VincentLaw Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I did a quick search and I couldn't find a topic on this, so feel free to discuss fixing any of your sim equipment here. My joystick (AV8R-01) is probably about 9 years old, and I am too cheap to buy a new one. My throttles are loose, and my stick centering has worn out, so I decided to open it up and see if I could improve anything. The first thing I noticed is that some of the sticky grease that holds the throttles in place had leaked out of the bearings. So I got the thickest grease I own and applied it to the inside of a bearing, but it actually made the throttle looser. Does anyone have a recommendation for what to use to keep the throttle from slipping? (Obviously I don't want to glue it in place either). As for the worn stick centering, I have not looked much at that yet, but I think part of the problem is the way the handgrip of the joystick is connected to the shaft. It is a twist stick, so it has to rotate about the shaft, but the grip can rotate a few degrees on the x and y axes without moving the shaft. I'll post here as I make progress. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
leafer Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 I'd love to see the end result. Are you planing on changing out the old pots and gimbals? ED have been taking my money since 1995. :P
VincentLaw Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) I'd love to see the end result. Are you planing on changing out the old pots and gimbals?The end result looks exactly like what I started with, except now the two main age related problems my joystick had have been fixed. The gimbals were still in good condition, and I didn't want the repair to cost more than the joystick (besides, I didn't really know what I was doing). Some pictures with narration in the spoiler below. Here is the handgrip taken apart. The piece that looks like a big plastic letter C mounts onto the shaft. I don't know if it was originally glued on or not, but it was completely loose when I opened it. That was letting the handgrip rotate several degrees in roll and pitch without moving the shaft. It was easily fixed with some superglue though, and now the shaft properly moves with the handgrip while still being able to yaw. The white dust you can see there is plastic dust from 9-ish years of use. Now for the throttle bearings (One is sitting below the joystick in the picture). You can see the junk that got stuck to the throttle lever next to where that piece of the bearing is supposed to go because the bearing fluid leaked out. This stuff smells kind of like vanilla... toxic vanilla... It was a waste of money. Corn starch to thicken it, salt to keep it from molding, brown sugar to increase the adhesivity, and an all purpose grease base to keep it from hardening. Yeah, I was shooting in the dark, but this actually worked. Now the throttles are not slipping to max from gravity anymore. Edited March 20, 2014 by VincentLaw [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
leafer Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 Deyaam! You cooked your own grease? :D ED have been taking my money since 1995. :P
VincentLaw Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 Deyaam! You cooked your own grease? :DYeah, everything at the store was either glue of some sort or a lubricant designed to reduce frction. What I ended up making is essentially a lubricant that increases friction between the things it is lubricating without actually gluing them together. 1 [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
ApexLion Posted December 29, 2022 Posted December 29, 2022 im currently also trying to fix my av8r but i think im going to 3d print my own stick head and than try to make it work
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