The highs (and lows) of taking apart my Steam Deck

Note: This is not a guide to taking apart your Steam Deck and is more of an example of what not to do. Always use the right tools for the right job and seek professional repair if you are not confident in your skills.

I am a neurotic woman. If something bothers me, I have to get it right. now. It doesn’t matter if it’s the right time to do it or if I have the resources. So when the B button on my Steam Deck started getting stuck… well, what was the response? Take the damn thing apart, of course.

Steam Deck impressed early on not only with impressive gaming power for something so small, but also as demonstrated by Valve, easy-to-use design with modular components. This makes the deck one of the the most hacker-friendly and repairable gaming devices available now. And after finally opening it myself, I’m convinced that any expensive gaming rig should be designed to such a high standard for user-friendly repairability.

Taking things apart is standard for me

After suspecting there was a problem with my B button, I turned to the internet for answers and, surprise, this is a common problem. There are several fixes for this issue that don’t involve opening the deck, such as using fine grit sandpaper or a small piece of tape. But after reading about this particular B-button problem coming from a manufacturing flaw in the system’s plastic shell, I was convinced something different was plaguing mine.

Read more: Valve has made the Steam Deck easy to modify and repair, and it’s starting to pay off

Too many hours of play halo LAN parties with gamepads too close to fast food and bottles of Mountain Dew taught me what that very special stuck the feeling is. My immediate thought was, “someone needs to learn to stop eating at their damn desk while working on Steam Deck articles.”

This wasn’t my first rodeo. I’ve built computers, completely disassembled and reassembled laptops, consoles and gamepads. I regularly repair and assemble guitars, including soldering electronics, adjusting necks and even wood carving on occasion, and have performed cutting-edge mirrored mods inspired by the work of Ned Yvett. I have my stories of success as well as failures. I had this. right

I almost made a critical mistake when I opened the device

I made a deal with myself: I would finish my game on Metal stormthe rocking 1991 gravity-reversing NES platformer, then take this thing apart. And I resigned myself to the knowledge that I might destroy my deck in the process…because I don’t have the right tools for the job.

I drain the battery with The Witcher 3, then put the Deca into battery saver mode via the BIOS. This disables the power button and makes it only turn on when the charger is plugged in. The Internet claims that it is important before disassembly.

Read more: 11+ great Steam Deck games that won’t drain your battery

Disaster struck almost immediately. I unscrewed the eight screws on the back and was ready to open it up… and then I noticed my microSD card still in the slot, which you have to remove before opening the box or you’ll break the card in half.

So I took it out.

I hate opening curious things with my fingernails, but I don’t own any iFixit tools. So I used a resource I have in abundance, on the floor, under cabinets, in random pockets: guitars.

I chose my current standard of Dunlop Tortex Flow picks at .83mm. As I understand it, this is a great way to scratch and chew the plastic seams of the deck to the point where it now looks like someone has been “in there” (it was relicsed, Thank you very much). I’ve learned that a 0.50mm guitar pick is a bit gentler on the plastic, though it’s worth repeating: you shouldn’t be opening your Steam Deck this way.

Once open, I looked at my archmesis: ribbon cables.

I don’t really know what my problem is with them or what their problem is with me, but ribbon cables worry me.

To get to the buttons, I’ll have to disconnect some ribbon cables, remove two circuit boards, the trigger, and the bumper. Also, every YouTube channel told me to remove the shield, disconnect the battery, and probably wear a ground bracelet. I decided not to do the last three because I didn’t want to. (Reminder: This is not a guide.)

Everything went surprisingly well. But the L2/R2 trigger was difficult. You have to pry it off its plastic hinges (one actual tip: remove the spring first) with a certain amount of force that will cause your brain to warn you: Stop, you’re going to break this.

I stuck some electronic tweezers in there and pulled. This is known as a brilliant fucking idea™.

The tweezers slipped and ripped a scratch on the thumb assembly, cutting through the solder. But I have a soldering iron; I could fix that. Also, you can purchase Deck analog stick modules separately. And was I going to stop there? No. That B button needed to be fixed.

I survived everything else. Finally digging out the buttons under the armor mechanism and, yes, there on the B button there was some… goof? nonsense? Things? A little rubbing alcohol removed it and I started reassembling.

By the way reassembling the trigger sucks. I ended up resorting to cutting a stick of guitar binding material to get the spring to press properly. I only dropped the spring once which only took a few minutes to find with my phone flashlight.

Time to reassemble….but wait a minute

I snapped the box open, reached for the screws and realized… I never reconnected those ribbon cables. (See? My worst enemy.) So, uh, back to opening the guitar deck.

After reconnecting the cables, snapping the case back together, and replacing the screws, it was time to plug the power cord back in to see if I had bricked it or broken something.

My Steam Deck exploded, not with kinetic energy, but with joy, powering on and allowing me to launch halo so I could make sure that my solder damage on the right analog stick didn’t actually break anything (and I’m pretty confident that scratch could just melt).

As I happily bounced around killing Covenant, I realized that the deck felt very different in my hands. Not physically, but…emotionally, maybe?

Once I opened the thing up and saw what was actually inside and actually removed some parts to get to the front mechanism, it made the deck feel less precious and I felt more confident in my ability to keep this thing running through your whole life life expectancy. It used to be like any other black box consumer electronics device, like my phone or my Switch. Now? I know firsthand that the Deck is a user-serviceable device, so I won’t feel weird opening it up again. Just… maybe next time I’ll buy some proper tools.

By the way my B button is still getting stuck. But not in that disgusting sticky way, just in a clicky plastic way that fits the descriptions of what many users deal with. Time to get some sandpaper.