Turbografx 16 Controller Repair

Here’s a quick and simple repair for those of you that find your Turbografx 16 or PCEngine controllers to be worn out or too stiff.

I have found over the last while that the d-pads and buttons are extraordinarily stiff on most TG16 controllers I’ve used. I’ve had a NES controller like that too. They become really painful on the thumbs after playing for a few minutes. I’m not sure if this is the same with all TG16 controllers, or I’ve just got unlucky with stiff ones.

Turns out the NES silicone pads fit almost perfectly into the TG16 controllers, so you can swap some official NES ones in, or if you don’t feel like modifying authentic NES pads, just pick some up cheap replacements on eBay.

I bought some for $1 a set, with free shipping.

The TG16 dpad silicone is split into two pieces from the factory, but is almost exactly the same as the NES one.

Replacement NES silicone on top of the TG16 silicone
TG16 silicone on top, and a good demonstration of the modification you need to do. Two tiny cuts with an exacto knife around the hole, and it fits perfectly.
The buttons side by side. These are a drop-in replacement, without modification.
All back together and feeling much nicer!

I hope this helps! This is the ebay ad I bought the pads from, and I am very satisfied with them.

Good luck!

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Raskulous is an avid gamer, retro gamer, and computer enthusiast. He also spends portions of his free time doing electronics service and repair, and console modifications.

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