Adding weight to USB SNES controller

pugamer1

I've personally found that the iBuffalo (Buffalo) USB SNES controllers seem to have the best overall feel when compared to the original SNES controllers. The d-pads and the buttons have the right "click" and the overall shape of the controller feels great. However, something has always felt a little off. They just felt a little cheaper than genuine controllers.

Enter this weekend, helping my son with his pinewood derby car. I was already in the mindset of adjusting weights, and I saw on Amazon that someone had posted a picture showing the original controllers weighing in at 3.20 oz. For the heck of it, I tossed one of my iBuffalo controllers on my kitchen scale and found that it is significantly lighter at around 2.40 oz or so. As an engineer I've found that often people attribute a feeling of quality with the weight of a product, so I decided to beef up the controllers a bit by gluing in some strips of pin nails into the bottom of the controller. I was able to get the overall weight up to around 3.20 oz, and WOW this thing feels much better!

I'll post a few pictures to show what I've done, but overall it was just a matter of:

Determining how many nails I needed to add.
Gluing the nails in place
Adding glue to the top of the nails as an insulator to prevent electrical contact

Enjoy!!!

celly

I dig this! I too thought the iBuffalo's where a bit too, light.

moosepr

@pugamer1 Great idea!! They actually do this in real products. Even the old NES zapper has hunks of weight in there to make it feel better!!

pugamer1

Thanks! Yeah, it's not terribly pretty, but it gets the job done. When I looked it over, the only regions that I was especially mindful of are the top corners where the L and R buttons slide in. I didn't want the nails or the glue interfering with the plastic buttons or the PCBs, so I kept the weights away from those zones.

Morph-X

Very clever idea. Personally i'm really happy with my Buffalo's, but i can imagine this actually can be a game changer for the purists out there. Good job and thanks for sharing!

DorkVonWaterfall

using wood glue?

using (metal) nails inside electronics?

bad combo in my world....

pugamer1

@DorkVonWaterfall Yeah, if these were higher power electronics you'd want legitimate potting compound. For this the glue is dry enough to be a decent insulator. In all honesty, it looked like there was sufficient clearance between the components hanging from the board and the nails themselves, so the "insulation" is likely overkill.

DorkVonWaterfall

@pugamer1
but still...the glue you use is intendet for wood....not metal and/or plastic....

and we all know gamepads are NOT beein thrown around or dropped...ever ;-) so your nails are probably safe...for now.....

pugamer1

@DorkVonWaterfall True. If I mod another set I'd probably switch to an epoxy. At the time the wood glue was all I had around, and it's held up for general purpose stuff in a pinch before. I'll update this thread if I hear any rattling after awhile, haha. :-)

backstander

@pugamer1
I guess you could put some electric tape over the glued nails for added protection. I'm not sure if electric tape sticks to wood glue very well but it's worth a try!

Adding wait to your controller is a fascinating idea non the less!

columboscoat

@pugamer1 I did the same only I used 6 UK 5 pence pieces. 3 sets of 2 in the same areas you put the brad nails and covered them in duck tape. It feels like a totally different controller! Just seems like much better quality and closer to the original. It's strange how the human mind works sometimes... I think iBuffalo might be missing a trick here.

eddavid

I did the same thing but I used pinewood derby stick on weights - I think it was this: https://www.amazon.com/Revell-Pinewood-Segmented-Chassis-Weight/dp/B0031KZQXW/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1492545668&sr=8-13&keywords=pine+car+derby+weights

berrykevin

@pugamer1 wow, nice kitchen scale, i love it.

CodeDrawer

Hey wood glue works reasonably well on other things too. @DorkVonWaterfall In a best case senario, it can hold up to 500 lbs. So if he is using a controller, hehe he'll be fine!

sdmods

Thank you for the advice works perfectly! The back of the Buffalo controller circuit board has no electrical contacts save for a few components I'll be taping over. Other than that it's safe and has clearance. Love it!

herb_fargus

@sdmods phone prank