[Solved] GBA SP New shell causes d-pad to be "mushy"

[naive leaf]

EDIT: I have solved the issue. Please see my last comment in the thread for the solution if you are having the same issue.

Hi all,

I recently purchased one of the UV Printed shells from retro game repair shop for my GBA SP. I put it together and everything is good, but after I put everything together, the d-pad is pretty "mushy". It mostly applies to the down key. It feels fine when I don't put the back cover on (I even loosened the screws that hold in the motherboard), but the moment I put the back case on, the buttons feel weird. The up key feels fine, but the down one doesn't feel good at all to press. I tried to loosen the screws on the back cover, and it makes it better, but it still doesn't feel good. It really only feels normal without the back cover. Does anyone know of a fix?

[runic plaza]

Please remember to provide as much information as possible including all troubleshooting steps you have already taken. If this is a hardware issue, please provide clear in-focus images of the issue, PCB (circuit board), installation, and any soldering you have done. Help us help you, posts with insufficient information will be deleted

[naive leaf]

Just for more information, the membranes I used are the ones that came with the shell. I don't think it needs cleaning or anything, since it feels perfectly fine with another shell I have. I tried a different membrane and I pretty much had the same issue, but it felt worse since I assume the other membrane I had is of lower quality.

[vapid meadow]

Try the OEM membranes and OEM buttons and see if it feels better. Adjusting the tightness of the screws that hold the PCB to the top shell can alter the button feeling as well, experiment with that

[naive leaf]

I'll try the OEM membranes, but I already tried adjusting the screws to the top shell. Like I mentioned, it feels fine without the back shell on. It still feels weird even when I loosen those screws though

[vapid meadow]

pair it with the OEM buttons as well for the feel test if it still doesn't feel right

[naive leaf]

I know this is super late, but I've been kinda busy. The OEM buttons are definitely way better. No mush or any problems. Issue is that it doesn't look as nice. Are there any buttons out there that are like the OEM ones but aren't just solid black?

I also found that the stem in the middle is longer on the d-pad that was included with the shell. Do you think that this could be affecting it? Hard to tell in the pic, but the stem on the left d-pad is slightly longer.

[naive leaf]

Just an update for anyone that comes across this:

I ended up filing down the stem of the provided d-pad and that fixed it! The buttons are all good now!