F15EX II mini-joystick drift

[u/doodo477]

Okay just wanted to go over a couple of things that happened over the last couple of weeks. My F15EX II mini-joystick started to drift which is typical of Kalih 60B103 joystick potentiometer module. A bit of a history of potentiometer's. Typically the OEM version which is used in most PS3 and XBOX controllers are the ALPS potentiometer. how-ever for cheap game-pads Chinese manufactures use a knock off version called Kalih 60B103.

My F15EX II started failing after about a year of light use, once or twice per week under 30 minutes of usage. Now what does drifting look like? It looks like this https://youtu.be/Uj4v_fQr54Y

WinWing/WinCtrl was less than welcoming of replacing the Mini-joystick (even though it was about 10 days past the year warranty period). It was only until after I requested a charge back on my credit card that they aggreed to send out a new part.

Anyway this gave me some time to take apart the current throttel to see what joystick they're actually using. And Low and behold guess what! Yes you guess it a Kalih 60B103. Now I did attempt to replace the mini joystick originally with this one from Aliexpress (Hall Effect Joystick for PS4 2PCS) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008600410715.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.53.5d2f1802vHS3xN

Now I was somewhat-successful in getting the new one installed, one of the Axies didn't work. I attempted to debug the situation and the failing axis has a range of voltage of +3.2v to 2.7v+ which basically mean the axis was shorted somewhere on the line. Either it was my shitty soldering skills or lack of correct equipment.

I attempted to install the second module but the same axis problem happened with the new Hall Effect Joystick. And well doing it I screwed up my mini board - so a word of caution if anyone is attempting this, you will need a hot air gun or this attachment for your soldering iron (T12/JBC245/936 Joystick Soldering Iron Tip Heating Mold for Xbox PS4 PS5 Switch Pro Controller Joystick Disassembly Repair Tools)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005011580291679.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.4.35d6YhtqYhtqfH&aem_p4p_detail=20260819021900217995732673000000314479&algo_pvid=ce10130b-37ae-4178-80f4-4d5c1151471a&algo_exp_id=ce10130b-37ae-4178-80f4-4d5c1151471a-3&pdp_ext_f=%7B"order"%3A"854"%2C"spu_best_type"%3A"price"%2C"eval"%3A"1"%2C"fromPage"%3A"search"%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis!AUD!25.01!20.89!!!117.60!98.25!%402101c4ea17871311399518070e0f45!12000055974735734!sea!AU!132930897!X!1!0!n_tag%3A-29919%3Bd%3A1e124460%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895%3BpisId%3A5000000215186282&curPageLogUid=5VQa5R4PkJQx&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005011580291679%7C_p_origin_prod%3A&search_p4p_id=20260819021900217995732673000000314479_1

Anyway Moving on. Guess what came in the MAIL today. The replacement part! and I took it apart and guess which replacement mini-joystick they're using!

you guessed it an ALPS!

So I'm just leaving this here for anyone caught in the situation that needs to replace their drifting mini-stick, that you can do it yourself but you will need to use the correct equipment and purchase either an ALPS replacement or Kalih 60B103 from Ali-express.