{"id":596991,"date":"2026-05-21T23:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/596991\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T23:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:04:10","slug":"psa-dont-let-your-pixel-watch-get-close-to-the-steam-controller-puck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/596991\/","title":{"rendered":"PSA: Don&#8217;t let your Pixel Watch get close to the Steam Controller Puck"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"e_rg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  title=\"steam controller 1\"  alt=\"steam controller 1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/steam-controller-1.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TL;DR<\/p>\n<p>A Reddit user almost accidentally started a fire with their Pixel Watch 4 and Steam Controller charging puck.<br \/>\nThe smartwatch\u2019s metallic band touched the puck\u2019s exposed pins, creating a short circuit.<br \/>\nValve\u2019s user manual warns to keep metallic objects away from the puck to avoid potential sparks.<\/p>\n<p>Valve recently released the Steam Controller, one part of the company\u2019s recent hardware push that also includes the upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/new-valve-steam-hardware-3615158\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steam Machine and Steam Frame<\/a>. As we all get more hands-on time with the gamepad, people are learning new things about the device, like its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/steam-controller-easter-egg-3666766\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wilhelm scream Easter egg<\/a>. Something else one Redditor learned the hard way is to keep metallic objects far away from its charging puck.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/andauth.co\/AAGooglePreferredSource\" class=\"e_pn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img class=\"e_rg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"google preferred source badge light@2x\"  alt=\"google preferred source badge light@2x\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768240152_738_google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\"\/><img class=\"e_rg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"google preferred source badge dark@2x\"  alt=\"google preferred source badge dark@2x\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768240152_238_google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a recently shared post, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/SteamController\/comments\/1tjhiyv\/psa_watch_out_for_the_exposed_contacts_of_the\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Redditor<\/a> explains how they almost started a fire with the Steam Controller Puck. According to the user, they were charging their Pixel Watch 4 next to the Puck when the watch\u2019s metallic band \u201chit the Puck at the exact wrong angle.\u201d As the metallic band touched the Puck\u2019s exposed pins, the metal \u201cstarted sizzling due to a short circuit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"e_rg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"Steam Controller Puck fire\"  alt=\"Steam Controller Puck fire\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Steam-Controller-Puck-fire.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the user noticed the issue immediately and separated the band from the Puck. Although no fire was started, there was some visual damage to both the Puck and the band. The user also takes the blame, claiming the incident was entirely their fault.<\/p>\n<p>Valve does issue a warning in the <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net\/steamcommunity\/public\/images\/steamworks_docs\/english\/steam_controller_2026_manual.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Steam Controller\u2019s user manual<\/a> to keep metallic objects away from the Puck:<\/p>\n<p>Magnetic parts may attract metallic items. To reduce the potential risk of sparks and resulting property damage or possible injury, make sure that the wireless adapter and charging puck and Controller are free of metallic objects before connecting.<\/p>\n<p>However, how many users have actually read through the manual? At the same time, guests and other people in your household likely haven\u2019t read the manual either. There\u2019s a possibility that anyone could make a similar mistake. As some commenters point out, Valve probably could\u2019ve designed the Puck in a way that requires a handshake before sending power over to make it safer.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0<a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-authority-comment-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-authority-comment-policy\/\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TL;DR A Reddit user almost accidentally started a fire with their Pixel Watch 4 and Steam Controller charging&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[786,122892,844,2603,2781,86,56,54,55,3120],"class_list":["post-596991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-gadgets","tag-gaming-controller","tag-google","tag-google-pixel-watch-4","tag-smartwatches","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-valve"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}