Joystick rebuilds

Logo sticks aren't as difficult, but he replaced everything except the housings with repro or NOS parts. He got it on Friday night, called me that night, rebuilt it, called me back after an hour, and had it back in the mail. I sent it out on a Wednesday and got it back the next Monday. It works beautifully. I think it might have cost be $80-90, but it was one of the best investments I've made. My Indiana Jones plays beautifully.
 
videogameparts.com kick ass. Just rebuilt my Gauntlet joysticks, shipping was super fast.
 
What are the common issues with that particular joystick?

I had to have the joystick on the Indiana Jones "fixed" at Funspot upon arrival each of the two yearly times I took a little vacation up there. (A real pain when you're trying to move the world record up).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Issues? LOL they are pretty much completely made of plastic (or plastic-like materials). So the plastic pieces push into and rub against each other until everything wears down and the stick's action gets looser than Octomom.

Specifically this affects the top half of the joystick base, and two pieces referred to as the 'plunger' and 'pivot ball' which put tension on said top half to keep the joystick centered when not in use.

Less frequently (or more frequently if we are talking about Assault sticks) the top half of the stick base may also be messed up from people trying to twist the stick which causes the centering roll pin to dig into the base piece (or break, one of the two).

They are also leaf switch so sometimes gotta clean those and adjust them, but that is no biggie.

Basically you can order the plunger and pivot ball pieces from Stephen and it isn't that hard to DIY, but if you don't have the proper tools onhand (Nyogel lubricant, a high quality pin punch set, some WD40, and personally I made a small cradle piece to rest the joystick shaft in so the plastic stick doesn't get damaged while hammering out the roll pins) it may be best to just pay for a rebuild before you break something.
 
Good grief. Perhaps it is time for someone to just come up with a simple design based on some other joystick assembly, but using the Atari shaped joystick with logo.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Issues? LOL they are pretty much completely made of plastic (or plastic-like materials). So the plastic pieces push into and rub against each other until everything wears down and the stick's action gets looser than Octomom.

Specifically this affects the top half of the joystick base, and two pieces referred to as the 'plunger' and 'pivot ball' which put tension on said top half to keep the joystick centered when not in use.

Less frequently (or more frequently if we are talking about Assault sticks) the top half of the stick base may also be messed up from people trying to twist the stick which causes the centering roll pin to dig into the base piece (or break, one of the two).

They are also leaf switch so sometimes gotta clean those and adjust them, but that is no biggie.

Basically you can order the plunger and pivot ball pieces from Stephen and it isn't that hard to DIY, but if you don't have the proper tools onhand (Nyogel lubricant, a high quality pin punch set, some WD40, and personally I made a small cradle piece to rest the joystick shaft in so the plastic stick doesn't get damaged while hammering out the roll pins) it may be best to just pay for a rebuild before you break something.

I did the full rebuild kit on my 720 stick. There was a LOT of play in it before, due to the wear in the..well everything, including the upper housing. I used the full RAM kit and got an upper housing from videogameparts. There's literally NO play in it now..it's rock solid, yet pivots around like it's supposed to.
 
One of my original Assault joysticks is loose. It works, but I'm afraid with more wear, it will stop working. I saw the repair service on the site.

Do I send the whole CP in for the joysticks to be repaired?
 
just send the joystick. On Assault sticks, I HIGHLY recommend replacing the upper and lower housings with a rebuild service. That will make the stick pretty much factory new.
It's expensive, but you will forget the cost the first time you play Assault with proper sticks.
 
just send the joystick. On Assault sticks, I HIGHLY recommend replacing the upper and lower housings with a rebuild service. That will make the stick pretty much factory new.
It's expensive, but you will forget the cost the first time you play Assault with proper sticks.

I'm sure I'll be contacting you in 2012 for this very reason. :)
 
Just got my Atari joystick back on Friday and it is AWESOME. Shipped on Monday, got it back on Friday and was playing Rolling Thunder yesterday. Great service - if you need it, I highly recommend it.
 
I am another satisfied customer of videogameparts.com joystick rebuild service. Sent in a gunked up worn out non working piece o' shit and got back a nice and clean fully functioning Atari joystick ready to go into my Galaga 88 project.

Thanks much Mylstar!
 
Mylstar, do you do Hall Effect joystick rebuilds too? I have two of them, both Road Runner, that need attention and I'm willing to pay a pro for the proper treatment. If so, what do you charge? If not, do you know of anyone who does?
 
just send the joystick. On Assault sticks, I HIGHLY recommend replacing the upper and lower housings with a rebuild service. That will make the stick pretty much factory new.
It's expensive, but you will forget the cost the first time you play Assault with proper sticks.

I checked your site but see no reference to a kit or building services for an Atari logo joystick.

Outside of authenticity, is there a legitimate reason to bother getting one of these joystick rebuilt?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Good grief. Perhaps it is time for someone to just come up with a simple design based on some other joystick assembly, but using the Atari shaped joystick with logo.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Right, just make Atari handles for Happ Supers already to satisfy the casual restore market and save the real thing for the purists.
 
THREAD! RISE FROM THE DEAD!

The Hall-Effect joysticks are the only way to play games like Road Runner. I've also got an Assault that while is original, has a little slop in the sticks. It's worth it to repair them.

Oh, and if you do it yourself, make sure you have the correct size punches - otherwise you'll just make a mess of what's left of the joysticks.
 
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