joystick hardly works

KRJMN

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Hello, I have a Namco classics 2 machine with unresponsive joysticks. The joysticks work when you are going side to side. However when you need to make a quick turn it won't work. For example when pac-man is going from left to right and he needs to avoid a ghost by turning and going either up or down the screen, you need to slam the joystick up more than once to get a response.
I checked the connections on it and I don't see anything wrong. I also swapped one of the joysticks and it didn't make any difference. When I put the game into test mode it registers all of the movements you make with the joysticks, and it seems like they work perfectly. Then you go to play the game and you lose in the first 15 seconds because the joystick doesn't work. The machine is on site at my friends store, and people are complaining about it all the time. I hope someone knows what could be wrong. -thanks
 
I can'nt remember if that game used a 4 way or a 8 way joystick? I wonder if thats your problem?

I would try too clean it allso .
 
you don't have all the switches wired backwards do you?

input wiring goes on the NO terminal (the middle one), not NC (the top one).

if it's 4 way or 8 way shouldn't matter any, if it's coming up as ok in test mode but not working in game then I'd lean towards them being wired wrong.

when I test joystick switches I hold the joystick in the direction I want to test, say up for instance, use force in holding it in the up position and then try wiggling the stick side to side. if you get any flickering in the input test, it's time for a new switch. it should maintain activity throughout the test. do this in all 4 directions.

if the joysticks are old and gunky, I'd take them completely apart and clean with a toothbrush, windex, and paper towel to wipe up. if you have new microswitches, try replacing all of them on one of the joysticks and see if there's any change.
 
Thanks, I will try that and see what happens. I never thought of it being wired wrong, but I guess it could be. I just assumed the wires were already in the correct places.
 
well in the input test, were they all "lit up" and would just shut off when you triggered them? lol

that's one way to know for sure.
 
In my professional (HAHAHAH) opinion, your problem is you have an 8 way joystick in the cabinet when you really need a 4 way joystick. Common problem with Pac Man machines.

The problem is, the original board only recognizes the 4 directions, so if you are using an 8 way when you move it up to the diagonal position, it presses both inputs, left and up. When they add together it doesn't know what to do, so it confuses the pcb and doesn't move.
 
Had problems like this in my front line. It turned out to be a grounding issue. The controls would get more unresponsive the longer I played. If I touched the underside of the joystick mechanism the controls would instantly get better. Are the ground wires all attached to the joystick? One of mine was pulled off.
 
In my professional (HAHAHAH) opinion, your problem is you have an 8 way joystick in the cabinet when you really need a 4 way joystick. Common problem with Pac Man machines.

The problem is, the original board only recognizes the 4 directions, so if you are using an 8 way when you move it up to the diagonal position, it presses both inputs, left and up. When they add together it doesn't know what to do, so it confuses the pcb and doesn't move.

having never mucked with a game with 4-way inputs before, this is very interesting and perfectly understandable.

it's also probably the problem. lol

some joysticks have the ability to just flip the actuator on the bottom of the stick itself to change it from 8-way to 4-way. you want the bigger blocky end hitting the switches instead of the narrower type in this case. I usually use a 1/4" flathead for prying e-clips off, ideally to pop it up just enough to pull the rest of it out with a pair of pliers (or in my case, my trusty Gerber) otherwise you can pop it off the rest of the way with the flathead, but have a finger on the clip, cause those things literally will shoot across the room.
 
The 4- way or 8-way question seems to make the most sense. The sticks are wired correctly and it looks like they are grounded okay. Most of the connections have been soldered in place, and the ones that are not, appear to be clean. The joysticks look just like the Happ 8 way ones on Bob Roberts. I took one of the square actuators off and flipped it over, and it didn't help at all. Maybe the game is supposed to have four way joysticks.
The thing I don't understand now is if the game is supposed to use a four way joystick, why does the test mode show 8 possible directions to test? You know what I mean? It's like they are expecting you to have a 8 way joystick. Is the test mode independent from the game? I hope I am explaining this properly. - Thanks guys.
 
if you have 8 directions in the test mode, then you more than likely need 8 way joysticks. just saying. :)
 
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