PS5 DualSense won't charge: ripped-off USB-C port, torn data pad and new TMR sticks

This PS5 DualSense came onto the bench powering on from its battery but refusing to charge from any cable. From the outside, the USB-C port was sitting proud of the shell instead of flush.

What had happened

Once the controller was open the cause was obvious. The port had been ripped clean off the board and pushed back into place, so from the outside it looked roughly right, but most of its pins were no longer connected to anything. The battery could still run the controller, but nothing from the cable was reaching the charging circuit.

When the port came off, it took one of the board's pads with it. The photo above shows the footprint after the old port was removed: twelve signal pads and a shell-leg hole at each end. Eleven pads survived. The fifth from the left is gone, leaving bare board.

Why one missing pad matters

A USB-C port has more pins than most people expect, and they do different jobs:

• Power and ground carry the charge. There are several of each, joined together.
• CC1 and CC2 tell a USB-C charger it is safe to switch power on. Without them, a USB-C to USB-C cable gives no power at all.
• D+ and D- are the data lines. A DualSense needs them for wired play, firmware updates and pairing with a PS5.

USB-C plugs go in either way up, so the port has a set of data contacts for each orientation. The torn pad was one of those data contacts. A continuity check showed it is wired to its twin two pads along, so the data line on the board was intact. Without a repair, though, the controller would only have talked over the cable one way up.

The repair

The board was cleaned of the residue left by the earlier attempt to stick the port back on, and the old solder was cleared from the leg holes so the new port could seat properly. The shell legs take the strain when a cable is pulled, and a port that isn't anchored through them is the one that gets ripped off.

A new USB-C port was soldered in. To replace the torn pad, a fine wire was run from the new port's pin to the damaged trace, reconnecting the data contact for the second cable orientation.

While it was open: new TMR sticks

Both original sticks felt gritty, which usually means wear inside the potentiometers and tends to come before drift. Since the board was already out, both were replaced with TMR sticks. TMR (tunnelling magnetoresistance) sticks read their position magnetically, like Hall Effect sticks, so there is no wiper rubbing on a track to wear out.

The stick modules are through-hole parts. The old ones came off with hot air, and while the board was still hot the holes were cleared with solder wick and a solder sucker, ready for the new modules to drop straight in and be soldered.

Calibrated and tested

With everything back together, the sticks were recalibrated and the controller was tested on a working PS5 and on a PC.

Why this happens

Ports like this almost always fail from force rather than wear: tripping over the cable, or dropping the controller while it is plugged in. If your controller's port wobbles, has moved or sits out from the shell, stop charging it and get it looked at. A port that has only just come loose is a simpler repair than one that has been forced back in.

We repair USB-C charging ports on controllers, handhelds and other devices. See our USB-C port repair and controller repair pages. If your DualSense is drifting or feels gritty, see our DualSense stick drift repair.