So I was wondering, what do you guys to maintain and clean your arcade sticks and make sure they last you as long as possible?
Also, on another note, what’s the usual lifespan of a TE?
im sure the lifespan infinite due to the fact you can always replace parts. maintenance… wouldn’t know but dust it off every so often i guess. should be pretty clean on the inside
This will require some disassembly, but it is optional.
You can every once in the while lube the joystick with Shin-Etsu G-40M orDow Molycoat 44Silicon Greas. Like every 2 years or when the joystick seems gunky or stiff. You only need a tiny amount applied, and this is a as-needed basis. Not something you have to do every 2 years or so.
etokki.com or akihabarashop.jp has Shin-Etsu G-40M while Lizard Lick carry Dow Molycoat 44. A Tube isn’t cheap. 100 gram tube of Ehin-Etsu is $19.99. While a 150 gram of Down Molycoat is $24.99. Ether way that is $2 a gram.
Some people state you can get Shin-Etsu G-30 from a Honda Dealership or Authorized shop (WRONG), problem is they will not sell the grease to customers, PERIOD. Also the G-30 is the wrong mil-spec for the grease. Lastly never use petroleum base grease like Petroleum Jelly, since petroleum acts like a solvent on the plastic and ruin it.
Real Advice
Keep it clean with a dry lint free cloth. Although Art of Tek Cases recommends a product for taking care of Arcylic.
Store up upright with nothing on the joystick or buttons. And do do not be unnecessarily rough or abuse on your arcade stick and it will last years with out physical repairs.
Any tips on cleaning the buttons and ball top? Thinking of using Windex or Alcohol…
I took my buttons apart and used little alcohol wipes to clean the plungers and inner surface of the button, it worked great for me.
Novus 1 is awesome for cleaning the outside of your stick. I novus my stick once a month and it’s super shiny and feels like new.
I get it from a Harley Davidson shop. Be sure to use Novus 1 and NOT 2 or 3.
Is it okay that im cleaning my stick’s surface by using a wet rag then drying it off with a dry rag?
Little alcohol wipes every once in a while.
i got some water under one of my buttons, should i be worried or should i just let it dry?
Personally I’d add more water.
DO NOT APPLY RUBBING ALCOHOL TO ACRYLIC PANELS. All caps because if the alcohol gets into the side around the button holes it can cause it to crack. Something about how it evaporates and dries makes it more brittle.
It’s fine doing it like that. Although you’ll just clean the surface of dust and grime, and not the germs on the surface, if you care about shit like that.
A little bit of water around the buttons shouldn’t hurt it. If you’re really anal about it, you could open up your stick, clean off the water that slipped into the case, while using compressed air to clean out the buttons. I’m assuming you didn’t just pour water directly onto the stick.
it was a very small amount of water that already dried up. Im gonna open it up tomorrow though just to see how the inside is doing. Also should i be worried about the inside of the stick more than the outside?
It sounds like it won’t be much of an issue, but you are more than welcome to open the stick up to verify how much water slipped through.
Be more worried about the inside of the stick. The outside of the stick doesn’t matter, water isn’t going to hurt any of the parts at all, since it consists of plastics and painted metal. Your main concern should be on the inside, since you don’t want water to rest on untreated metal (it might rust) or on any electronic components (water conducts electricity, might wreak havoc on your wiring and PCB).
I recently bought a used arcade stick ,and found that 2 of the buttons tend to “stick” sometimes. Any advice on what to use to clean it? Haven’t opened it up yet but looks like there is some gunk around the 2 buttons. I don’t imagine the inside is much better
Depends on the arcade stick, if it’s like a madcats SE stick with all knockoff parts then, its just how the buttons are and need to be replaced. same rule applys to any other stick with knockoff parts. if it’s any stick like Te,Hrap…etc then just open up the stick take out the buttons and you should be able to press in the sides and pop the tops off, clean them out that way
I have a question for grease lubricant for the joystick is there any alternative I can buy from the hardware store?
Not saying you’re wrong, but I definitely was able to buy said grease from my Honda dealer’s parts shop. This was about 3 years ago, though, so maybe they changed their policy. That said, considering how much you warn against using the G-30 grease, what are the potential problems that might arise from using the G-30’s wrong mil-spec? I, myself, haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary yet and would certainly like to keep it that way.