>>279907725
for me it staved off the "dunt click in a direction" issue, it's harder on the stick generally. 
>>279907780
I'm sorry to hear that, I've heard there's dust/etc getting into the joystick assembly which eventually ruins the resistance and spring. I've always kept mine in a postive airpressure area (the fan on top of my computer, under my desk) so they never collect dust, maybe that's why mine lasted longer.
The stick itself has a wider dust cover now. 
Here's what my gen 1 looked like from the inside before I sent it back. 
No, cleaning the stick contacts didn't help sadly.