Replacing the Gamecube Analog Triggers

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hailrazer
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Replacing the Gamecube Analog Triggers

Post by hailrazer » Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:54 pm

If you decide to build a GCP you'll eventually get to the point where it's time to put in the analog triggers. Now with the Gamecube controller you don't really get much choice of where to put them. Because of the way they are built you almost have to put them in the top/front of your portable. And man is it uncomfortable to hold a GCP portable and try to use the triggers way up at the top. And when you go to put them there you realize they take up a ton of space and are incredibly hard to get in and make look good.

Wouldn't it be much nicer to have triggers on the bottom of the portable where your index and middle fingers naturally rest. Well now you can :)

Parts needed :
Dreamcast Quantam Fighter Pad Controller ($7 on Amazon.com)
Gamestop Gamecube Controller (or almost any other third party Gamecube controller)
Triggers from a spare controller. The Xbox, Dreamcast, Saturn and several others have the right kind.

Here is the Gamestop Controller I am using in my GCP :
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Notice the triggers and how they work. As you pull the trigger it slides a sliding potentiometer. Then when you pull the trigger all the way it comes in contact with another button that registers another button pressed. Kind of hard to remake that huh? We'll see :)

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Here is the Quantam Fighter Pad we will be stealing the triggers from:

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And here are the triggers will be using :

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First thing you do is pull off the old plastic trigger ends from the triggers we took out of the Quantam Fighter Pad. Now take the triggers you stole from a Xbox or Dreamcast controller. Drill a small hole in the end of the triggers. Using hot glue or epoxy fill the trigger with the adhesive of your choice and slide the Quantam Fighter Pad trigger stem into the hole you drilled. Make sure the trigger is facing in the direction you are going to want it facing when you put it in your portable. Allow trigger to set until glue/epoxy hardens. :

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Now you can take the Quantam trigger apart. One screw holds it together and then it just splits apart. When you have it apart you will need to cut the plastic so the new potentiometer from the GameStop controller has more travel. In the pic below you wiil cut the parts in red off leaving the parts in blue. You can use a razor blade or a file. This will allow the trigger to slide out a bit more.

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Now you can desolder the potentiometer from the Gamestop controller. Snip off the 4 corner grounding prongs they will be in the way. And now insert it in the trigger where the old potentiometer was making sure the slider is in the proper orientation. I made sure the slider was all the way out when I desoldered it and then placed it in the new trigger with it all the way out towards the spring so I knew it was facing the right direction.

Now we need to make a button switch to be activated when the trigger is pulled all the way in.
For this we will be using a standard 5mm two leg tact switch.

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You will need to file off the 4 corners of the tact switch to round it off to fit in the new triggers we are making.

After you have rounded it off then put it in the trigger. You will want the silver part of the tact switch to be right above the silver part on the end of the potentiometer.

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Now using a small amount of hot glue make sure that tact switch stays there.

Now put the trigger back together and you are done. You should be able to get the two halves back together with the legs of the tact switch sticking out, but you might need to make a tiny slot for the legs with a file or a solder iron.

And here is your final product :

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Now you can put it in your portable and wire it up. Then you just cut two small slots in the bottom of the portable and epoxy the triggers in like I did on my Dreamtrooper :

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It sounds complicated but it really isn't and it doesn't take to long. So give it a try :)
My Portable Systems:
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-----Genimini---------Darth64---------Dreamtrooper--------Ncube---------Kamikazi64---N64Boy Advance

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