controller dropped in water

HI @mcgabz ,

Have you disconnected the battery in the controller while you are waiting for it to dry? If not you may want to check if any corrosion has started to occur.

Water and electronics and electricity are not a good mix.

The impurities in the water causes corrosion and provides circuit paths for the electricity which were not in the controller’s operating design and could damage the components. The corrosion process starts immediately and is ongoing until it has been cleaned away properly

First do not turn on your controller and you need to remove the battery as soon as possible to prevent any further damage.

Then you need to dis-assemble the rest of the controller and clean all the affected parts using Isopropyl Alcohol 99%+ (available from electronics parts stores) to remove all traces of corrosion and water. Do not use "rubbing alcohol" as in some cases this is <70% IPA, can contain additives and is not as effective. If you do have to use it, check the label to verify the amount of IPA. The higher the percentage of IPA, the better.

Here is a link that describes the process. Electronics Water Damage

As always with electronics, especially surface mounted pcb be gentle when handling and especially when brushing away the corrosion. You do not want to remove any components from the boards.

Hopefully after you have done all this the controller might possibly work correctly again.

Here is a link to the ifixit DualShock 4 CUH-ZCT1 repair guides which may be of some help.

If this process seems too daunting, take your controller to a reputable, professional electronics repair service, experienced in water damage repair and ask for a quote for a repair. If you decide to do this, do it sooner than later.