What I did was traced the IKAN Joystick PCB conductors to find out where a microswitch is connected and correlated it to the stock harness. Now trace the conductors of the JLF microswitches. Then you could find a new 5-pin harness for the JLF (I got one from Alexan) and plug the stripped part of the JLF harness to the right hole in the IKAN harness. Ground will be at the very bottom still - all you have to do is match the JLF to the stock IKAN joystick PCB.
Regarding the HORI RAP3 BlazBlue edition, like the original/regular version of the HORI RAP3, it features a JLF stick (not sure if the gate is octagonal or square) but with stock buttons which you could easily remove. The only difference with the regular version HRAP3 is that I think the BlazBlue version does not have quick disconnects for the buttons - so you will have to desolder them but I think you will no longer need any PCB tinkering nor intermediate modding to mod it to your liking. I think it is becoming more of a rarity more and more these days as the RAP3 is already around 2 years old (RAP4 maybe just coming around the corner). I saw ITech/GameOneGadget/MR Dyanamic still have a few of these in their stock now re-priced for around Php4300.
If you expose the copper on traces and solder to that it should be fine as long as you complete the circuit, at least I assume if the rest of the PCB is working. You’re also leaving too much wire exposed, enough to easily cause a short. That actually may have been your problem this whole time.
Yea, that definitely was the problem. I had tried putting electrical tape around them but they would not stick. Bought a hot glue gun earlier today to make the fix permanent, but then I fried the board.
So assuming that only the white wire is problematic, in order to expose the copper, I have to scratch the trace with a knife, tin it, then solder the wire directly to it?
to change logo on the dreamgear joystick, is it best to change the cover of the box, or simply paste a sticker over top of the box?
i’ve read it’s best to change the joy stick with a Sanwa and a sanwa gt-y octagonal restrictor plate. is this an easy task to switch or is there soldering involved?
p.s. if anyone is interested i found new .dols for emulators in homebrew to run the dreamgear
I got your private message but as my reply is going to be long I’ll post it here.
You have two options to replace the stick with a JLF (or almost a JLF).
First option is to dismantle the JLF and use the stock joystick’s base to mount the other parts of the JLF. You can also use the stock stick’s joystick PCB so you won’t have much of a problem with the harness. I forgot if the JLF restrictor/gate fits with the stock stick’s base. So outside of two or three parts, you still have a pretty good stick.
But I was a purist, I did the following below:
I traced the old faceplate and made a 3mm acrylic cover. The fit wasn’t perfect, and I might try again someday. Just trace it as best as you can. I had mine cut at a signs and stickers store that has a digital laser cutter.
The Sanwa JLF fits the base perfectly but I had to make a countersink on the holes so that I won’t have protruding holes at the faceplate. And no, the signals from the stock PCB won’t line up with the JLF. I changed the signals from the PCB by switching the wires which does involve soldering. Unfortunately I botched the PCB shortly as it was my first soldering job. I also changed the buttons so OSBF-30’s. Fitting the PCB was a pretty tight fit as it was lowered because the OSBF microswitches can’t be soldered directly to the stock PCB. And one more thing, the joystick harness that comes with the stock PCB doesn’t lock on to the JLF like the JLF-H harness. Tape or glue stick will do the trick.
A note, I got my Ikan stick with an octagonal gate already. Imo the buttons are more of a problem, as they are directly soldered to the PCB. If I were interested in making the stick work again, I’d use PCB.
