The Steam Controller launched earlier in the month in select international markets. And beyond its unavailability elsewhere – including locally, at least in an official capacity – it was a pretty controversy-free controller. Until recently anyway, as a user reported that the wireless puck that it comes with nearly caused a fire.
For context, the Steam Controller comes with a multipurpose puck that acts as its 2.4GHz wireless receiver as well as its magnetic charger. You could leave it attached to the controller itself as another way to use it as a wired controller instead. While it attaches to the controller magnetically, the charging happens via the three pogo pins, which is a pretty common setup.
Back to the near-fire incident, a Reddit user going by Toikka has shared their own misstep. In the account, they accidentally let the exposed pogo pins of the Steam Controller puck come into contact with the metallic strap of a Google Pixel Watch 3. The smartwatch itself was “on its own charger”, so when the metallic strap touched the puck’s pins, the strap “started sizzling due to a short circuit”.
On one hand, Toikka says that they aren’t blaming Valve for the incident, though the company has reached out and is investigating. But on the other hand, TweakTown reports that the Steam Controller product guide that comes in the box does already warn that metallic items can be attracted to the puck and can create sparks.
Another interesting detail shared by Toikka is that if multiple pogo-pin chargers are plugged in and are in close proximity, “they may arc”. Which is as good a public service announcement as any to keep such chargers separate and far away from each other. This is in addition to keeping any other metallic objects away from such chargers.
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