I use clear RTV (Dow Corning 732) instead of glue. Can cover the whole board if you want and it’ll peel off without causing any damage whatsoever.
Still holds well enough under fightstick levels of stress, although arguably its not as strong as glue.
Hey guys, I’m new here. So I looked into the hrap v4 and the new madcatz te2( persona edition looks amazing) and from what I’ve read they’re pretty much the same in terms of quality.
I read the input lag thread(bad idea) that said mad catz is not that good, I know I shouldn’t worry since the hrap v4 and te2 haven’t been tested but now I’m not sure.
I’m also I complete noob about this, I grew up in arcades with battops and really do not like the lollipop top, it’s just feels so weird to me but that can easily be replaced. Also,I hate that the hori buttons go under the rim and don’t stick out like the te2 which I guess I can also mod.
What I’m getting at is I’m really confused as to which one will be betterfor someone that grew up in American arcades but that other thread about the input delay made it more difficult for me to decide, any help would be really appreciated.
Without either of those being tested (or anything being tested on new gen consoles), I wouldn’t worry about lag. Based on features alone (as I haven’t used either stick), I would take the te2 over the v4. The flip top would be very convenient, and a detachable usb cable much better than the shitty cable door the v4 has.
So I’m gonna dual mod my ps3 round 1 TE with the IMP + some 360 controller but I’m still a bit confused on how it will work, please correct me if I am wrong.
Is this correct so far?
1 - Why desolder the USB cable from the PS3 TE PCB? Just snip the USB cable (with a bit extra length than expected) to solder to the Imp. You could even re-use your USB cord you’d still only lose out on perhaps a combined one foot of the whole cable.
2 - No desoldering needed, just like I mentioned above.
3 - You could do it on the quick disconnects (QDC) but it’s a lot easier to do on the bottom of the QDC terminal. Whichever you do, make sure you aware which side is ground and which side is signals.
See photo I took and edited below for help on 1 and 2
I have a question: Are Kuro buttons bad? I’ve heard they’re worse than Sanwa’s, but are they legit bad? I want to buy a Hori V4 and read the respective thread. However I would like some more information (it’s the cheapest stick in amazon.uk and the hayabusa has good credibility from what I’ve seen). It’s my first stick so I guess I’m not picky.
I have some GamerFinger buttons and I have a couple of issues and I’d like some insight. I bought the buttons due to curiosity (also picked up blue switches to try as well) and aesthetic reasons.
Issue 1:
The first issue is the metal contacts of the Cherry MX switches do not make a solid connection at all times. Randomly one of my buttons will simply stop working or won’t work on every press (even though it could work for hours). Is there a way to increase the reliability of the connection between connection of the prongs on the bottom of the cherry mx switch with the button casing? Obviously soldering isn’t an option here. I could glue in the buttons and hope that removing all movement fixes the issue but I figured I’d ask if there was something else I could also do. This might change the way the buttons feel in a negative way but right now it’s either that or replace them. I do plan on gluing the buttons in still which leads me to my second issue.
Issue 2:
If you slap buttons with a downward motion where your fingers slide across the buttons as you hit, the Gamerfinger buttons will pop out. Last night I went to an event and a guy there did his normal Fuerte run/stop with the buttons and two of them popped out. He then got pretty much all of them to pop out. Apparently, the way I play the buttons don’t fly out but I was able to replicate it myself and it’s so crazy easy to do. I plan on gluing the button tops in so I don’t really need advice on this particular issue but I figured I’d post this here in case somebody else had the same problem.
There’s nothing wrong with the Kuro buttons, some people just prefer Sanwa or Seimitsu or whatever else. For people’s opinions you may want to read the comments in the [Hori Fighting Edge topic](HORI Fighting EDGE as that I believe was the first stick they released with Kuro buttons and the Hayabusa joystick.
It all comes down to personal preference. Although no one preferred the old Hori buttons in PS2 sticks over Sanwa and Seimitsu, many people enjoy Hori’s new products.
Kuro buttons are on par with Sanwa buttons when it comes to quality.
Kuros have a larger plunger area than Sanwa and Seimitsu buttons
but the one down side is Kuros tend to squeek until you broken the buttons in a bit.
@PresidentCamacho well, the v4 is sold out and I don’t think they’ll have it again for a while and gg xrd is coming out in about a week so I guess te2 it is, I was gonna buy both since I have the money but kinda felt like a waste of money. Anyway, thanks for the reply.
Awesome example, this helps greatly. And the USB that connects directly to the console will be soldered onto the top of IMP, correct? Also for point 3, what do you mean “bottom of the QDC terminal?”
Sorry for so many questions, but I appreciate it alot!
That’s not really the top of the PCB, but due to the way it’s positioned in the photo I know what you mean, so yes.
I stated what QDC was in the same sentence with (parenthesis).
Quick Disconnect = QDC
The .110 quick disconnects are on the wires going from the QDC terminal to the buttons.
Instead of pulling away the plastic on the wires and soldering to the QDCs, just unscrew the QDC Terminal and solder to the bottom of the terminal.
This is what the terminal looks like:
Photo stolen from JDM’s photobucket
This what the bottom of the terminal looks like (ignore the blue wire for your purpose):
Photo stolen from Clayton’s website
As mentioned, just take note on which side the ground and signals are and be sure you’re solding the 360 PCB signals to the signal side of the terminal. If you’re not sure which side is which, use a multimeter and check for continuity. If you don’t have a multimeter, you should be able to tell signal side just by looking, as the ground side is all one piece, and the signal side has individual traces on the PCB for each signal.
No prob. Perhaps tinkering will inspire you to start modding more (for the fun of it). 
Everyone gets their start modding somehow, and my knowledge wasn’t far from yours 4 years ago.
Simple question that I just can’t find the answer too. I have a custom stick with a ps360. How would I make that compatible to play on PS4.
I understand I will have to padhack a DS4, but I’m not sure I have the tools nor patience to do that now. So what would I need or who can i pay to get this done quickly lol.
It would be treated like any other Dual Mod. I would suggest reading though the Dual Mod 101 thread Dual modding 101
There would be a couple of ways to set up how would you switch between the PS360+ and the PS4 PCB. V2 IMP board, a DPDT switch and by cable select (multiple cables) would be the methods that come to mind.
I’m looking more for an educational answer rather than a “fix without understanding” answer.
What triggers the activation of a button on a board? Is it connecting it to a certain part of the board (gnd/vcc/other button) that triggers the activation or is there something else? Is it possible to do this deliberately?
Where this comes into play is that I know that the MCC boards need to be updated to ensure that they work properly with IMPv2 boards. The new IMP came a USB port installed, so I can just plug in the board and see that it is detected. However, going into bootloader mode needs start and select to be activated prior to the board booting up. In addition, in the past my other stick had this problem of buttons being activated and I didn’t know what exactly caused it, so I just rewired the entire board.
Button activation (for common ground PCBs) is detected when you connect a signal line to ground.
There is Low logic where the voltage drops triggers the input, and there high logic where an increase of voltage equals a input.
I believe (but I could be wrong) that the Cthulhu works on logic low.
For refrance, the “analog” for triggers (L2 and R2) on the Sony PS3 SIX AXIS and Dual Shock 3 controllers are Logic High and Low. With one being a hard press and the other a soft press.
For true analog like the XBOX 360 triggers or any analog thumb stick, there a few more “steps” with various voltage levels represents a step (location on the X, Y or Z axis) in the game’s logic.
I have one of those fancy schmancy soldering irons where you can put in the temperature, what temp should I be using for dual mod? I got it on clearance 
Thank you for that explanation. I’ve never really thought of why buttons had their own ground line in addition to their own unique line.
I’m tired of just looking at diagrams and trying to emulate them rather than understanding the actual mechanics and reasoning why/how it works. I really appreciate the answer, thanks again.
I was able to ground start and select with random wires to get cthulhu into bootloader mode and update the firmware. I felt like a mad scientist.
Too much heat is bad for the board. Not enough heat is going to cause some bad solder joints. I like to keep my Weller Digital Soldering Iron at about 660 Degrees F and it seems to do the trick. Mine may be too hot for some peoples liking, though so further input would be most appreciated.
I use around 256C with leaded (60/40) solder. For soldering to ground planes, don’t be afraid to kick it up around 10 degrees. Even if it’s temperature-regulated, you’ll have to leave the iron on the plane for quite some time before it can be worked with, and if it cools down you could lose a lot of time re-heating it each time.
Lead-free solder also needs a bit more heat, so the numbers Lemony is quoting sound about right for that. I was in the mid-low 300’s (Celsius) last time I worked with lead-free.
In either case the the thermistor should be reporting something around 10-20% higher than the melting point of your solder, as the shielding and the tip will inevitably become dirtied with (even proper) use, and will conduct heat less efficiently. Even a brand new iron will not be able to catch up with the rate at which the solder will cool down by contact with air and the board, so you have to overshoot.
