Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Super Advantage Controller

  1. #1
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    4
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default Super Advantage Controller

    Hello, I'm new to this forum. And I have a couple of questions. Hopefully not all my posts will be silly questions.
    I recently bought a used ASCiiWARE Super Advantage controller for the Super NES, and I'm having trouble with the buttons. The action buttons all seem to get "caught" if I hit them on the edges rather than the center. This doesn't happen *too* much, but it's enough to be annoying.
    My questions are: is this just the way the controller is, or is there something wrong with the controller? Which brings me to my next question: How do you open the damn thing? The only reason I'm asking any of this is because I couldn't get it open. After I unscrewed it, I was stumped; I can't figure out how the metal plate on the bottom is attached. I've taken apart most of my other controllers (mostly out of curiosity, really), and never had this problem.
    Any helpful advice or links would be appreciated.
    Because the Bradys have *integrity*, damn it.

  2. #2
    Great Puma (Level 12)
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    4,119
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    I don't have my Super Advantage in front of me right now, but I seem to recall that when I was taking apart my NES Advantage, I ran into a similar problem. I took out all the screws but the metal plate wouldn't come off!

    It turned out that there were additional screws hidden under the rubber feet. If the Super Advantage has rubber feet on the bottom, I'd bet that there are more screws to undo, after which the plate will come right off. So peel 'em off and check.

    The good news is that once I cleaned the !@#$ off of my buttons (which were sticking like yours are) they stopped getting stuck.
    (\ /)
    (O.o) ---XBL GT: RHINDLE
    (><)
    /_|_\ ---PH34R TEH BUNNY

  3. #3
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    4
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Aha! Thank you very much, you're exactly right.
    Y' know, I did sort of think of this, I guess I just didn't try hard enough to peel them off. ^-^
    I'm going to try cleaning it out later. I think this will fix the problem, since it never happened with my NES Advantage (which I bought brand new from Toys 'R Us on clearance a few years ago... the stuff I buy buy brand new tend to stay pretty clean)
    Thanks again!
    Because the Bradys have *integrity*, damn it.

  4. #4
    Banana (Level 7) § Gideon §'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Mich
    Posts
    1,411
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    49
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4
    Thanked in
    4 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bargora
    It turned out that there were additional screws hidden under the rubber feet.
    Thank you. I just found myself in the same situation as Timepants over there. I suspected there were screws under the rubber feet because you can kind of feel the imprint when you press down on them. But I didn't want to remove those unless I was sure. Do they stick again after taking them off?

  5. #5
    Great Puma (Level 12)
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    4,119
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by § Gideon §
    Quote Originally Posted by bargora
    It turned out that there were additional screws hidden under the rubber feet.
    Thank you. I just found myself in the same situation as Timepants over there. I suspected there were screws under the rubber feet because you can kind of feel the imprint when you press down on them. But I didn't want to remove those unless I was sure. Do they stick again after taking them off?
    I don't think they stuck on their own afterward. But they stick after you use some Elmer's Glue-All! (I picked that one because it sticks well enough to hold them on, but not so well that you can't get the feet off again if you need to get inside the controller once again.)
    (\ /)
    (O.o) ---XBL GT: RHINDLE
    (><)
    /_|_\ ---PH34R TEH BUNNY

  6. #6
    Banana (Level 7) § Gideon §'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Mich
    Posts
    1,411
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    49
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4
    Thanked in
    4 Posts

    Default

    Yeah, they don't stick at all. Instead of gluing them back on, I was thinking about using rubber feet with pits in the middle, so the screw head is still exposed.

    I noticed that the Super Advantage is pretty impressive on the inside. It's not cluttered, and it's got a durable design--the supporters underneath the PCB where the buttons hit; the heavy, metal base; the copper channels being sealed; the mock power/reset buttons being separate pieces, instead of being painted on... The only thing wrong with the design is the three-position switches. They're basically metal legs that scrape (very slightly) against the PCB. This creates two problems: scratches across the PCB and possible loss of contact. For example, after putting it back together two of the switches didn't work. I swapped the metal legs, and the problem vanished.

    It's a blast to play with, though! I never had so much fun with F-Zero.

  7. #7
    ServBot (Level 11) GarrettCRW's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Las Vegas, NV
    Posts
    3,700
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    GarrettCRW
    PSN
    GarrettCRW

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by § Gideon §
    The only thing wrong with the design is the three-position switches. They're basically metal legs that scrape (very slightly) against the PCB. This creates two problems: scratches across the PCB and possible loss of contact. For example, after putting it back together two of the switches didn't work. I swapped the metal legs, and the problem vanished.
    Amen, though I'm no big fan of the slider for the turbo power, either. Still, an impressive controller, and a mighty successor the the NES Advantage.
    Webmaster of the Cartoon Review Website!
    http://www.cartoonreviewsite.com

    My sale thread

  8. #8
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    1
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default More on disassembling...

    Quote Originally Posted by § Gideon § View Post
    Yeah, they don't stick at all. Instead of gluing them back on, I was thinking about using rubber feet with pits in the middle, so the screw head is still exposed.

    I noticed that the Super Advantage is pretty impressive on the inside. It's not cluttered, and it's got a durable design--the supporters underneath the PCB where the buttons hit; the heavy, metal base; the copper channels being sealed; the mock power/reset buttons being separate pieces, instead of being painted on... The only thing wrong with the design is the three-position switches. They're basically metal legs that scrape (very slightly) against the PCB. This creates two problems: scratches across the PCB and possible loss of contact. For example, after putting it back together two of the switches didn't work. I swapped the metal legs, and the problem vanished.

    It's a blast to play with, though! I never had so much fun with F-Zero.
    sup, everyone.

    So yesterday, I decided to take out my Super Advantage from the attic when a friend of mine brought over a console (or module if you will) that allows you to play NES, SNES or Genesis games with their original controllers. After 20 or so years of not using the Super Advantage, I completely forgot that the 'R' and 'L' buttons stick. However, it isn't the 'I spilled my soda on the buttons and now they're sticky' kind of stuck. Rather, it's one where the buttons seem to stick due to a hardware mishap.

    Soooooo... I took it apart and ran into similar problems found here, then I discovered the issue [in case others reading this cleaned it and the buttons continued to get stuck]. The buttons would "stick" because the arms that hold the buttons in position are so sharply squared off that they tend to grip onto the sides of brackets/walls that steady the buttons. So I took the finest sander possible and shaved/sanded the edges and corners of the button arms until they were smooth enough not to grip onto the bracket walls. I put it back together, gave it a test run, and the buttons work even better.

    And as Gideon wrote, the three-position switches may give you issues after disassembling the controller (or even before). When I noticed one didn't work, I pressed down on it and it started working only when pressure was applied, which meant that the 'metal legs' weren't making contact. The best solution (if swapping the legs doesn't help) is to gently bend the metal legs downward more in order for them to make definite contact with the PCB. What also helps is using a contact cleaner that not only cleans the metal legs but also provides better conductivity. I did all three and the problem was resolved.

    Hope this helps, because I forgot how awesome it was to use the Super Advantage, especially for Street Fighter games. Now it's even better.

  9. #9
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Posts
    1
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Juan Nieve View Post
    sup, everyone.

    So yesterday, I decided to take out my Super Advantage from the attic when a friend of mine brought over a console (or module if you will) that allows you to play NES, SNES or Genesis games with their original controllers. After 20 or so years of not using the Super Advantage, I completely forgot that the 'R' and 'L' buttons stick. However, it isn't the 'I spilled my soda on the buttons and now they're sticky' kind of stuck. Rather, it's one where the buttons seem to stick due to a hardware mishap.

    Soooooo... I took it apart and ran into similar problems found here, then I discovered the issue [in case others reading this cleaned it and the buttons continued to get stuck]. The buttons would "stick" because the arms that hold the buttons in position are so sharply squared off that they tend to grip onto the sides of brackets/walls that steady the buttons. So I took the finest sander possible and shaved/sanded the edges and corners of the button arms until they were smooth enough not to grip onto the bracket walls. I put it back together, gave it a test run, and the buttons work even better.

    And as Gideon wrote, the three-position switches may give you issues after disassembling the controller (or even before). When I noticed one didn't work, I pressed down on it and it started working only when pressure was applied, which meant that the 'metal legs' weren't making contact. The best solution (if swapping the legs doesn't help) is to gently bend the metal legs downward more in order for them to make definite contact with the PCB. What also helps is using a contact cleaner that not only cleans the metal legs but also provides better conductivity. I did all three and the problem was resolved.

    Hope this helps, because I forgot how awesome it was to use the Super Advantage, especially for Street Fighter games. Now it's even better.
    Can you provide a detailed picture of the shaved/sanded edges? I am experiencing the same problem with my controller and would like to try your solution.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	SuperAdvantage.jpg 
Views:	52 
Size:	124.1 KB 
ID:	8651
    Last edited by TheHypebeast; 03-14-2016 at 01:24 PM.

Similar Threads

  1. FS: Super Advantage joystick for the Super Nintendo
    By Guru of Time and Space in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-17-2011, 11:32 AM
  2. What games take advantage of the Jaguar Pro Controller?
    By vintagegamecrazy in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 01-23-2010, 08:50 PM
  3. NES Advantage Controller New Original Plastic Wrap
    By death1024 in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-03-2008, 01:31 PM
  4. SNES Super Advantage - instructions?
    By jhd7 in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-11-2005, 05:06 PM
  5. Super NES Advantage
    By mattpfeil in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 10-17-2002, 11:27 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •