Model number has nothing to do with quality, it identifies the specs of the switch (current rating, operating force, terminal type, etc.). A microswitch isn’t a sophisticated piece of hardware. It has a dead simple structure. Manufacturing it in Japan or anywhere else (by the same manufacturer) is irrelevant.
How do you know they cost more? Another assumption I guess.
Again, that hardly applies to such a simple device as a microswitch.
Matsushita (i.e. Panasonic) and Omron are present worldwide, not just in Japan so they have manufacturing plants in various countries.
Changing the current rating and operational force of a micro switch will always affect performance. If this wasn’t true, nobody would have a reason to go with Cherry, OMRON, or Matsushita, because Yenox would be just as good.
You’re claiming that micro switches are simple devices, and that may be true. Pulleys are simple devices, too. And yet if you were to take a simple wood and rope pulley and compare it to a titanium and steel cable pulley, you’d see a world of difference in the amount of weight it can hold and the overall lifetime. Why does this logic not apply to micro switches?
The Thai-manufactured Matsushita switches in the FS3 retail for $.76 each. The OMRON switches in a JLF retail for $2.99 each.
Yeah, because it wouldn’t be cost-effective to dedicate their high-precision Japanese manufacturing plants to low quality switches destined for low quality applications. It’s called “outsourcing,” and every major electronics manufacturer in the U.S. does the exact same thing, manufacturing only the most expensive and highest quality parts at home to ensure good quality control.
And who’s denying that? Anyway, the AM51630A53N-A switch has the same operating force (1.96N) as the Omron switches used in Sanwa sticks which makes your switch swap pointless.
We’re talking about the same Matsushita switches though which aren’t made with different materials. If you want to claim that you need to prove it.
A pointless comparison as Modchipman is just a small business that imports stuff from Japan and resells it with quite a big markup to make it worth it.
A lot of blabbering about quality and what you’ve done in the end? A half-assed hybrid Hori stick mod:rofl:
Each to their own I guess. Anyway, based on a bit more research it turns out that the mounting plate is easily removable from the JLF and the PCB can be oriented differently also.
I have decided to ditch the idea of getting the Cthulhu PCB and ordered the following parts;
There is a saying that goes something like “Your success in life is determined by your ability to finish the things you start”.
I posted the pic of my 90% completed Castle Crashers stick a few months back and since then it has sat unfinished on the dining room table, my wife constantly complaining about it.
I sat down the other night to try and finish it off, the only thing it needs is to be soldered and it’s done. I looked inside, realized I have no clue a) how to solder and b) lack motivation to learn.
Considering either selling the thing off unfinished with the HSF3, the sanwa jlf, the square and octo gate, the art, the buttons, all the original buttons and joy from the Hori, the washers to weight it down - OR - is it feasible for a non electronics guy like me to just buy one of those cthulhu or other boards to finish the last bit up?
It’s a beautiful looking stick, it stinks that I don’t know how to finish that last little bit. I did plug it in and the built in buttons and new joy work great, it’s just the 6 buttons that I don’t know how to solder correctly to the built in mobo. (and I don’t want to do it wrong and screw it all up)
After having read damn near the entirety of this thread, I’ve decided that I want to mod the spiffy new HFS3 my friend (crovax612 here on SRK) gave me for my birthday.
I’m going to do the following:
(1) Swap out the buttons for Sanwa OBSN-30s.
(2) Add Cherry microswitches to the stick.
(3) Add artwork (of course, right?): spray adhesive on a picture printed on card stock and laminated.
(4) Put in one of those LS-32 springs…
I won’t use the Chuthulu PCB or any of that kind of stuffit seems unnecessary for the moment.
I have one question: how do I keep the large stock PCB from shorting out and rubbing around on the inside? I know many of you tape up the inside with electrical/gaffer’s tape, but this isn’t enough for me. I want the damned board to stay in one place. (I don’t even want there to be a chance that the mods fry the PCB.)
Is there a clean way of mounting it you all would recommend? I’ve heard of PCB feet, but would those require that I drill through the PCB and metal bottom? If worse comes to worse, I suppose I’ll go with velcro, rubber feet, and superglue.
Using the FS3’s PCB for a custom stick, is there any kind of PCB diagram that’d tell me where to solder the wires from my JLF’s harness? And where to solder the wires for Start/Select/Home?
Also i’m using the SCIV stick, if there’s anything different with the PCBs.
keyofnight: yup, the disadvantages of soldering onto the board. Though using a desoldering tool doesnt take long
Hente: you can actually figure out the trace quite easily. Just look at which one has a line and which one doesn’t. The one with the line is the switch, the other is the ground
I have just picked up a FS3 as a gift for someone then i wanted to test it now I am taking it apart this is not good but I must mod I have sanwa part kicking around…
Hi I’m a newbie so please forgive my ignorance. I’m trying to install 2 JLFs into FS3s. I had my friend buy the JLF 8T from a shop in Akihabara, but I forgot to ask him to make sure that it came with the wiring harness. Of course when the sticks came in the mail, they didn’t have the wiring harness. Do I need to go buy two harnesses from Lizard Lick or is there a cheaper way around this?
p.s. I’m just using the Hori pcb, I’m not trying to do anything crazy like use a PS2 dualshock pcb or anything like that.
Alright! Got the parts from Nareg (even though I, like an idiot, typed in the wrong address), did the mod. This is my first hardware mod ever, and I think it went pretty well.
Some details:
[LIST]
[]The Artwork is Roy Lichtenstein’s“Whaaam”. It was printed at Kinko’s (FedEx Office? wtf!) on plain paper, laminated, xacto knife cut, and sprayed with 3M Super 77 Adhesive. I like this method more than lamilabel?it seems more durable. Just remember: don’t spray too much adhesive, or the shit will leak out of the sides and you’ll end up scrubbing the damn thing with nail polish remover for the next day.
[]The buttons are Sanwa OSBN-30s. It’s hard to screw them in, but the fit is pretty secure?they don’t move in the least, even when I’m slamming down on them. I cut the posts down the middle with a Dremel cutting disk and bent them to fit the PCB. It was a time-consuming process, and fitting the pins into the PCB was a bitch, but it was worth it for a snug fit.
[*]I left stock stick in there, but I added Cherry Switches. The stock gate has little clips on the side that block the terminals. I ended up bending the damn terminals to make them fit. If I had to do it again, I would cut the clips off instead.
[/LIST]
Below I’ve posted images. If you click them, they’ll take you to more photos on Flickr. I wish I could’ve done a step-by-step guide, but I barely knew what I was doing in the first place. Either way, thanks SRK for helping me out, and thanks to Crovax612 for giving me this most excellent birthday gift!
Hello,
I’ve built one joystick from scratch, modded a Hori Ex2 and now i’m customizing a Hori FS3 (will post pics soon). I would like to keep a specific color scheme but Sanwa does not make Gray buttons!. Does anyone here know where i can get some to fit the FS3? OR if there is anyone that doesn’t need the stock (gray) hori buttons please let me know…
I finally picked up my stuff which was sent by LizardLick and decided to spend a few hours completing the mod.
I basically followed the instructions as per the original, but I made a few minor changes which may assist people in the future (not sure if someone has already posted this but I’m not going to trawl through 65 pages to find out!)
Mounting the Sanwa JLF Joystick
After you cut off the sides of the JLF (as per original instruction), you will find that the JLF does not mount flush with the FS3 case due to the raised screwholes on the case. Instead of cutting off the raised screwholes from the case itself (as per original instruction), this is what I did:
Remove the restrictor plate from the JLF
Remove the PCB/switches from the JLF
Get a 6mm drill bit and drill through the hexagonal holes on the JLF
You may need to scrape a bit more out from the holes you just drilled (using a dremel or something) but once you have done that you will find that the raised mounting holes will fit perfectly - well with a bit of force anyway.
Next - pretty standard. Put the PCB/switches back on and use the long screws to secure the JLF to the case.
Mounting the restrictor plate
I found that the screw heads of the long screws got in the way when trying to mount the restrictor plate. Intial instructions use a dremel to create a space for the screwheads. This is what I did instead:
Get a 3mm drill bit and drill through the corresponding position of the screws on the restrictor plate.
You will find that there is already a hole on the underside so use that as a pilot
Drill all the way through on all 4 screw positions
**Mistakes made **
I made a mistake which was a pain in the ass to amend. I mixed up the +ve and -ve wires coming out from the JLF. When connecting the leads, make sure that you use a multimeter to test which terminals are +ve and -ve. You will find when the switch is open (ie, when the joystick is not pointing in any direction), the drop across the terminals for the given switch is 3.2V. When the switch is closed (eg when the joystick is pushed up), the drop across the terminals for the (up) switch will read 0V.
Lastly, sorry for poor photo quality (taken on iPhone), but hopefully it makes things clearer.
I just bought a HRAP 3 SA, and was planning to switch out the stick with a ls32. The screws inside with the original jlf wont come out, does anyone have suggestions?
Odd thread to be asking in, but I had the exact same problem. I ended up breaking 2 screw driver bits trying to get those screws out. I had to use a dremel to cut a horizontal groove across the screw-head, then used a drill with a flat head bit to remove them.
