X-45 Throttle problem (ever opened one up ?)

S77th-RYKE · January 30, 2006

when I apply throttle, power doesn't come up regularly anymore , when I look in the calibration screen while bringing the power up I see the red line fluctuating and often coming down to zero when it should be gradually going up .

tried opening the darn thing ... removed all the screws from bottom and handle and friction screw, I still can't split the base apart to have access to the insides , maybe it is possible to clean the mechanism or sensor ? Must be a way to open it up ?

also I saw a pic in a previous thread showing a modified X-45 throttle (buttons were changed ) can't find the thread :( anyone knows who did this ?

AJ.eightFive · January 30, 2006

Sounds like a dirty pot (which should be fairly easy to clean) to me but I never had the opportunity to open my old X-45 so I can't be of much help. Good luck!

zaelu · January 30, 2006

First there are 4 more screws on top of the throttle base (as for the stick). User proper tool for them (I don't know the name in english... we call it imbus key) I actualy used the tool that comes with Thrusmaster Afterburner 2 (is on the base of the stick of AB2) as it fits perfectly.

Also, check the cable that connects the two HOTAS parts... mine was ruined and I had to replace it. When I was moving the stick the base was tilting a little also, this was giving me realy bad spikes in the pots from the throttle part. I descovered it was the cable. Look how it looks now :)

The potentiometer for the throttle is a large one and it should be easy to detach and clean with a cleaning spray (I used some Philips spray).

edit. you dont need to unscrew the screws from the side of the throttle. Just 4 at the base (not the friction one) and 4 on top of the base... the use tender ;)

Sleek · January 30, 2006

I had excatly the same problem RYKE but I couldn't send mine back to Saitek (which Saitek asked me to do) coz I'd thrown away my reciept :(

So i bought a X52..shame really coz i was satisfied with my x45 and never got any good advice about cleaning pots or whatever..so i threw mine out :rolleyes:

January 30, 2006

when I apply throttle, power doesn't come up regularly anymore , when I look in the calibration screen while bringing the power up I see the red line fluctuating and often coming down to zero when it should be gradually going up .

tried opening the darn thing ... removed all the screws from bottom and handle and friction screw, I still can't split the base apart to have access to the insides , maybe it is possible to clean the mechanism or sensor ? Must be a way to open it up ?

also I saw a pic in a previous thread showing a modified X-45 throttle (buttons were changed ) can't find the thread :( anyone knows who did this ?

2 months ago, i had similar problems, calibration was f00ked, and no matter what i did it wouldnt sort it, I could only get 80 max power and other things were messed up, It came down to the connection wire for the 2 sticks, i touched the wire and in the calibration screen everything would move as tho i was pushing the throttle up so i guess mine just gave up the ghost, i got the 52 and everything back to normal and working a hellava lot smoother.

S77th-RYKE · January 30, 2006

Thanks for all the help guys , I really appreciate it , hope I don't have to scrap it too.

I pried it apart (finaly lol) guess I was just too scared of breaking it , it's open now and I've taken the pot out ... that thing is sealed (I guess that's normal , never saw one) I don't have cleaning spray , does compressed air work ?

if not I'll get some spray tomorrow , and.. dumb question lol : where would I spray it ? where the rotating shaft sticks out maybe ?

S77th-RYKE · January 30, 2006

ok , found this "how to clean pots for servos" and I'm going to give it a shot

http://www.m3sc.org/servo_pots.htm#Servo 3

crossing fingers here

S77th-RYKE · January 30, 2006

happy to report that crossing fingers worked :) It's working again !! cleaning the potentiometer did it .

hopefully no one else is going to have to go through it but if you must here's the break down ;

1- remove 4 screws from the top of throttle (allen key)

2- remove 4 screws from the bottom of throttle

3- remove friction screw from bottom of throttle

4- separate base from top of throttle

5- remove screw opposite where the friction screw hole is , watch out not to lose the spring when the plate falls off .

6- look for spring

7- remove 2 screws that secure pot from throttle shaft

8- the pot is attached to a plastic plate that slides into grooves, slip the whole thing out .

9- remove the nut that holds the pot on the plastic plate .

10- there are 4 metal fold down brackets that hold the 2 parts of the pot together , unfold them gently , you can unfold just 2 completely and leave 2 barely off and lift one side and slip it out of the other 2 .(reduces risk of breaking one)

11- there is a disk that rotates on a friction plate , that disk has 2 parts that touch the friction plate , the pin that holds all together looks like it is press fit there , I didn't take the risk of removing it , was pretty sure I would never be able to replace it there . without disasembling ,the only way I could think off for cleaning between the disk and plate was to wet a piece of paper with the cleaning solution (either spray or rubbing alcohol, I used magnetic head cleaner )and slide it between the 2 and rotate the pot through it's full motion , make sure you insert the paper between the 2 parts that are touching the disk . I did this a couple of times , wetting a couple of pieces of paper on both sides with a Q-tip .

12- use the Q-tip to clean what you can reach of the disk .

13- reverse steps to put back together

14- look for spring

15- test using the control panel

hopefully this will work for some of you as well .

will let you know if it lasts .

January 31, 2006

Glad to see you got that sorted out, Ryke. If the problem comes back though, another place to check is the d-sub connector on the back of the throttle. It has a tendancy to become intermittent due to wire flex.

Sleek, did Saitek tell you that you needed the receipt? That'd be kind of odd. Richard Neville, on their help forum, is a great guy to deal with...sent me parts for mine, free of charge, no questions asked.

51GRIZZLY · January 31, 2006

You just convinced me that if that ever happens ill rather by me a new stick :icon_weed :icon_weed

January 31, 2006

Glad to see you got that sorted out, Ryke. If the problem comes back though, another place to check is the d-sub connector on the back of the throttle. It has a tendancy to become intermittent due to wire flex.

Sleek, did Saitek tell you that you needed the receipt? That'd be kind of odd. Richard Neville, on their help forum, is a great guy to deal with...sent me parts for mine, free of charge, no questions asked.

Exactly what happened to mine, the connection on the back of the throttle, if you touched that or the wire, things would go loopy.

decided to bin it and go for the 52, but yea it be a pain in the buttocks

wsoul2k · January 31, 2006

I have this problem also....but for me is the rudder that is not working....the pots for the rudder are also located in the base ??? because im very afraid in dismount the "stick" of the throttle

sorry for the poor english

S77th-RYKE · January 31, 2006

Glad to see you got that sorted out, Ryke. If the problem comes back though, another place to check is the d-sub connector on the back of the throttle. It has a tendancy to become intermittent due to wire flex.

thx man , good to know :)

You just convinced me that if that ever happens ill rather by me a new stick :icon_weed :icon_weed

lol , wasn't too bad , if it lasts ... and think of all the alcohol I can buy with the money I saved ;)

I have this problem also....but for me is the rudder that is not working....the pots for the rudder are also located in the base ??? because im very afraid in dismount the "stick" of the throttle

I think the pot for the rudder must be attached to it right in the top part of the throttle , If you have a very small screwdriver I think you will be able to get to those 6 screws under the handle. If not you will have to remove the throttle from it's base to free it some . Also you will need to remove the screws from the grey part of the handle (the cover) no other screws in there but I think you won't be able to separate the handle in 2 if you don't.

it's worth the try , if it's not working properly now . Good luck and let us know how that went .

also like IguanaKing said maybe you could get a spare part from saitek if you need one , support forum is here ;

http://www.saitekforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=75

January 31, 2006

Yup, the rudder pot is mounted in the grip portion of the throttle. Its on a small circuit board directly above the rudder rocker. Get in touch with Saitek on their support forum and they can hook you up with a new one. Hopefully you have some basic soldering skills, that's about all you need to install it. I exchanged a few PMs with Richard over on Saitek and had my new rudder pot in about a week. That's pretty impressive since it was shipped from the UK and I live in the US.

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