Ms Pac joystick

MrGorf

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Been working on a Ms Pac and wanted to rebuild the joystick. I had a hell of a time getting the spacer off the stick. There was a lot of rust. I soaked the shaft in some evaporust and it cleaned up pretty good. It looks like it was originally copper plated but that is pretty much gone.

My question is what can I do to protect the stick? Should I give it a coat of paint, or is there something I can coat it with to keep it from rusting again? What do you guys do?
 
Once it's clean and dry, it should be ok.

You can also spin it in a high-speed drill with some fine sandpaper, to remove the rust and smooth it out, if it's pitted at all.

If you want to do something beyond that, you can coat it with a thin film of 100% silicone grease (available at any auto parts store). Just a tiny amount. I will apply some with a Q-tip, and basically wipe most of it off, so the shaft just has a film of it left.

That will help the plastic spacer spin on the shaft (instead of rubbing against the hole in the base, it will roll, and lower the friction a bit).
 
Once it's clean and dry, it should be ok.

You can also spin it in a high-speed drill with some fine sandpaper, to remove the rust and smooth it out, if it's pitted at all.

If you want to do something beyond that, you can coat it with a thin film of 100% silicone grease (available at any auto parts store). Just a tiny amount. I will apply some with a Q-tip, and basically wipe most of it off, so the shaft just has a film of it left.

That will help the plastic spacer spin on the shaft (instead of rubbing against the hole in the base, it will roll, and lower the friction a bit).

Yes. What andrewb said ^ :)

On a related note, I noticed after rebuilding my Pac-Man joystick it was squeaking like a bastard. So I took a Q-tip and smeared a VERY small amount of the same 100% silicone grease between that spot where the tiny white spacer rubs against the leaf spring. BOOM! now totally silent.

grease-the-spacers.md.jpg
 
Yes. What andrewb said ^ :)

On a related note, I noticed after rebuilding my Pac-Man joystick it was squeaking like a bastard. So I took a Q-tip and smeared a VERY small amount of the same 100% silicone grease between that spot where the tiny white spacer rubs against the leaf spring. BOOM! now totally silent.


Yes. I've actually done the same. This is a good trick.

The key is to use as little as possible, as too much will attract dirt over time, and potentially gum things up. You basically just need to put a tiny amount on (I used a toothpick), then wipe off any excess. It leaves a silky film, which is enough to kill the squeaks.
 
Yes. I've actually done the same. This is a good trick.

The key is to use as little as possible, as too much will attract dirt over time, and potentially gum things up. You basically just need to put a tiny amount on (I used a toothpick), then wipe off any excess. It leaves a silky film, which is enough to kill the squeaks.

That's cool that you have done the same thing. :) Yes exactly...it only takes a very small amount to make a huge difference.

100% silicone grease is awesome for joysticks.
 
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