I haven't used my PS4 Pro in a long while, maybe over a year.
I fancied revisiting a couple of old favourites over Christmas though and dug out my DS4 controllers only to find that the analogue sticks on both of them have become really gross and sticky. It's almost like the rubber has started breaking down or something but they are sort of oily and nasty to the touch. Never seen this before, it certainly didn't happen for the several years that these controllers were in active use. It's happened on both sticks on both controllers.
Is this a common problem and is there anything I can do about it? I don't know where to start. For the record I don't have noticeably sweaty thumbs and I have much older controllers (including an original Xbox 360 controller from 2005) that have never developed anything like this, so I'm thinking it must be something specific to the DS4.
Same thing happened to one of my PS controllers too, can't remember if it was a PS4 or PS3 one. It was pretty grim, I couldn't find a way to clean it enough to make it nice to use again, it always felt strange and spongey afterwards. Sorry, that's no help whatsoever, but at least you're not alone!
Yeah my PS3 controller just sort of melted after a few years in storage. And my N64 controller used to create some sort of chalky deposit in the joystick. That was fun.
I worked at GAME for a bit during college, and cleaning the pre-owned controllers was always the worst. We called the black gunk that built up in the joins 'hand jam', and had to scrape it out with toothpicks.
Yeah, my PS3 controllers all did this.
My PS4 controller has this despite being barely used. I think it's chemical breakdown of some kind as it has a similar sticky feel. I have found the Razer controllers have similar with the plastic on the casing, it gets to a stage where the plastic coating seems to wear away and it becomes incredibly tacky and attractive to dust.
You could try those thumb stick covers.
I heard the Xbox Elite Pro whatever pad that cost a lot of money was infamous for degrading badly
