T-MEK analog joystick question

jimbodeanny

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Analog joystick question

I'm in the process of going through all four of the joysticks for my T-MEK and cleaning them up . When they were removed, I noticed a bunch of tiny little BB-sized bearings fell out. Looking through the manual/schematics and even Happs documentation, I can't seem to find any information regarding what these tiny bearings are for and (more importantly) where they go. Does anyone have an idea of what or where these belong?

Also, on the topic of these joysticks... can anyone give me some suggestions/recommendations for fixing/rebuilding/cleaning/tuning these joysticks? Other than the lubricating them, I'm not sure what I should be adding to the list of TLC. I know these sticks have potentionmeters, but I'm not sure what they do. Again, I've checked the manual, and there's not a ton of information on the maintenance of these sticks.

Any insight would be appreciated!

-Jim
 
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Upon further inspection/research, it appears the two 5k pots measure the horizontal and vertical axis the joystick is moved. Not sure if these pots can be adjusted or are meant to be.

Still trying to find information on the little BB-sized bearings...
 
This weekend I will be back in my T-Mek stash area and I will gather some pictures of where those bearings go. Do you by chance know if they are original or after-market?

Another thing common with these sticks is the ring indentation that happens around the base of the stick where it is always slammed around against the metal plate. I have been looking into machining some new ones or even re-fabricating the ones I have.

In regards to your artwork question. I have only heard of one person with NOS artwork and that was only for the rear. That was a few years ago too. I have been working to create all new vector art but time has been against me. I hope to be closer to finished by end of this summer.
 
This weekend I will be back in my T-Mek stash area and I will gather some pictures of where those bearings go. Do you by chance know if they are original or after-market?

Another thing common with these sticks is the ring indentation that happens around the base of the stick where it is always slammed around against the metal plate. I have been looking into machining some new ones or even re-fabricating the ones I have.

Awesome. I'm pretty sure they're original sticks, based on the buttons. I'm planning on picking up the suggested lubricant that the manual recommends and cleaning these sticks up, and then hopefully if I can find out where the bearings go, throw them back where they belong.

I'm really not too worried about the artwork. Overall, it's fantastic, especially the rear panel. The only noticeable section is the upper corner of the seat section on the player 1 side (red). There's a small, baseball-sized section that's missing, but that's it. Nothing I can't stand.

I just recapped both monitors and will be reinstalling the chassis and tweaking them tomorrow.

I already fixed some wiring issues and a speaker problem. I've got a ton of the little incandescent bulbs (that go above each player) on order. Things are coming together nicely and I'm super excited to finish this project. What an awesome game.
 
Good to hear your having fun with it. It is one of my all time favorite machines.

So, I found the bearing that I think you are talking about here in the manual.
manual.jpg


and it's purpose is to roll along the stop plate. Here is a good bering

img1.jpg


and here is what the majority end up looking like

img2.jpg


I have some time off this week so if you need it, I will get some measurements off of the good one.
 
Thanks for the reply and photos. I'm sure they'll help, but my question relates to a different part. The "bearings" I'm referring to look VERY much like a BB (tiny, tiny metal balls.) A little larger than the ball-point of a pen. I can take some photos, but they basically look like BBs.

I'm hoping that once I get these back in there and replace/fix any other bearings that it'll improve the joysticks a bit, including fixing the readings I'm getting in the control test. currently not all directions are giving me a +/-32 reading (some are +/- 20ish) even after resetting the limits.
 
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Upon further inspection it looks like the issues are probably related to the pots and bearings. Holy crap, these things are dirty! I plan on replacing both for each joystick. So far the cheapest I've been able to find the pots are $10 each from Betson.com. Happs has them, but wants $30 each! I've heard that Honeywell was the original manufacturer so I'm going to check with them and see if they have replacements.
 
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