– Potential safety risk: exposed puck pins can short-circuit if they contact metal, causing heat and sizzling; a watch strap example triggered this incident.
– Isolated incident with ongoing investigation; Valve’s Steam Hardware team is reviewing and plans to replace the puck.
– Advisory takeaway: avoid placing the puck near metal objects or conductive surfaces until a fix is confirmed.
Steam Controller Safety PSA: Puck Short-Circuit Issue
The widely successful Steam Controller has been reaching customers, and feedback has been quite positive. It comes with a puck that enables a wireless 2.4 GHz connection with the controller, as well as magnetically attaches to the controller for charging. This design, as a Reddit user unfortunately found out, can lead to some unexpected safety issues.
Incident Details and Immediate Effects
A user named ‘Toikka’ shared a PSA on the SteamController subreddit about an unfortunate incident with the Steam Controller puck. No one was hurt, and damage was minimal, but the user found that if the exposed pins of the puck come in contact with a piece of metal, they can short-circuit and start sizzling, potentially causing a fire. The metal piece in this situation was a watch strap for the user’s Pixel Watch 3.
What Happened and Outcomes
While the smartwatch was on its own charger, it accidentally came in contact with the puck and started heating up. This left minor burn marks on the strap and the puck itself. Fortunately, the user realized in time, and neither of the devices suffered any functional damage.
Valve Involvement and Next Steps
Toikka also shared that the Steam Hardware team is investigating the issue, with the “items” being shipped to the team soon. The user will also be getting a replacement puck from Valve.
Context and Reactions
While this is an isolated incident and the chances of it happening to others are low, it should serve as a cautionary tale. Some commenters are of the opinion that this is a design flaw on Valve’s side, as the incident suggests the pins are always live. There could be a firmware update to address this issue at some point, but we’ll have to wait for Valve to complete its investigation.