GBZ or a Child's Rattler?

[Kilren]

So, I bought an empty shell from amazon, finally got the pieces and was playing around with it. Got the buttons, silicone pad, and PCB installed to make sure everything lined up and fit well, and it doesn't. The A/B buttons are so loose that they have nearly 2mm of play that they wobble up and down on the silicone pads, and another 1mm side to side wobble. When the DMG shakes, it sounds like a kid's rattler or some sort of cheap maraca.

Anyone else have this problem with buttons? I don't remember it like that when I was a kid. I'm probably going to have to look for better silicone pads and buttons.

Those that used the SNES controller and buttons, did that solve the problem? Do you have much wiggle/wobble?

[Ganreizu]

So, I bought an empty shell from amazon, finally got the pieces and was playing around with it. Got the buttons, silicone pad, and PCB installed to make sure everything lined up and fit well, and it doesn't. The A/B buttons are so loose that they have nearly 2mm of play that they wobble up and down on the silicone pads, and another 1mm side to side wobble. When the DMG shakes, it sounds like a kid's rattler or some sort of cheap maraca.

Anyone else have this problem with buttons? I don't remember it like that when I was a kid. I'm probably going to have to look for better silicone pads and buttons.

Those that used the SNES controller and buttons, did that solve the problem? Do you have much wiggle/wobble?

I bought a set of two silicone pads since i only had one pad, and they came to me thicker than the original pads. I had the problem you describe but the new ones made it a lot better to the point where i won't worry about the rest.

The original pad for the Dpad, however, was superior to the one in this pack. It was more worn in and the new one created a clicking sound when buttons were pressed which the old one obviously didn't have.

Here's the link

[Cannikin]

Those that used the SNES controller and buttons, did that solve the problem? Do you have much wiggle/wobble?

So I replaced all my buttons with the ones from a Buffalo USB SNES controller. The height of the little stops on the edges was pretty different from stock so I added some styrene pieces so they sat at the right height:



Then, the little center post in the middle of the button was way too high and was bottoming out the stock GB silicone once the PCB was in place. So I ground that down until the button had the right "feel" (it's amazing how that feel doesn't go away after 30 years!):



Cut the holes for X and Y and had to do similar surgery, although to a different degree since they were using different silicon pads:



The X and Y have a different feel than A and B (X and Y are more "crisp") but it's not distractingly different I don't think.

[Kilren]

Thanks @Cannikin! Yeah, I've been thinking that this is the way I was going to go to fix the problem. Good to see that you already did it. You feel that the styrene will hold up over time? I might take a shaved piece of plastic and epoxy it in to the same effect.

You are using different silicone pads for A/B and X/Y? How come not use the same pad from the SNES controller for all of it?

[Cannikin]

You feel that the styrene will hold up over time?

For sure. I used this stuff which basically melts the plastics together: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDFWJD8 The only pressure that's applied to the styrene is when the button moves back UP, which is just the pressure of the silicone pushing back on it, which is almost nothing. Epoxy should hold just as well, if not better.

You are using different silicone pads for A/B and X/Y? How come not use the same pad from the SNES controller for all of it?

In the SNES controller all of the silicon is one one diamond-shaped insert. Since the buttons on the GB aren't in the same diamond pattern as the SNES I couldn't reuse that piece. So I kept the stock silicone for the A/B button and then ended up using some individual silicone pads from a USB NES controller I had. I planned on using the buttons at first, but they're concave and pretty cheap plastic. The silicone pads for those buttons fit the SNES buttons as well so I kept them.

I was going down the path of re-using the GB buttons but I love the standard Famicom button colors...too bad Nintendo went with the two shades of purple in US. Europe and Japan had a much better looking console and controller IMHO.

[Kilren]

[spoiler="quote"]

You feel that the styrene will hold up over time?

For sure. I used this stuff which basically melts the plastics together: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDFWJD8 The only pressure that's applied to the styrene is when the button moves back UP, which is just the pressure of the silicone pushing back on it, which is almost nothing. Epoxy should hold just as well, if not better.

You are using different silicone pads for A/B and X/Y? How come not use the same pad from the SNES controller for all of it?

In the SNES controller all of the silicon is one one diamond-shaped insert. Since the buttons on the GB aren't in the same diamond pattern as the SNES I couldn't reuse that piece. So I kept the stock silicone for the A/B button and then ended up using some individual silicone pads from a USB NES controller I had. I planned on using the buttons at first, but they're concave and pretty cheap plastic. The silicone pads for those buttons fit the SNES buttons as well so I kept them.

I was going down the path of re-using the GB buttons but I love the standard Famicom button colors...too bad Nintendo went with the two shades of purple in US. Europe and Japan had a much better looking console and controller IMHO.[/spoiler]

I feel the same way about the color scheme for the JP/EU consoles. They looked better, and while still fitting to the retro theme it still has a modern feeling (PS and XBOX have the color scheme that is almost identical).

I'm going to buy a usb snes contoller anyway, my thoughts are maybe I'll cut the diamond in half? Anything has to be better than the buttons and pads that I currently have. It seems like such a small thing, and my wife laughed at me, but that rattling and loose buttons will just drive me insane. It has to be tight! It has to be like the original. I played on those buttons for too many years to take anything different.

That plastic weld stuff is the bomb. I've used it a couple of times (think I need a new bottle though, I'm pretty sure it is all dried out). Makes sense that you used styrene knowing that. Epoxy tends to react with the styrene and degrade it because of the really high exothermic reaction temps.