@timixretroplays@digipres.club
Post #2893833
2026-05-13 09:51 UTC
@jpm@aus.social "solder" is a very strong word for what's happening in here. You're exactly right, it's just a cup of spring steel basically stickytaped over a concentric pair of contact rings.
I did think the cups were rather poorly centred on the rings and assumed that was a QA/assembly accuracy issue, but I suspect it might actually be necessary for them to be in the right place to actually bridge the contact - otherwise they'd invert directly over the middle one and never touch both at once!
Replies (2)
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@timixretroplays@digipres.club 2026-05-13 09:56
The PCB measures 1.10mm thick, and the PCB plus the button is 1.38mm. I don't think they could have made a physically slimmer tactile button that still worked at all. But this is in a regular-size, handheld gamepad. There's more than enough height in the design to put a real COTS tactile button there. I think this was a decision about surface area, rather than height - this D-pad module is removable and interchangeable, maybe they couldn't find a tactile with a small enough footprint.
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@jpm@aus.social 2026-05-13 09:56
@timixretroplays@digipres.club although the outer rim should make enough contact that if it was centered the entire thing should conduct enough that the switch mechanism closes