Atari Paddle Repair (Cleaning Jittery Paddles)

Many paddle controllers are plagued by jittery movement. This guide will help you clean your existing paddles so they will work like new in most cases. For particularly stubborn paddles you might want to replace the internal potentiometer altogether, here is the guide for Atari Paddle Repair (Pot Replacement).

The tools needed are:

  • Screwdriver (philips)
  • Small flat screwdriver (Or something to pry up small tabs with)
  • Needle Nose Pliers
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Old Toothbrush or Q-tips

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Atari Paddle Repair (Pot Replacement)


Tired of Atari Paddles that jitter? No problem, there a couple of easy ways you can go about fixing them yourself. The first is to clean the internal potentiometer. Here is the guide for Atari Paddle Repair (Cleaning Jittery Paddles). This will work for most paddles, but sometimes for particularly stubborn paddles you may want to replace the pot. There is a way to completely replace the internal pot with a brand new one from Radio Shack that costs $3. Here is the part you need. Of course it needs some modification to fit properly into the paddle casing. This guide will show you how to do that.

The tools needed are:

  • 1 Meg Linear Taper Pot – Radio Shack Part # 271-211
  • Screwdriver
  • Wire Cutters/Strippers
  • Rotary Tool with Various Bits for Cutting/Grinding
  • Soldering Iron and Solder
  • Tape Measure/Ruler
  • Glue

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