Hydraulic rudder pedal damper vs resistance based damper

[ChrisIhao]

Hi ppl. Like the title indicates, I'd like to get some feedback on two different kind of rudder pedal dampers. Mostly, how a steering damper mod works in practice.

In my case I have the Virpil Ace collection pedals. I purchased the mod described in this thread: 

This mod works by installing a curved bracket and mounting a screw that you can tighten. There are vinyl plates between the screw and bracket to make the sliding motion smoother.

Shortly after receiving and mounting the mod, Virpil released their own damper like described here: https://virpil-controls.eu/vpc-rudder-pedals-damper-upgrade-kit.html. This is a hydraulic steering damper. I'm wondering how such a damper actually feels when it comes to resistance, centering etc.

The mod I installed already works quite well. However, if I tighten the screw to make the pedals stay in place while using a light spring, there is quite a bit of friction, and it doesn't properly center until I untighten a bit.

How does a steering damper work in this sense? When using it to keep the rudders in place for heli simming, does it return to proper center if using a light spring. What does tightening the screw on the damper actually do? Will there be a lot of friction, or will the damper move smoothly?

Also, do you think Virpils solution ensures symmetry between the axes, based on experience from similar systems?

Thing is, I already have an order in with Virpil at the moment, so if I'm going to get the Virpil damper, I should do it now to save some transportation costs. To be honest, I'm tempted to add it no matter, and to compare the two options myself. However, buying one costs 50 euros, which is a bit much if the solution I already have turns out to be better.

[Tom Kazansky]

The Virpil New Year sale ends on 14th(/15th?) of January and the new Virpil damper kit is currently on back-order*. Are there already people here that got theirs shipped and can share their experiences?

*edit: 13 hours later Virpil site says: "Availability: In stock"

Edited January 12 by Tom Kazansky

[Nightdare]

@ChrisIhao

 

Compared to a friction damper, which always applies the same pressure (disregarding wear/temperature), a fluid damper of the type used by Virpil allows a much more 'free' movement, and will only start working beyond a certain threshold

(In practice, there can often still be a bit of friction, dependent on how strong you want to set the damping)

 

This shows the working principle:

  

Fluid dampers are much less prone to wear (and thereby work more consistently) and function less intrusively, the variable types are also better to finetune

All in all, bar some exceptions/applications, they are superior to mechanical dampers (Which is why you hardly see the latter)

[Dragon1-1]

I think the bigger reason is static friction. In general, static friction coefficient is always greater than dynamic friction coefficient. Actual friction force (maximum in case of static friction) is proportional to the force pressing the surfaces together times the relevant coefficient. Thus, a friction-based damper will invariably "stick", that is, require a larger input of force to get moving than to keep moving, resulting in a moment of rapid acceleration after the motion starts. This makes it impossible to make small, precise inputs, because you have to overcome the sticking every time. A fluid damper is largely free from those issues, as it has very low friction if properly lubricated (unless you get the cheapest ones on Aliexpress, those do stick a good bit).