For clarity’s sale, the seimitsu switches FA has are matsushita switches, and they are all levered- the hayabusa uses non levered matsushita switches. You can remove the levers by disassembling the housings. Also seimitsu’s newest models (ls-60 and ls-62) are indeed using omrom switches, as matsushitas have gone out of production. I’m sure they’re still sitting on tons of them though.
I know you guys are mainly talking about the actual switch replacement, but something of note that I found to be rather interesting…I’ve used Kowal’s 1mm over-sized actuator on 2 different sticks with JLF levers, and I had the exact same thing happen to me, where eventually a directional switch on the lever PCB wouldn’t work all the time or just stopped functioning altogether. Just for giggles, after I replaced the PCB, I cracked open the bad switch and found that it was full of fine dust/powder from the Kowal actuator.
Have you ever noticed how the Kowal wore a little faster than normal, had grooves wore into it and there was considerable more dust in the inside of the case that what should be there?? This not a knock against Kowal b/c he makes exceptional products, but I think the material he used to manufacture the actuator isn’t as durable as the material that Sanwa uses on the stock actuator on their levers. I have since stopped using Kowal’s actuator, and while I miss the shorter throw action, I haven’t had any issues which switches failing in the 14+ months that I’ve been using the stock JLF parts. Keep in mind that the actuators were installed into 2 brand new JLF assemblies. Some food for thought…
I wonder what material is used then. I was under the assumption that Kowal’s actuators are “derlin” plastic (Polyoxymethylene a.k.a. POM) and are heavily resistant to wear and tear.
There are differences between various manufacturers formulations. There is a real difference between Delrin and Acetal which are both trade names for POM, one being better for plate applications and the other for rod applications. There more to the differences scientifically, it deals with alot with chemistry and molecular physics that I not going to get into here.
Kowal is ABS. Not as good for moving parts but not horrible either. Reason it has wear is because of how it hits the pin plungers. By design it will wear down much faster and you will find these sorts of issues crop up.
About a year ago, I installed a Kowal actuator on a JLF with an octo-gate for a client. He came back to me about a month ago saying that the stick wasn’t very responsive on some directions. I opened it up and there was a crap-ton of dust inside, presumably because both of the Kowal’s material, and the fact that people tend to ride/grind the gate so much more on an octo-gate.
Not sure if it’ll be a good idea to oil the contact points of the Kowal and plungers on the switches? (Then again can be a terrible idea as I’m not too sure in the science of what it can cause)
Won’t help. IMO go back to stock actuator and get levered switches. If you really need shorter throw then add a spacer to the end of the actuator. I detailed that mod in the unboxing thread, and you wont get any of the kowal issues you have currently.
I seen the same thing before on octagonal and round gates with the stock Sanwa JLF actuator. It’s partially why I am so opposed to octagonal gates.
“Octogate” players tend to depend on the gate and grind alot harder, especially those who did not learn how to use a square gate first.
I do not see the issue occur nearly as much or to the same degree on stock Sanwa JLF joysticks.
For example: I installed stock JLF joysticks 5 years ago did not produce a fraction of the wear and tear of a JLF with a round or octagonal gate does in a few months time.
I also have yet to see the same dust being developed in a stick with a metal or Derlin/POM actuator.
@darksakul never ever had any dust from riding seimitsu gates and i ride the fuck out of my 40 and have been for years. Totally different gate material though, it’s much more pliant and less brittle. Still tough and durable, far superior to Sanwa gates. Only seimitsu lever i had dust in was the 56 which came from the hat grinding against the body around the pivot.
I should of made it more clear I am only reporting about the Sanwa JLF.
I agree Seimitsu gates are made from a softer, less brittle plastic than Sanwa gates that because of the pliability does not wear down as much.