Valve Investigating Steam Controller Puck Short-Circuit Report

Valve’s new Steam Controller Puck reportedly caused a short circuit after a metallic smartwatch band touched its exposed charging contacts. The accessory ships with the new Steam Controller and acts as both a magnetic charging dock and a 2.4 GHz wireless receiver.

The incident surfaced after a Reddit user claimed they were charging a Pixel Watch 4 near the puck. According to the post, the metal watch band accidentally bridged the exposed contacts on the dock, causing the band to start “sizzling.”

User says the damage was limited

The user reportedly separated the devices before the situation escalated into a fire hazard. They said the damage appeared visual and affected both the puck and the watch band.

Despite the incident, the user reportedly said they did not blame Valve and considered it their own mistake.

The Steam Controller Puck uses exposed charging contacts on the magnetic dock surface. If conductive metal touches both contacts while the puck is powered, it can create a direct electrical bridge.

Valve already warns about metal contact risks

Valve includes a warning about magnets and metallic objects in the Steam Controller safety documentation. The manual states that the wireless adapter, charging puck, and controller contain magnets that may attract metal items.

The warning also notes that metallic objects can potentially cause sparks, injury, or property damage if they contact powered components.

However, the notice appears inside the product guide rather than directly on the accessory itself. In everyday desk setups, the puck may sit close to watches, keys, phones, MagSafe accessories, chargers, or other metallic objects.

Valve is reportedly investigating the incident

The Reddit user claimed Valve’s Steam Hardware team contacted them after the report surfaced online. They reportedly plan to send the damaged puck and watch band to Valve so the company can reproduce and investigate the issue further.

Valve will also reportedly send the user a replacement puck.

At the moment, there is no indication of a recall or wider hardware defect. The reported problem appears tied to metal bridging the exposed charging contacts while the puck is powered.

Recently, the Steam Controller also drew criticism over limited native support outside Steam, leading to projects like HID Remapper that allow the controller to function on additional platforms and devices.

In other news, Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine recently appeared in the Vulkan conformance database, hinting at ongoing hardware development efforts from the company.

Via VideoCardz