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Warthog friction lever repair attempt: failure, wrong part


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My thrustmaster warthog's friction lever worked perfectly for years as my zoom axis, then became jittery after sitting unused for several months. No software fix seemed to work such as turning off LEDs or putting them at max. I decided to try to replace the potentiometer entirely.

I had purchased a couple of these:
https://br.mouser.com/ProductDetail/CTS-Electronic-Components/251B12T104A2NB/?qs=6E8igxPflKdliaNMymwp6A%3D%3D

And they were completely wrong. The size of the plastic shaft that interfaces with the actual lever plastic piece is way too small, by about half. The shaft itself has a keyed flat side, this keyed flat side faces the wrong way. The overall potentiometer size is also much too small. Here's someone else's picture of the potentiometer that I also found in my throttle:

https://imgur.com/a/9rbh5zw

I found in another post someone recommending this digikey link for a chproducts potentiometer. I can already tell immediately that it would not work. It's round and made of completely different materials.

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=reppot604

So I'm still on the hunt for the correct item at this point in time. If any one of you know or are able to find this specific potentiometer so that I and others can use it for repairs that would be greatly appreciated.

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Does the pot have any identifying information on it?rsther than relying on visual appearance. 

Windows 11 | ASUS B650E-F STRIX | AMD 7800X3D | G.Skill 64Gb DDR5 6200 30-36-36-48 w/ tuned secondary/tertiary | RTX 4090 undervolted curve | MSI MPG A1000G PSU | VKB MCG Gunfighter Ultimate + Rudder Pedals + WH Throttle |  HP Reverb G2

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9 hours ago, EightyDuce said:

Does the pot have any identifying information on it?rsther than relying on visual appearance. 

I am having same issue, bought same pot and found it was too small. The original pot has the following identifier on the back: B1 04 85 FR.

Tried googling that number, found nothing. Any help would be great!

20230114_082926.jpg

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Got a response from thrustmaster support, apparently they do in fact sell component level parts for repair purposes. I was not at all expecting this as most companies nowadays would never offer this and instead expect you to ship the item for repairs and pay half its retail price for repair. Here is the email I received:

" Thank you very much for contacting our Thrustmaster support team!

We offer a wide range of spare parts for almost all our products and would be happy to send you the needed spare part.

The needed spare part - HOTAS WARTHOG THROTTLE FRICTION POTENTIOMETER - is available for a price of 6.00€ plus shipping costs for a dispatch from France.

- Standard shipping for 4.56€

However, we must note that the shipping costs may vary, depending on the number of items or the total weight. We can provide you the exact amount at the end of your order.

If you have any questions about the shipping conditions or need additional spare parts, please do not hesitate to ask us. All prices are in EURO (€) and are including the VAT.

As soon as we have received your details, we will start your order process and then send you the information for the payment via PayPal. The prices in this offer can withstand changes at any time and are therefore not binding.

If you would like to confirm the order, we kindly ask you to briefly check or complete your details:"

I decided to order 2 of them in case I ever need to make the repair again. Thrustmaster gets a lot of hate for the construction of their products but I have to give them a massive thumbs up on this one, this is an absolute life saver.


Edited by Schmiddy
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I did some diggin by came up emptyhanded. Glad they got you sorted. Wish they could provide a manufacturer part number, not like they're making a ton of money on the parts.

Windows 11 | ASUS B650E-F STRIX | AMD 7800X3D | G.Skill 64Gb DDR5 6200 30-36-36-48 w/ tuned secondary/tertiary | RTX 4090 undervolted curve | MSI MPG A1000G PSU | VKB MCG Gunfighter Ultimate + Rudder Pedals + WH Throttle |  HP Reverb G2

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6 hours ago, EightyDuce said:

I did some diggin by came up emptyhanded. Glad they got you sorted. Wish they could provide a manufacturer part number, not like they're making a ton of money on the parts.

Considering I'm paying about $7 per potentiometer and they buy in bulk and probably pay around between $0.50 - $2.00 each I'd say that's not a bad sale for them.


Edited by Schmiddy
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On 1/14/2023 at 7:08 PM, Schmiddy said:

...

Thrustmaster gets a lot of hate for the construction of their products but I have to give them a massive thumbs up on this one, this is an absolute life saver.

...

They offer even the gimbal sphere that usually breaks when people try to yaw the stick. Have contacted them a few times for parts replacement and I can't complain.

The last one was the 5 position thumb switch on the throttle. They told me that they only sell the entire side part with all the other switches, but the thumb one is the same switch the warthog stick have on the left side, the grey one, so I bought the grey one, swapped the hat and changed the throttle one for this. Perfect. If someone falls in that case, now you know you have alternatives without having to buy the entire side plate (more expensive).


Edited by deeleyer
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Rel4y from the post below sold me a Hall effect potentiometer for the friction slider and it works.

However, it did not fix the jitter in that axis. I saw another post somewhere that mentioned a powered USB, and that did fix the jitter.
A combination of powered USB and hall effect sensor is spot on mind you.
I paid 7eur shipped, but that might not be an official price.

I haven't really seen Relay mention the warthog in his post other than my request, so I'm not sure if he planned on selling them in the end. I think I may have been the first to enquire about them. But he has all the details now.

Wouldn't hurt to ask 

sensor.jpg


Edited by jonsky7
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