so I know there is a problem.


Wired controllers seem to be the logical option but I find it silly to buy something as a solution to what could be an easy fix, plus wires are a tripping hazard.

However, there is the possibility of getting Li-on batteries from Ebay and replacing them myself. Then again replacing the batteries on a dualshock isn't as simple as a 360 controller or a wiimote despite the manual directions. The L2-R2 buttons are in the way and they are notoriously hard to put back together.

 

[TPiddy]

I've got rechargeable battery packs in all my 360 controllers and they don't last that long... I'm not sure which is better...

Sony's are lighter and last a long time, but when you do replace them it's costly....

Whereas 360's don't last as long, but are easier to replace.

 

[yourbeliefs]

This is why I absolutely HATE small devices with internal rechargeable batteries. I suppose because of how the controller was set up that strapping 2 AA batteries would have been impractical, but it sucks that when you buy this you know that without a shadow of a doubt it WILL need to be replaced. I like it more when you need to provide the batteries, because then you can just buy some rechargeable batteries and use those. If those die, odds are it'll be significantly cheaper than buying a replacement piece of equipment, and also you can use those same rechargeable batteries in other devices, as opposed to just ONE. I use the same rechargeable batteries in my Wii Controllers, 360/Guitar Hero Controllers, and digital cameras that I've had for 3 years.

 

[cordeos]

Sounds like a faulty controller to me, since I have played a totally unhealthy amount of hours on my PS3 for more than a year and the controller still lasts the same. That aside, even if there was a way to replace your battery, I doubt it would be a 5$ affair... You're better off just getting a new controller imho.

i had my PS3 controllers now for almost 3 years now and haven't noticed any degradation in their battery life, one controller has developed a problem where the right stick wont always register when i have moved it back to the middle, its annoying but not game breaking, I'm still unsure if i want to replace

 

[TimeLord]

My ps3 controller is 3years old and I have it permanently cabled to my ps3 with an extra long mini-usb cable. Defeats the entire point but when my controller starts giving me warning lights after 3hrs of play now I really cant be bothered trying to find my cable before it dies.

Also, I do have a second controller but because my current one has been used for so long the stick are really loose and better to play FPS's with so I don't want to change it.

I didn't know you could send away for a battery replacement >.>

 

[Da_Schwartz]

Dunno.. buy a new one? I still have my release ds2's. ALthough i've never cared enough to time their battery life I still get tons of hours on them. If it runs low..i recharge it. I'm not even sure how the cells work..sometimes like in certain cell phones or video cameras if you charge them too often it can lower the battery life. Some cells have to be "stretched" by letting them drain before you recharge them. I dunno. I bring nothing to the conversation. Just buy new ones.

 

[dmase]

Buy another one, you can never have too many contorllers! Just pull out that one when you got people over. Mine has a lower battery life now from what i remember how long i used to play, but the joystick problems are worse becasue it doens't want to stay in like nonmoving mode, trying sneaking in olivion like that, and the the r1 button sometimes stayes depressed unless you giggle it around on one of them, it makes an online match so much more interesting.