Q&A about Joystick Building, Parts, and Purchasing

[MashThat5A]

Hey mr.mortified. Two questions:

1) Are there any photos of the wiring in the Qanba Q4 3-in-1?

2) While I was trying to take off the wiring for the buttons the wire popped out of the metal sheath. What is a better fix: a soldering iron, electrical tape, or strip the wire a bit and pull it through with pliers?

EDIT: 3) If I think I'm totally boned, what do?

Edited August 31, 2011 by MashThat5A

[mr.mortified]

oh you're not totallly boned

sorry for not getting back faster.

You can reinsert the wire and then just solder it back in

its no real problem

[MashThat5A]

Last questions.

All of the disconnected wires are grounds. So while reconnecting, I just need to make sure there's a path connecting the ground to each button, and the order doesn't matter, correct?

If the metal pins connecting the wires to the buttons are stuck, what's the best way to remove them?

Edited August 31, 2011 by MashThat5A

[mr.mortified]

that is correct for the grounds

if the quick disconnects ever get stuck, use a small flat head screw driver and wedge slowly wedge them free

[MashThat5A]

Thanks mort! Everything is up and running.

[Cryingvoid]

Guys, I need an advice! Recently the JLF joystick of my MadCatz TE stick ceased to function. I checked the inner cable, it was plugged. So I faced the fact, that I need to buy a new joystick. But is it possible to change electronic part of it only? I mean, the balltop, the mount plate, the restrictor, duster etc. of my joystick are alright, so shouldn't I change only the electronic part of the joystick instead of buying the full set thing? Is it possible at all? And what is the best shop for that?

Anyway, please give me some advice, on what is the best thing to do in such a situation )

Thanks a lot!

[Delrian]

By electronic part, do you mean the switches?

Because that's definitely possible, but it could take some work.

[mr.mortified]

Guys, I need an advice! Recently the JLF joystick of my MadCatz TE stick ceased to function. I checked the inner cable, it was plugged. So I faced the fact, that I need to buy a new joystick. But is it possible to change electronic part of it only? I mean, the balltop, the mount plate, the restrictor, duster etc. of my joystick are alright, so shouldn't I change only the electronic part of the joystick instead of buying the full set thing? Is it possible at all? And what is the best shop for that?

Anyway, please give me some advice, on what is the best thing to do in such a situation )

Thanks a lot!

Check if your slider switch is set to dp instead of rs

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[Shockna]

So I just returned from a year long hiatus from fighters, no longer completely broke.

I just purchased this stick: http://www.amazon.com/Real-Arcade-Pro-V3-Playstation-3/dp/B0041SGD44/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315989767&sr=8-1

Partly based on friend recommendations for Hori products with Sanwa parts in them, and partly because it wasn't $300 like the really good one. >_>

Is this stick as good as the reviews suggest, for anyone familiar with it?

[mr.mortified]

It's a godlike stock stick for sure. I actually like it better than he TE to be honest. Easy to mod too. Only gripe is that there are no plexi panels or as much customization with these.

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[VietGeek]

Actually it seems like there are plexi covers and replacement metal panels now:

http://thegamesurgeons.com/Hori%20V3%20VX%20SA%20covers.html

[mr.mortified]

oh hey its blklightning's stuff from tech talk

get baller techtalk

[-ERC-]

Hi. I have an old Hori RAP ps2 stick that has the circuit board connected directly to the buttons, how can I remove the buttons and is it a risk to do so?

Also I would like to know where I can buy rubber stoppers that I can stick to the button of my stick to keep it from moving, I bought some at Home Depot and they were beyond terrible.

Thanks.

[mr.mortified]

Hi. I have an old Hori RAP ps2 stick that has the circuit board connected directly to the buttons, how can I remove the buttons and is it a risk to do so?

Also I would like to know where I can buy rubber stoppers that I can stick to the button of my stick to keep it from moving, I bought some at Home Depot and they were beyond terrible.

Thanks.

as for the buttons, take a soldering iron and a desolder braid/solder suck bulb and suck that solder off the buttons. no risk to do so, just make sure you don't hold it too long there lest risking lifting the pad from the PCB

as for the rubber stoppers, i'm not so sure, what you can do and what some people have done is take kitchen cabinet liner, the grippy stuff that looks like a mesh of squares and glue that down to the back plate. People have had good results with that stuff and non-slip

[-ERC-]

What's the difference in latency between buttons that are connected directly to the pcb and buttons which use wire connection.

[Delrian]

...You mean what's the difference between buttons that are soldered(?) directly to the board versus using a small wire? Virtually none.

Electrons move pretty fast man, a few inches is nothing to them. It's the circuits inside the PCB or console itself that add a few microseconds to the signal.

[mr.mortified]

An amount that has no real affect on your game. It's a non-issue

Sent from my HTC Panache using Tapatalk

[-ERC-]

What size are the start and select buttons on the Hori Real arcade pro?

[mr.mortified]

What size are the start and select buttons on the Hori Real arcade pro?

24 mm are the standard sized secondary

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[WolfCrimson]

Hey guys, need help with something.

I got myself a Mayflash universal PS2/PS3/PC arcade stick (my first stick), so I can Guilty and Blaz at the same time. However, my cousin (who's in no way a stick expert) says that the buttons feel stiff and he started comparing it to another stick a friend of his has, who I'm guessing has Sanwa buttons because he said that just exerting a bit more force than just resting your finger on it causes the buttons to register a move. For my stick I have to press the button almost 3/4 of the way down for it to register, but that's in no way a problem for me. But I'm asking this from an ergonomical point of view, will this cause my hand to cramp or something? I'm already feeling some discomfort with my right hand (the hand that I use to push buttanz), but maybe that's like something to do with getting used to the stick itself, rather than a problem with the buttons. Anyone?

And another thing, since this is my first stick, I feel that I'm having trouble doing diagonals. Like, for example I have trouble doing forward jump, IADs or 3C or things like that. They don't come out 'clean', like when I go to training mode and turn on input display, and then try to do a diagonal direction like it comes out like . If I ty multiple times to get a 'clean' diagonal then I might be able to get it about 3/10 times if I do it slowly and deliberately enough. I have no trouble doing 236, though, although my cousin says you have to exaggerate the movement to get it right whereas his friend's stick register's it with less exaggeration of movement.

SO I guess my question after all that text is: Is what I'm experiencing due to pad-to-stick transition, i.e. something normal, or is it due to a crappy joystick and/or buttons? I'm thinking of getting some Sanwa parts to swap out the stock joystick and buttons if it turns out these issues are caused by the stick itself.

Edited December 21, 2011 by WolfCrimson

[InfiniteChaos]

Hey guys, need help with something.

I got myself a Mayflash universal PS2/PS3/PC arcade stick (my first stick), so I can Guilty and Blaz at the same time. However, my cousin (who's in no way a stick expert) says that the buttons feel stiff and he started comparing it to another stick a friend of his has, who I'm guessing has Sanwa buttons because he said that just exerting a bit more force than just resting your finger on it causes the buttons to register a move. For my stick I have to press the button almost 3/4 of the way down for it to register, but that's in no way a problem for me. But I'm asking this from an ergonomical point of view, will this cause my hand to cramp or something? I'm already feeling some discomfort with my right hand (the hand that I use to push buttanz), but maybe that's like something to do with getting used to the stick itself, rather than a problem with the buttons. Anyone?

And another thing, since this is my first stick, I feel that I'm having trouble doing diagonals. Like, for example I have trouble doing forward jump, IADs or 3C or things like that. They don't come out 'clean', like when I go to training mode and turn on input display, and then try to do a diagonal direction like it comes out like . If I ty multiple times to get a 'clean' diagonal then I might be able to get it about 3/10 times if I do it slowly and deliberately enough. I have no trouble doing 236, though, although my cousin says you have to exaggerate the movement to get it right whereas his friend's stick register's it with less exaggeration of movement.

SO I guess my question after all that text is: Is what I'm experiencing due to pad-to-stick transition, i.e. something normal, or is it due to a crappy joystick and/or buttons? I'm thinking of getting some Sanwa parts to swap out the stock joystick and buttons if it turns out these issues are caused by the stick itself.

There should be no reason for you to get all those extra inputs when trying to hit a diagonal especially since you are using stick. I am going to assume you have a square gate for this but you should just get a 9 when inputting a 9 on the stick you should not be getting motions like what you described (89869). On the buttons issue you should barely have to press down on them at all for an input to be registered. If you hold most sticks just barely above the ground and drop it 1 or 2 buttons will usually register as having been hit; the buttons should be very sensitive. To answer your question it is probably just a crappy stick and or buttons. Hope this helps.

[Delrian]

I replaced the parts in my mayflash the week I got it (because I was new to the whole soldering/wiring thing), but I think the stick felt a little loose (which MAY cause the extra inputs, not sure). The buttons... felt stiffer enough in comparison that I think they may have an effect from continued hours of use, but again, didn't bother trying it out.

[WolfCrimson]

Thanks for the quick reply, I appreciate your input. I usually take 2-3 expert opinions before making my final decision, so Imm'a wait for a few more inputs on the issue. However, I'm gonna ask the next set of questions I have about stick parts in advance:

1. I know about lizardlick.com, but I don't know if they ship outside the US. Do they? Are there other good, trusted stick part retailers based outside the US? I live in Bahrain, in the middle east, so I'm looking for a good retailer site for stick parts that's relatively close to minimize shipping costs.

2. I don't understand the alphanumeric system these companies (Sanwa, Seimitsu, Happ etc.) use for their stick parts. How do I know the differences between similar parts?

[Airk]

Off the top of my head, I can't recommend another distributor, but this site has good but slightly dated information about buttons and model numbers and the like. I don't think there's any real magical system behind them to "understand" though.

[mr.mortified]

I'm actually going to say hold off on lizardlick for the time being. LL has had some very very disturbing distribution problems since implementing the new preordering system.

as for shops in europe

try gremlinsolutions

arcadeforge

or you could try japan with akihabarashop.jp

if you were aiming for a toodles board, you can order one directly or you can get a dualstrike from arcadeforge