Bought a JLF, throw is short and spring is heavy?

Tech Talk
1

I picked up a JLF-TP-8YT off Focus Attack a few days ago, and it doesn’t feel like any JLF I’ve ever used. I have it in a cab side by side with an LS-32 and the JLF’s throw is significantly shorter and its spring resistance is heavier too. I don’t have another JLF at home to directly compare to, but I’ve used JLFs a lot and I have the LS-32 and a Hayabusa to compare with and whatever I picked up is dramatically tighter.

At first I thought I maybe got sent a JLW by accident, but the microswitches aren’t levered and it has the JLF-style dust washers so it can’t be that. Is it possible that my stick was shipped with aftermarket parts installed, like an oversized actuator or something? I’m not really sure where to start, but if something’s up I’d like to know before I contact Focus Attack so my message doesn’t just come off as “wahh my stick doesn’t feel right.”

http://imgur.com/a/UIE8G

2

Posting pictures are really the only thing that will get you a proper answer.

3

Yeah, I really should have opened with that.

Here are some starting pics, I can dismount it and take it all apart for more detail if necessary.
http://imgur.com/a/UIE8G

4

Posting a link to the one you ordered, so we could see exactly what you’re supposed to have, would be helpful too.

5

How old was the stick you replaced. My guess is just brand new parts vs old and worn out parts.

6

Looks stock from what I can see, but we can be more certain if you take the gate and PCB off. I’d say it’s pretty unlikely there’s anything aftermarket on there, just new parts.

7

Maybe if you played on a used JLF with an octogate, and then played on a new stock with square gate… One would think the spring is stiffer and the throw of the square gate shorter? Seems possible.

8

Here’s the PCB and gate popped off, thanks for taking a look.
I’m gonna feel pretty stupid if it’s actually all in my head, but I’ve used a lot of JLFs with days to years of wear and the way this one felt immediately jumped out to me as different. The throw distance is really what feels particularly off.

9

Those are stock parts. It wouldn’t affect throw, but there can be variances from lot to lot in spring tension, perhaps that’s it.

10

Hmm.
Is there anything else that could potentially be affecting it, like how it’s mounted or it being put together incorrectly? Other than the actuator the only thing that I could picture affecting the throw is the gate somehow being closer to the pivot than usual.

I’ll measure the throw on some other JLFs next time I’m around them and really see if I’m just going crazy.

11

Sorry for double posting, but I figured it out!
My dumb ass initially mounted the stick with the second dust washer underneath the control panel, I’m used to doing that in mounts like a RAP4 where the stick has a flat plate but the mount is lowered like for an s-plate, but here the washer was sandwiched tight between the control panel and the stick’s mounting plate and I think that was keeping things from moving around smoothly. It’s back in the cab with just the one washer on top and now it feels like a JLF.

So, this was pretty stupid and I feel silly having asked about it, but maybe the thread will help if someone else makes the same mistake as me and does a search.