Bad controllers or bad Atari 2600?

[OrthodoxGamer]

I recently picked up an Atari 2600 with about 10 games and 2 aftermarket Wico Command Controllers. My issues is that the joystick respond well, but it seems like possibly the red button is always activated. A perfect illustration is the game Combat. I can navigate around the screen so the joystick itself is fine, but the tanks are constantly firing without using the button on the controller. I can only play PacMan and Q*bert, because the red button on the controller is irrelevant in those to games. It really sucks because some games require the red button to jump. Is it coincidentally two bad controllers or something inside the console? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[JadeETC]

The controllers do this in both joystick ports?

[JamesL]

I don't know anything about the internals of those sticks, but there a BASE/STICK switch on the black base of the joystick. Try switching it to STICK. That should deactivate the red button and activate the white button on top of the stick. If the problem is with the red button sticking that may negate it and you can use the white button.

Edited September 23, 2014 by JamesL

[OrthodoxGamer]

Thanks for your responses. It doesn't seem to matter which port a controller is in or which mode I use on the joystick, Base or Stick. Does this point to a problem inside the console? If so, any fixes?

[bah]

if you start a game with no controller at all and the firing continues, then the problem is in the console. Most likely the shooting will stop and you will find a bad set of contacts in the controllers that are always making contact.

[freewheel]

Thanks for your responses. It doesn't seem to matter which port a controller is in or which mode I use on the joystick, Base or Stick. Does this point to a problem inside the console? If so, any fixes?

 

As mentioned, test it with no controller plugged in (Combat can be started without using the fire button). If you still see this behaviour - a few things could be wrong in your console. The RIOT chip could be bad - basically the chip that handles the joysticks - or it could be some of the wire traces/components on the way to that chip are bad. Like a leaky capacitor or something.

 

Without having spare parts to test against, it's hard to nail down for sure what's wrong other than trial and error. See if you can find a spare joystick - almost anything with a compatible plug will do, try using a Sega Genesis pad - and someone with another Atari console to test your sticks on.

[ninoy1995]

Is this Atari a Sixer? I had this experience with a Sixer. All I did was to cut a trace on the CD4050 chip and it solved the problem.