Rush the Rock Force Feedback problem

TheBasement

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I picked up a Rush the Rock and the force feedback works in one direction, but not the other. I pulled, checked and replaced fuses, pulled and reconnected the connectors. Everything looks good. I'm assuming one of the two directions on the force feedback board is bad.

Does anyone have any clue how to fix this? If not, do you know where I can get another board? Thank you.
 
i would first replace the steering pot. this could be the issue even though its working correct on the screen it maybe going bad and its also alot cheaper to replace than that elusive rush force feedback board.
 
i would first replace the steering pot. this could be the issue even though its working correct on the screen it maybe going bad and its also alot cheaper to replace than that elusive rush force feedback board.

But the steering pot works just fine on the calibration screen, and works fine in game. Also one direction of force feedback works, It just doesn't make sense to replace the pot. I'm just trying to troubleshoot this logically.
 
I know you are just trying to help. So I read over your link. The text is quoted below.

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if you could, maybe disconnect the force feedback's power, and then while in test mode make sure that your steering volume cycles smoothly. if there's any drops in the value or it starts walking on its own, the pot's bad and you should probably entertain replacing that first. it's just a regular 5k ohm, shack might have it or you can get it from Bob or Happ or the usual game part outlets.

if this isn't the problem at all, then the next step should probably be looking at the force feedback board, see if anything's nuked on it. then scope fleabay, see if there's such a monster floating around on there and go from there
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So my force feedback is disconnected, and in test mode the steering pot cycles and reads numbers smoothly. It doesn't jump or walk on its own as the text suggests. Now, as the text suggests, the next step is looking at the force feedback board. And well, here I am.
 
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i picked up a RUSH awhile back and there was no force feedback. I ended up buying a working steering board to fix the problem.

i still have the old board and would like to figure out what component(s) need to be replaced. havent looked into in awhile but after a quick google search, i came up with this thread:

http://www.gamehourz.com/Rush-steering-feedback-board-schematic-needed-ftopict229942.html

Maybe Ken can chime in on it. Those OPA541AP drivers are on ebay for $14.
 
i picked up a RUSH awhile back and there was no force feedback. I ended up buying a working steering board to fix the problem.

i still have the old board and would like to figure out what component(s) need to be replaced. havent looked into in awhile but after a quick google search, i came up with this thread:

http://www.gamehourz.com/Rush-steering-feedback-board-schematic-needed-ftopict229942.html

Maybe Ken can chime in on it. Those OPA541AP drivers are on ebay for $14.

That op amp may be the key, weird how it only works in one direction. Just curious how much did you pay for your replacement board, and where did you get it (KLOV, ebay, Happ, etc)?
 
VV,
I am dealing with this same issue right now from a game I picked up last week. You issue sounds EXCACTLY the same as mine. When you turn the wheel to the right, the force feedback works, turning it to the left, it does not.
My guess was one of those drivers? I'm going to get out in the garage here for a couple hours and try some different trouble shooting ideas. Simple idea being if those driver IC's on the heat sink are working correctly, they should be plenty warm....
I'll let you know what I find....
 
Oh I PMed Ken last night, he responded by saying that he never got the schematic, He ended up sending the board off to HAPP to be looked at. HAPP diagnosted it good, and 200$ later he ended up figuring out that the 5K pot was bad. But from the sounds of it, his FFB didn't work at all....
 
Hey VV.
Did some trouble shooting the past couple evenings. The first thing I found interesting was that even after an hour or so, the heatsink that the 2 OPA541AP wasn't even the least bit warm! Neither was the heat sink with the TIP-120 on it.
Hooked up the motor to 9vdc it turned clockwise, -9vdc it turned counter-clockwise.
Motor 100% works......
Replaced the 5k pot, did nothing to help.

un-hooking the 5k pot all together, I noted that the car would not turn(obviously) but the FF was working as it did before...you could feel it reacting if you hit a wall......

So in my mind I'm thinking it MUST be in that board?

I'm temped to swap the 2 OPA transistors and see if that changes which direction the FF works?
Right now my FFB works when turning it wheel to the right....

Can anyone out there with a working FFB tell me if that big heat sink gets warm after a while? Or the smaller one?
 
Well think about it, if only 1 Op amp was firing, then the heatsink would only get half warm. I ordered 2 Op amp's today, because I don't know where else to turn and can't find someone selling an extra board at the moment for nothing less than $300. I'll post here on how it turns out, I hope I didn't waste my money. I would still try swapping yours to see if it changes directions, that way you would only have to buy 1 instead of 2.
 
What do you think the odds of that TIP-120 being bad? Like I said, that heat sink was not even the least bit warm either?
And not only was the big heat sink not warm, NEITHER of my op amps were either.... And that was after turning the wheel back and forth for a while too...
Where did you get your op-amps? Mouser?
I have to think that SOMEONE out there has had this problem and managed to fix it?
Curious, in which direction is your FFB working?
Keep me posted.....
 
Mine is working when I turn right, so clockwise feedback is working. I ordered mine from Mouser. I wasn't going to wait 3 weeks and pray to get them from Ebay in the Phillipines just to have them for $14 each.

From the manual, it shows some fuses, some power resistors and the op amps as field replaceable parts. I would assume those are common failure parts. I think there is a mistake, in that Q1 and Q2 are the op amps, not just Q1. I really didn't think about 1 of 2 power resistors going bad and doing an open circuit. I might have to pull a leg on each one and measure the ohms. Below is a page from the manual.

forcefeedbackpage.jpg
 
Hey VV.

Can anyone out there with a working FFB tell me if that big heat sink gets warm after a while? Or the smaller one?


Yes, they do get warm! After an hour of play they get really warm and sometimes cut out due to thermal protection. I zip tied 2 12 volt computer fans on each one and that fixed the issue.
 
That is what I figured. I mean that heat sink is massive, they don't just put those things on for no reason. Ha!
How about the TIP-120 with the heat sink? Get warm too?
Thinking out loud here......
Odd that the FFB DOES work, but only when the wheel is turned clockwise, yet both Op-Amps and the heat sink are not warm at all? One would think if it was working 1/2, that ONE of them would be warm? AND that TIP should be warm?? Something doesn't add up?

I'm going to take that board off this evening and see if I can tell if the TIP-120 feeds the Op-Amps, or if the OP-Amps feed the TIP-120??
 
Hard to tell what is going on with it with out a wiring diagram. The Op-amps and the TIP are connected electrically at least, I know that. The Q2 has those wires on it, guessing that is how the overheat circuit is activated? Just a WAG but I'd bet the Q1 is the bad chip, else the overheat circuit would hacve kicked in before things fried? Who knows..... Basement let me know what happens when you swap those out.....If those Op-Amps don't fix it, I'm guessing the TIP will....pretty much HAS to be one of those 2 parts? Good news is those TIP-120 are less than a buck a piece....
 
I had one a while back with the same problem, it would only turn one way. I always suspected one of those op-amps, but never bit the bullet and tried to rebuild it.

BTW, you could probably do pretty well if you ever get to the point where you can rebuild these things! Lots of them are broken.

When I had mine, I was less knowledgeable about circuit repair, you could always test that tip120 with a meter, and also with a diode tester you could probably compare values between q1 and q2 if you took them out of circuit. If one's bad, you'll get different readings.
 
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