Hello all! I wanted to briefly share my experience modding my Steam Deck OLED, should it be of use for anyone else!

Here are the pics

It seems like most replacement button sets are fully compatible with the Steam Deck OLED, except for the triggers/shoulder buttons and replacement trackpad covers. The shells are compatible but I did not want to remove my screen + adhesive to do the front shell, so I just did the back. I did have to trim the silicone piece that the volume buttons connect to to get it to fit.

The gulikit hall effect joysticks that specifically mention Steam Deck OLED compatibility were easy to install and calibrate by running thumbstick_cal in desktop mode, and whether it is just placebo or not, they definitely feel more precise than stock!

I did not do extensive before/after thermal testing, since many people have done that before. I did repaste the APU with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme as well since I had to remove the heatsink to get access to replace the power button

Here are the products I used:

Joysticks

Button set

Rear shell

  • @wasted_in_time
    link
    57 months ago

    Great work.

    I spilled a little bit of juice on the right track pad a few months ago. Now sometimes the track pad button spring gets a little sticky. I’ve been wanting to crack it open to replace it but I’m worried I’ll probably messed it up.

    95% of the time, it’s on the dock.

    • Davel23
      link
      fedilink
      47 months ago

      As far as I’m aware, the trackpads are not physical “buttons”, the click is generated purely through haptics. There wouldn’t be any spring involved. Try pressing them when the unit is off, they’re just immobile blocks of plastic.

      • FubarberryM
        link
        fedilink
        English
        4
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        It’s a mix I believe, they do press down into the device some, but the “click” feedback is from haptics.

        Here’s a photo of the touchpads, you can see that the mount points have a flexible frame to let you press it down. Edit: finally got OP’s pictures to load, and he has a different style of track pad mounts. I’m not sure the details, but I know that both track pads on my OLED deck do press down some.

      • @wasted_in_time
        link
        57 months ago

        I thought they were springs, but haptic makes more sense.

        Well something is keeping it stick when I press down on it. I saw a little bit of juice go into the crevice around the pad. Figured it was the sugar keeping it sticky.

        Sometimes it goes away, other times it doesn’t.

        So I thought I’d just replace it, but still worried of messing it up.