1

I recently took apart my stick to clean my joystick and new grease. Before I did this, deadzone felt pretty large and it wasn’t feeling smooth when I moved it (which is why I wanted to clean it). After cleaning it and reapplying grease, it’s a lot smoother, but now the deadzone feels a lot worse. I don’t think I’ve had this joystick for too long, It’s been a little under a year so it could just be worn out, but it’s worse deadzone I’ve felt in any stick. Is there something I’m missing here in stick maintenance? I’m ok with getting a new stick, but just wanted to check and see if there’s anything I missed. I’ve already tried stretching the spring out to see if that would shorten the deadzone, but it didn’t have an effect.

Also, when I put my stick back together, the metal washer on the underside lifts up when I move the stick all the way to one side. I don’t think it’s supposed to do this, but is there a fix to it?

Pics are on imgur here: http://imgur.com/a/FxyqG. Hopefully the you can see how far the deadzone goes from the pic. It might not look like much, but it feels like a lot.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Extra info:
Case: Hori HRAP VX-Kai
Stick: JLF + Link + Spark Optical Sensor

2

Stock JLF spring? Did you have the Link installed before taking it apart to clean it?

3

It was a stock spring that I stretched out a bit. And yes I did have the Link installed before I took it apart. Prior to that I had re-installed the stock shaft to see if that would make a difference and it was only slightly better if at all

4

Hmmm…I think that with the gate installed the joystick won’t move that far over and the metal washer won’t pop up like that. As for the deadzone, it doesn’t look like anything unusual to me from the pic. I have two JLFs that do the same thing.

5

That’s normal. When you have your switch/optical sensor in place it’s not going to go over that far so that’s nothing to worry about.

6

I highly doubt the stick is worn out. With proper care a joystick can last decades. Even with heavy play a year isn’t going to wear out the pivot or pivot cup in the base.
The metal washer is fine, and it will do that (as in your photos) when there no switches/ optical sensor present.
I suggest trying a new spring as the spring wears out the quickest and Springs are cheap. Hell this might be a good opportunity to try several different springs

7

Also, mind taking a picture of the link itself. You may have the v1 base which has added deadzone. If that’s the case I can get you a v2 to use.

8

@Phreakazoid: I’m fairly certain this is a v2 Link, but I can get a picture up here to confirm later

@Darksaul: Actually just ordered 3lb and 4lb springs. Didn’t know stretching springs were terrible for them, but looks these stronger springs will do the trick!

I swapped out the whole JLF with another one that I had lying around, and it’s a lot better now. I think something inexplicable happened to the other JLF I had in there. There was so much movement without engaging anything. Was like trying to play with a hot dog for a stick

9

is ghetto metod but work
If someone need better neutral

http://imageshack.us/a/img824/7315/mxme.jpg

seal up place wher shaft contact pivot
I use insulating varnish
put three layers
sanwa works better on a wider shaft (only place for pivot)

10

Hmm, if you have had it for close to a year I doubt it since v2’s were from the recent kickstarter. You may have one that’s been powder coated though, which would be similar. Either way, yeah just let me know.

11

Heres what i think is happening, the white pivot/cylinder is wear out since it’s being used with a bit stronger/stretched spring…which force the pivot against the plastic more than the usual spring, increasing the atrittion…it’s still ok to doing this while there is lubrication, but if you used the stick for a long time with a dried lubrication, i bet this is exactly what happened with your JLF.

You can swap the pivot from your new stick (just for a test) if you still want to find out what could be happened with your old JLF. (it’s normal for the metal washer lifts up a little, sometimes the grease causes that because it may leak between the spring cover and the metal washer…and you know, the thing is sticky…and this stops to happen after few days).