Thrustmaster TWCS Throttle - Stiction & Friction Mod

[hughlb]

Hi guys, I have had success in modding my Thrustmaster TWCS throttle. Those of you who have the throttle would be aware of the stiction issue, as well as the relatively light friction. Both of these make the throttle feel cheap, light, and can become a frustration in making minor throttle adjustments.

 

After trying various grease compounds to varying success, I have used felt on the contact points for one of the rails. You can try on both rails, but one was enough.

 

Note: I am not a materials expert or thrustmaster employee, so mod at your own risk! ;)

 

The following video by Charmed Baryon is a great guide to the internals of the TWCS. But needless to say, the process is not complicated:

 

 

1) Simply remove the baseplate, as indicated in the video

2) remove the 3 screws holding one side of the clamping plastic piece, and the 1 screw holding the friction bar in place (see picture below)

3) cut two pieces of felt (see picture below). Poke two of the 3 screws through the felt to hold in place while you reassemble the clamping plastic piece

4) Screw the 4 screws, and adjust to preferred tightness - I have mine tightened all the way and it gives the throttle very heavy but smooth feeling - needs bolting into your simpit.

5) Screw baseplate back on

 

I have left grease on the back of the rail on the felt side, and the other rail is fully greased.

 

That's it! It now has a much nicer feel. You should notice the improved friction, both in weight, and reduced stiction. You can experiment with different fabrics, but felt has worked well for me - just make sure it has a heavy duty backing, so the felt doesn't tear where the screws go through.

 

Pics included below:

 

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by hughlb

[Thadiun Okona]

There's a simpler solution. Use Nyogel 767a... it's not consumer stuff from a hardware store. Its a complex engineered damping grease that is very stiff yet will not bind the least bit when moving from a dead standstill.

 

http://www.oveready.com/nyogel-lubricants/nyogel-767aa-dampening-grease-10g-tube-/prod_421.html

 

This is not a property that greases casually have. It's either engineered to be this and sold as such, or it does a miserable job over any length of time. I've been exploring greases for damping since 2012 because I made an aiming joystick for mech piloting that relied on it. I've tried a lot and nothing comes even close.

 

My ranting about Nyogel 767a caught the attention of VKB and they did their own experiments with it. This is what led to the biggest feature change of their upcoming joystick base, the Gunfighter, that being their 'dry clutches'. Those are radial versions of the axial friction mechanisms I made for my mech stick and another experiment of a centerless x/y friction gimbals.

 

The properties that allow it to excel at that extremely demanding task make it more than suited for other friction mechanisms such as TM's throttle rails, and others have already used it to good effect.

[hughlb]

There's a simpler solution. Use Nyogel 767a... it's not consumer stuff from a hardware store. Its a complex engineered damping grease that is very stiff yet will not bind the least bit when moving from a dead standstill.

 

http://www.oveready.com/nyogel-lubricants/nyogel-767aa-dampening-grease-10g-tube-/prod_421.html

 

This is not a property that greases casually have. It's either engineered to be this and sold as such, or it does a miserable job over any length of time. I've been exploring greases for damping since 2012 because I made an aiming joystick for mech piloting that relied on it. I've tried a lot and nothing comes even close.

 

My ranting about Nyogel 767a caught the attention of VKB and they did their own experiments with it. This is what led to the biggest feature change of their upcoming joystick base, the Gunfighter, that being their 'dry clutches'. Those are radial versions of the axial friction mechanisms I made for my mech stick and another experiment of a centerless x/y friction gimbals.

 

The properties that allow it to excel at that extremely demanding task make it more than suited for other friction mechanisms such as TM's throttle rails, and others have already used it to good effect.

 

That's a fantastic write up Thadiun Okona, thank you for the insight. I will pick myself up some Nyogel 767a. I have tried so many average lubricants, all of which had different approaches but ultimately, the same pitfalls of stiction.

 

On a side note, I am picking up my Gunfighter from the depot tomorrow morning, and I'm really excited about the damping offered by the dry clutches. Thank you for your part in bringing these to the flightsim community!

[Darrylx444]

I just got a brand new TWCS, and wasn't too thrilled with the motion / feel of it.

So I tried the felt mod on both rails, but it actually made the stiction worse in my case.

It felt good if I moved it fast, but at slow speed it would bounce/stick/bounce/stick a hundred times per inch.

Curiously, when I removed the felt it was a bit better than before I tried the felt. I think when I cleaned off the grease it actually made it better?

[sc_neo]

I had the same issue on my TWCS when i bought it 18 months ago. I opened it up and cleaned every bit of TM grease away with liberal use of cleaning benzine/petroleum ether, and then i properly "nyogeled 767a" on the rails and its close to perfect since then. You get a pretty heavy and thick feel with nyogel, but for 98% of your movements its butter smooth. That stuff is a save bet i can asure you.

[Rick50]

how have these mods held up for you guys?

 

is the felt still a good idea?

 

And is there similar grease as an alternative?

[Darrylx444]

I just got a brand new TWCS, and wasn't too thrilled with the motion / feel of it.

So I tried the felt mod on both rails, but it actually made the stiction worse in my case.

It felt good if I moved it fast, but at slow speed it would bounce/stick/bounce/stick a hundred times per inch.

Curiously, when I removed the felt it was a bit better than before I tried the felt. I think when I cleaned off the grease it actually made it better?

 

 

Following up on my old post above: I eventually bought some Nyogel 767A dampening grease and that really works very well. Problem solved. A small 10g tube is plenty. Just do it.