PI-PD002 Control Pad Issue

[VenomMacbeth]

Well, the PD002 pad I ordered came in today, but it has a bit of a problem.  Sometimes, the "Down" on the D-pad just does not work.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason for why or when it just cuts out randomly like that, but it makes game play very stressful.  It usually comes back after a couple seconds, but it's still really flaky.  Is there any way to fix this?  I've opened up the controller & the insides appear to be fine, and the contacts for the D-pad are immaculate from what I can tell.

[Necromancer]

The contacts might just be dirty, so open 'er up and give it a good cleaning.  If that doesn't help, the rubber bit might be shot (or at least the conductive coating is), so try swapping the rubber piece with one from a known good controller; if the problem goes away, you can try fixing the rubber contact with conductive paint or a tiny bit of foil.

[VenomMacbeth]

The contacts might just be dirty, so open 'er up and give it a good cleaning.  If that doesn't help, the rubber bit might be shot (or at least the conductive coating is), so try swapping the rubber piece with one from a known good controller; if the problem goes away, you can try fixing the rubber contact with conductive paint or a tiny bit of foil.

That was the first thing I did.  I even went so far as to replace the rubber d-pad piece with the one from my PD001, which works perfectly, but to no avail.  I just did as you suggested & applied a piece of foil to the contact on the rubber, but the button still seems to have issues.  It also seems to get worse over time. 

[turbokon]

You might want to check the turbo switches contacts. Overtime, they might be worn out or might not be making proper connection with the pcb. I came across that before. I just pulled the contacts out a little bit and my issues went away.

[thesteve]

the switches dont effect direction
check the resistance from the button to chip (common failure on express)

[turbokon]

Yeah, mine had issues with the buttons not working.

[VenomMacbeth]

the switches dont effect direction
check the resistance from the button to chip (common failure on express)

How would one go about fixing this, were that the case?

[thesteve]

jumpers

[dq333]

That happened to me before.  Realized it was actually my PCE.  I checked the pins where you plug the pad in and found that one was ever so slightly bent.  I also cleaned socket with alcohol and straightened the questionable pin.  Have not had one problem since.  It used to bother the crap out of me, especially when playing my first game on the PCE ever, The Kun Fu. I was like, WTF kind of crazy controls are these.  I suppose if your other pads work this might not mean anything, but some pads may be pickier than others.