Adjusting Leafs on a wico 4" for Robotron - No tool necessary

Cliff Clavin

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Adjusting Leafs on a wico 4" for Robotron - No tool necessary

I recently listened to the masses who said wico is the one and only for Robotron. While my Robotron originally came with wicos, I replaced them many years ago with microswitch Joysticks which I thought were quite satisfactory....at least until I read the forum here.... :)

I found two nos 4 way joysticks for sale and using some old scavenged parts, turned them into 8 way....Then a kind soul (thanks wolfeel) reproduced the original 4" handle and lo and behold, two new Wicos await installation.

While I won't bore you with the installation, did you know that the new multi-game jamma wiring harness has clips that do not really fit on the leaf joyticks clips? The multi-game connectors will connect but feel very loose........I think the leaf connectors on the wicos are a tad smaller than the normal microswitch width......

Once everything is all hooked up and connected, not surprisingly, diagonals are near impossible.....grrrrrr, but they are brand new I think!....so a google search reveals that there is a special tool that you can use to adjust the leafs but in a pinch some use needlenose pliers.....well fortunately for me, the needlenose pliers are nowhere to be found....

I then came upon the idea to increase the width of the joystick spacer thing rather than trying to adjusting each leaf individually...This has the benefit of equal distance for all leafs...Also, it can be adjusted bigger or smaller in seconds, as often as you like.

My solution was to use electrical tape....Wrap it around the "joystick spacer thing" and make it as big as you need it....the bigger you make it, the closer it will force the leafs together....

Once mistake to avoid....Wrap the tape on one side of the spacer. To get the little clip on the end, it is easier if all the tape is on the bottom end of the spacer, allowing the normal width end of the spacer to push up into the joystick assembly as required....

It works fantastic and should last..well pretty much forever....I am glad I listened to the folks who touted the Wicos....The silence is golden and they are soooooo smoooth.......While the joysticks are pricey, if you are a Robotron lover, then you owe it to yourself and to your machine.....

Here are the pictures...
 

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good info.
midway used that kind of concept with the pacman joysticks where the actuator is oversized. makes for a very nice leaf experience. that's what i run in a vertical cab with the arcadeSD and love it.

i haven't checked but you might be able to get replacement actuators from bob roberts. which would allow you to get a little more diameter in a hard plastic....
 
You are trying to use a 4 way joystick as an 8 way? How did you "turn" them from 4 ways to 8 ways? The only difference in the base plate. The 4 way has a base with a diamond shape so you cannot hit the diagonals, the 8 way bases have a round hole so you can hit the diagonals. It looks like you have a 4 way joystick that you are trying to use as an 8 way.

Also, the actuators for 4 or 8 way are different.
 
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Mikesarcade sells repro 8 way actuators for like $3.. Also, I'd rout out the diamond plate and make it a circle if it really bothers you.. I've found with an 8 way actuator you can use a 4 way top and bottom diamond plate.. As the hole is large enough without modification.

If you need any nos leaves, grommets, joystick plates, sticks (3.5"), 1 4" robo, and 2 4" light blue sticks.. Pm me.
 
You can adjust the leaf switches with your fingers and/or a small screwdriver... no special tool required. The electrical tape is not a good idea. It will not hold up like the nylon actuator.
Like a previous poster pointed out, if your bases have a 4-way diamond restrictor then that is your real problem.
 
And as far as aftermarket replacement sticks for Robotron goes, I agree that the Microswitch sticks "feel" and sound odd but I've used Perfect 360's on Robotron's and MW's and they were spot on!

Not to be mean or anything but I was also going to say the same thing that Matt did about the electrical tape. Also, when its starts to break down its going to turn into a gooey mess.
 
I sourced some old 8 way plates to substitute in for the diamond shape on the 4 ways...I was going to try and simply drill the diamond shape out and turn it into a circle but using a hand drill, I made a mess of it....If one had a drill press, it should be a breeze to drill out the plate and turn it into an 8 way circle....

With regards to the actuator, if the 4 way joystick has a smaller one, then that would explain the difficulty in hitting diagonals on the initial setup....Assuming the eight way actuator is a larger size, then it would certainly put the leafs in a better position....

I am not worried about the tape breaking down....its packed pretty tight in there and it will not be subjected to too much heat. I find bending the switches result in some that are too close, while others are to far away resulting in inconsistent activation....perhaps those with more patience can get them closer together...

If anyone has a picture of the 8 way actuator, I would love to see...

Thanks for all the comments...
 
Did you ruin both 4 way bases? I'd buy one from you without the "ruined" part.

Sorry... Thread hijacked.
 
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I ordered some replacement 8 way actuators from Mikes (thanks local413) to see the difference. The 8 way actuators are certainly bigger than the 4 way but were not big enough for my joysticks....I added some more electrical tape to the 8 way actuator and it is working well....
 
Get rid of the electrical tape and get some small pinball rubbers if you need to mess with the actuator. The electrical tape will either turn into a gooey messy blob or it will dry out and fall off. The pinball rubbers will provide the same sort of thing, plus they have some give to them.

ken
 
There's no need to mess with the actuator at all.... He just needs to learn how to adjust the leaf switch position and gap properly (which he clearly hasn't done from the pic he posted). And no, you don't need any special tool to do it.
 
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