Xbox Series controller bumper and stick repair: interactive 3D teardown

All 10 steps

1. 1Take out the AA batteries

   Press the catch at the base of the battery door and lift the door off the back. Take both AA batteries out and set them aside: with no battery in, nothing inside is powered.

2. 2Pop off the two grip panels

   The textured grip panels have no screws: plastic snaps hold them along both long edges. Slide the spudger between the right panel and the back case at the bottom of its inner edge, run it up along that edge, then lever the middle of the edge up: the panel unhooks from its outer edge. Keep a finger over it, as it can spring off. Do the same on the left.

3. 3Undo the four TR8 screws under the grips

   Under each grip panel are two TR8 security Torx screws, one at the top by the trigger and one at the tip of the grip. Undo all four with the TR8 driver and lay each in its own tray well. They are 9.3 mm long, and a plain Torx bit will not go in: each has a pin in the middle of its star.

4. 4Undo the hidden fifth screw under the label trap

   The fifth TR8 screw is hidden under the label on the floor of the battery bay, in the middle of its upper half. Push the driver through the label there (or peel the label back) and undo the screw into its own well. It is the only screw under the label, and the top case will not come off while it is in. Avoid this trap: With the four grip screws out the case seems free: its sides give a little. But the fifth screw, under the bay label, still holds the back case to the top case in the middle. Lever the seam open and the case bends round that one screw until the plastic boss it is driven into cracks, and the case never closes flush again. If the case does not part on its own, stop and find the screw under the label.

5. 5Turn it over and lift off the top case

   Turn the controller face up. With all five screws out, the top case (the front) lifts straight off over the sticks and the buttons: lift it evenly and set it down face down. The buttons and the D-pad stay in the mid-frame under it.

6. 6Unclip the top cap and the bumper bar

   LB and RB are one bumper bar, joined under the top cap, so the top cap comes off first: lever its two tabs up, right then left, and tip it off. Then lever the clip at the right bumper’s outer end free of the mid-frame, then the left one, and lift the whole bar off the top edge. Its two posts near the middle are what press the LB and RB switches.

7. 7Pull the stick caps and lift out the mid-frame

   Pull both stick caps straight up off their shafts. Slide the spudger into the slot between the mid-frame and the back case beside LB and twist, then beside RB: the mid-frame assembly, with both boards, the motors and the battery contacts, lifts out of the back case. Turn it over and lay it face down on an ESD foam block, so nothing presses the sticks or the buttons.

8. 8Unplug the antennas and desolder the motor wires

   On the back of the mainboard, lift the two antenna coax plugs straight up off their sockets. Then desolder the eight motor wires, two to each motor (both rumble motors in the grips and both trigger motors): they are thin and soldered straight to the board, with no plugs. Heat each pad, lift its wire off and lay it aside.

9. 9Unscrew and lift off the mainboard trap

   Undo the two 7 mm T6 Torx screws in the mainboard’s lower corners. Lever the board-to-board connector up at the board’s bottom edge with the spudger, then lift the mainboard straight up: both stick modules slide out of the I/O board under it. Set it in a PCB holder, solder side up. Avoid this trap: The four motors stay clipped in the mid-frame, and each is soldered to the mainboard by two thin wires with no plug. Lift the board while they are still soldered and the wires pull tight: the rumble motors are dragged out of their clips, then a wire snaps at its joint or rips its copper pad off the board, which is hard to repair. Desolder all eight wires first, or lift each motor out with the board and keep it supported, then lift the board.

10. 10Desolder the drifting stick module

    Each stick module is held by 14 solder joints on the back of the mainboard: four for its frame, six for its two potentiometers and four for its push switch. Add flux, heat each joint with the iron and clear its solder with wick or a pump until the pins are free, then pull the module out. A new module, or a Hall-effect one, solders into the same 14 holes; recalibrate the stick afterwards in the Xbox Accessories app.

What you need

• TR8 security Torx driver · a T8 with a centre hole, for the five 9.3 mm shell screws
• T6 Torx driver · the mainboard’s two 7 mm screws
• Nylon spudger and ESD tweezers · for the panels, the clips and the antenna plugs
• A magnetic screw tray · a well for each screw
• A new LB/RB bumper bar · no soldering needed
• To replace a stick: soldering iron, flux, wick or a pump, PCB holder, foam block · and a new or Hall-effect module

Questions

Safety

Switch the controller off and take its batteries (or its rechargeable pack) out first. Use a nylon spudger, never metal, on the seams and near the boards, and point it away from your hand. Rest the soldering iron in its stand, work with the window open, and never hold the iron on one joint for more than about 15 seconds.

• Lithium-ion batteries: never bend, puncture or pry a battery with metal. A damaged cell can go into thermal runaway: it smokes, catches fire and can explode. Discharge it below 25% first; if it swells, hisses, smokes or gets hot, stop and move it somewhere safe.
• Static (ESD): work on an anti-static mat with a grounded wrist strap; a spark you cannot feel can kill a chip.
• Power off: switch the device off and unplug its charger before you open it, and disconnect the battery before touching anything else inside.

About this teardown

3D Spatial Reconstruction: Models are engineered from factual hardware measurements to visualize internal layouts, screw lengths, and hidden cable traps before you open your device. Always verify cable routing on your specific hardware revision.

The controller is the Xbox Wireless Controller for Xbox Series X|S, model 1914, modelled at about 153 × 102 × 61 mm (our estimate: Microsoft publishes no size). The order of the steps and the fixings follow Microsoft’s own service guide for it and iFixit’s guides: five 9.3 mm TR8 security Torx screws, two under each grip panel and the fifth under the label in the battery bay; the top case lifting straight off; the top cap off before the one-piece bumper bar; the mid-frame pried out beside LB and RB; two antenna plugs lifted straight up; eight motor wires soldered to the mainboard; the mainboard’s two 7 mm T6 screws and its board-to-board connector; and 14 solder joints on each stick module (4 for its frame, 6 for its potentiometers, 4 for its push switch).

Where the brief for this guide differed from the controller, the controller decided. The “T8H” driver is the TR8 security Torx Microsoft names, a T8 bit with a hole for each screw’s pin. The grip “rails” are two snap-on grip panels with no screws, pried from their inner edge. The board stack is the I/O board and the mainboard on a plug-in board-to-board connector, and the thin wires that snap are not only the rumble motors’: all four motors, the trigger motors too, are soldered to the mainboard by eight wires, so here they are desoldered first (Microsoft’s own guide lifts each motor out with the board instead). And the bumper bar itself is plastic: the tactile clicks come from two switches on the I/O board that its posts press, so a new bar fixes a broken bumper or clip, not a dead switch.

The places of the inner parts (the boards’ outlines, the motors, the antenna sockets, the battery contacts and the clips) and the pick depth on the risk map are our estimates from photos. The buttons carry no symbols and the Xbox button no logo. The Xbox One controllers (models 1537, 1697 and 1708) are built in much the same way, but with micro-USB, and the 1708’s two boards are joined by a cable to desolder; the Elite Series 2 has six screws and an internal battery. The 3D runs faster than real hands do.

Sources: Microsoft: Xbox Series X|S controller repair instructions (service guide, 2024), Microsoft: Xbox Series X|S controller self-repair, Microsoft: getting your Xbox product serviced, iFixit: Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller Joystick Replacement, iFixit: Xbox Series X|S Controller (Model 1914) Bumper Cover Replacement, iFixit: Xbox Series X|S Controller (Model 1914) Back Housing Replacement, iFixit: Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller (Model 1914) Full Disassembly, iFixit: Xbox Series X Wireless Controller device page, Size: Wikipedia, Xbox Wireless Controller, Price: iFixit’s Xbox controller (model 1914) bumper assembly, $9.99 (October 2026), Price: iFixit’s Xbox Series X/S controller joystick, $9.99 (October 2026), Price: iFixit’s GuliKit TMR joysticks for the Xbox Series X/S, $29.99 a pair (October 2026), Price: iFixit’s TR8 Torx security screwdriver, $5.99 (October 2026), Price: Gadget Medics, Boca Raton, Xbox stick module replacement, $30–$55 (October 2026).

The 3D models, drawings and text are our own. Xbox is a trademark of its owner, named only to say which device this teardown is for; iTakeApart is not affiliated with it.