Help me play with my joystick again

smalltownguy2

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I pulled apart some joysticks when I was tearing down a JAMMA cab this winter, and I set the control panel aside, hoping to get to it later.

Well, now it's later, and I'd like to re-use these joysticks again. They appear to be similar to the Happ Supers, but there's no C-clip on the bottom. Maybe they're WICO? Instead there's a notch in the shaft of the stick, and there's a small piece of plastic wedged in there to hold the articulator in place.

I have to remove this articulator to get the stick off the panel, but once I do that, how will I get it back on again? It appears that this little piece of plastic is a 'one use' piece, and once I pull it out, I won't be able to get it back on again.

I'll put up some pics later tonight, but does anyone understand what I'm asking here? How will I wedge something in there again to keep the shaft in place when I re-install?
 
Here's some pics. How do I put this actuator back on?
 

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Man, that's a jacked up joystick. It looks like an original Super to me.I have a few of these grimey, rusty joysticks laying around too.

To get the actuator back on, you need to push the joystick shaft down from the handle and it should extend below. You may be having trouble because it's so rusty and dirty. You place the actuator on the shaft and you hold it in with an e-clip and a washer or two. You're right, whatever plastic was holding it in before is most likely no good so washers and an e-clip is the only way to go.

Though, you're better off saving yourself the trouble and buying brand new minty Supers, Ultimates or Competitions. That's what most guys do with their JAMMA games whatever they may be. They aren't too pricey.

$8.95 + shipping at LL

Though, some guys choose to go with quality since Happ joysticks are made in China and are terrible quality. You can go with IL compact joysticks (Supers) and our very own armi0024 (Bryan) at Paradise Arcade Shop sells them.

Here was Blkdog7's SF2 thread where we talked about differences in joysticks.

happ_compstick_black.jpg
 
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I did finally figure out what brand joysticks these were. They're IL sticks.

Though, you're better off saving yourself the trouble and buying brand new minty Supers, Ultimates or Competitions.

I'm a compulsive frugalist. There's no way I'd throw away something that can be fixed. Read below to see how I figured this out....


To get the actuator back on, you need to push the joystick shaft down from the handle and it should extend below.

This stick doesn't work that way. There's no slot in the bottom of the joystick shaft for an e-clip. Plus, the final installation of the actuator doesn't allow for the joystick shaft to stick out of the bottom of the actuator, which I will show below.

After closer inspection, however, I did finally figure out how these sticks' actuators worked. Before I forced them off, I realize that there was a plastic 'nib' inside the actuator holding it on. These actuators were pushed on the bottom, then pushed against the spring tension for another 1/4 inch, rotated 180 degrees, then released 1/8" to lock them in place in the notch on the joystick shaft. You can see in this pic the slot on one side, and the machined notch on the opposite side of the shaft:

CIMG5469.jpg


So here's my little actuator, with the plastic 'nib' sheared off on the inside. What do do?

IMG_9143.jpg


Well, taking a cue from other machinists, I decided to fabricate my own 'set screw' of sorts. I started by taking the actuator to my drill press and drilling a hole in the side of the actuator in the same place where the nib was sheared off. Then I tapped in a machine screw (already cut to length) in its place:

CIMG5470.jpg


CIMG5471.jpg


Now I was able to slide the actuator on the shaft, rotate it, and lock it in place properly.

The finished product:

CIMG5472.jpg


It works perfectly. Now I'll get everything inside cleaned up, sand the shafts on my drill press & re-paint them, and these sticks should be able to be re-used without any issues at all.
 
Cheap bastard...

Seriously though. I had to rewire the entire CP in my Killer Instinct because they soldered all of the wires. Looks like your joystick was that way also. Soldering causes more problems than they solve. Stupid ops....
 
Yeah, my SFII wiring is all hacked up with splices and wires soldered to coin switches. It works but I'll have to redo it someday. Whoever did this should be punched in the face.
 
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