Chosen Solution
So the problem that I am having with my controller is this. When I depress the right bumper like I normally would it doesn’t seem to work. When I say “normal” my finger typically rests on the outer 50% of the bumper and typically no further towards the midline of the controller. Only when I press it very firmly is the signal then conveyed to the Xbox. In comparison, by pressing down the left bumper on either of the very edges (as well as the middle) the signal is properly conveyed as it should be with just the normal amount of pressure required to depress the bumper. If I had to estimate I would say that it requires roughly 3 times the pressing force to activate the signal from the right bumper in comparison to the left. At this point I am past my warranty and have already decided to take the controller apart to see if I could locate the problem myself. The levers themelves leading to the tactile switches look to be identical on either side leading me to believe that they are not responsible for the issue. My question then becomes what is the likliehood that it is the tactile switch itself that is the problem? Is there a possibility it is anything else that could be the culprit? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
Your Problem is almost Certainly A Broken Bumper assembly. The only thing that is unfortunate is that the 1708 only technically has 1 Bumper assembly for Both buttons, as they are connected together by a thin plastic piece. (it’s a pretty crappy design too, they rely on bending of the plastic for the button’s behavior.) I’ve gone through 2 assemblies already (just installed my 3rd) as I use RB heavily in a few games. The first time it happened when I opened the controller I didn’t notice that the button assembly was cracked on the cross connecting piece that’s hidden underneath the center retaining clip (the part with the Bluetooth button hole in it). At a glace it all looked good but the button still felt squishy and required a hard press to activate and didn’t seem to return/click like the left one. You say you already opened the controller? I’d carefully pop off the center piece. if you haven’t already And check the whole assembly for fatigue, or cracks. There are 2 small pegs holding in on that would be on the Front of the controller. you just have to lightly lift the center piece off the 2 small pegs The odds of the tactile switch being bad are pretty slim, but I suppose it could happen. But honestly, all the plastic pieces have more of a chance of being broken than anything else.
The switch may be broken. Typically a broken button on a controller causes it to only function when pressed extremely hardly. Try to take it apart and compare both bumpers and see if there is anything different with the non-functional one.
Maybe it’ll be useful to someone googling this but I had the exact same problem and I fixed it the same way we fix drifting joy-cons : I blasted contact cleaner inside the pad by opening the right cover. Put a good amount of it inside and let it dry for a minute or two. It worked perfectly and I’m now able to use a pad I didn’t use for two years (I used to play to Dark Souls 3 with it, the right bumper is essential to this game). I used WD-40 contact cleaner by the way.
Never took apart an Xbox Controller but switch bumpers when taking it apart and see if it fixes it, if so then buy a new one.
The parts on controllers wear out with use they are pretty easy to strip down and you can get replacement parts on Ebay for pennies things like headphone Jack’s just pop out and pop the new one in . you do need some torx screwdrivers something like a t5 t,6, t7 but that’s about it
I’m having the same problem, on a brand new controller I ordered from Microsoft’s design workshop, meaning I paid extra for a brand new faulty controller. The last controller I took apart myself and rebuilt was from a PS2 about 15 years ago. I know nothing about the inner workings of modern controllers. My question to those who have repaired their own: is this something that can be fixed with basic tools just by following instructions? Or should I be contacting Microsoft to complain about it?
I had the same problem with my R shoulder button too, I had to apply alot of pressure for the button to register. However now it has completely stop working. I took the whole controller apart and realised the cover for L and R are joined so their one plastic, however crappy designed and fragile it may be, in my case surprisingly it wasnt at fault, actual tactical button the thing that looks like a circle disk thing ontop on a cube was. To be honest, if you had the tools ie the torque screwdriver then it might be worth ordering the part from ebay and fixing it your self, otherwise the tools and replacement parts end up close to a working second hand controller on
The Elite 2 Controller is defective by design. It already has a large lawsuit against it for one issue. Overall there are 2 major issues with this controller; (1) the joystick may drift (2) the Bumpers tactile switch buttons are all faulty by design an wont last more then 1-3 months before the fail and stop registering button presses. (There are tons of youtube videos on how to fix these) I myself have found high grade replacement parts for the bumper swtich and joystick and soldered them off and soldered on the new ones. Elite 2 works amazingly now. (Last issue is more personal, but the controller is really noisy with each press of any button, so I remedied that as well)
Verdict: Stop buying Elite 2 Controllers! It doesn’t matter how many to buy new there defective by design.
I had the exact same symptoms as the original question-asker and I can attest to ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL being all that I needed to fix the issue. I had no cracks and the bit of plastic that presses onto the button was fully intact. I did opt to open up the controller and remove the plastic pieces, exposing the little buttons for LB & RB. Using a small screwdriver, I depressed both small buttons and with my problem button I had to press a lot firmer with the screwdriver to register a click (I put the batteries back in and was in a game so I could test click sensitivity). At any rate, I used a spray bottle with the alcohol to spray down into the button and then just started clicking that little button with the screwdriver so that the alcohol would work itself in better. I used some canned air pointed in at the button to finish it off. My problem shoulder button now works great, with me being able to press the button from any angle and still register a click. Hope this helps someone.
