So then what you guys really want is a higher gram microswitch, not that the switches are faulty. The way it was originally posted made it seem it wasn’t working right, when it was really you not being used to playing on the lesser tension of the stick. Jayducky, this is definitely different than what you posted about them not engaging proper. They engage when the actuator is halfway deep into the switch, I tested it on all my Zippy’s and it’s exactly the same as the Omrons, the Matsushita’s, and the Cherry’s.
I will say this tho, my JLF always had the LS-33 spring in it, so what moochilde was saying is possibly true. I never tried it without the LS-33 spring.
How would I wire this up to a non-common ground PCB such as the Mayflash 2009? I definitely know the harness is a no go. Would like to try these 20 gram microswitches though. 
Non-common ground PCB’s should have several ground spots that chain certain parts of the controller together. I’m sure the directionals would be common to 1 ground, so you’d be ok.
Thanks for the info, Moonchilde. I was doing some digging around some shops online and I saw these on eTokki (http://etokki.com/Misc/Paewang-Joystick-Harness). I think these would work, but what do you think??
I’m not really sure. I’ve never modded a Mayflash so I don’t know. You could check the PCB layout.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=22837
Interestingly, it looks like each direction has it’s own little ground and hot. It looks like it uses the same connectors as the Paewong Joystick Harness, after all I have read that the Paewong is essentially the same as the Mayflash. You probably could use those, though if I were you I’d shoot Laugh a message and ask him directly, he runs eTokki and he is very responsive and helpful.
Anyway, in this case, all you’d need are the Zippy switches. You can buy this http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/en/microswitches/239-seimitsu-ls-32-zippyy-joystick-upgrade-kit.html and simply remove the levers from the switches and they’ll be JLF compatible, or get those and pick up a LS-32 instead. Or, buy the Cherry switches, because personally I think the Cherry switches feel better because they’re 75 grams instead of 20. There really is quite a difference.
Yup, I can confirm that each direction has its own ground, so I think the harness will work. It’s Paewang with an ‘a’ and not ‘o’ by the way. hahaha
Thanks for the link. I saw this too, and it’s for the Cherry switches but I think the picture is incorrect cause they all say Zippy on the switches (http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/en/microswitches/532-silent-jlf-modification-cherry.html). I’d probably get this in case I use a different PCB. I’ll take your word about the feel. I’ll try anything that will make the JLF experience even better.
How loud are Cherry switches compared to stock JLF switches? I understand they are about the same in regards to force needed to actuate? 75 grams.
The Cherry switches are about 30% to 50% quieter than the stock JLF Omron switches. JLF Omron’s are definitely not 75 grams, they’re probably in the range of 150 to 200 or so. The difference in sound and tension comes from the mechanical differences between them. The Omron’s and Matsushita’s used in Sanwa and Seimitsu sticks use a U shaped copper plate to spring the switch from off to on to off again. It has much higher tension and is a lot louder than the Cherry and Zippy switches. They use very tiny springs to snap a metal plate from off to on to off again. Big difference.
Here is a sound file you can listen to if you want to hear the differences between the 75 gram Cherry and the stock JLF Omron. I recorded the switches directly in front of the microphone grill and add 7 db volume so people can actually hear it.
Thanks Moonchilde! Now I’m wondering how a JLF will feel with cherry’s with the stock spring? I really want to try cherry’s now! Do you use cherry’s with a JLF and if so what spring? I dropped LS-55 springs in with my Zippy’s but they were too stiff (no homo) but I then modified the LS-55 springs by cutting them down about 20% and now they are the perfect tension for me. (about stock JLF tension)
It won’t feel as loose as a 20g Zippy mod, and won’t feel as tight as the stock option. If you do a Cherry mod, you may like the tension if you’re looking for less tension than stock. If you use Cherry switches in your current Zippy/LS-55 spring setup, then you’re going to need to remove some of the tension to balance out the slightly higher 75 gram Cherry’s vs the Zippy 20 grams. Otherwise, if you plan on going back to the stock JLF spring, you’re going to need to add tension to it, and you can do this by stretching it out a bit. You may want to first consider buying a back up JLF spring in case you don’t like how it feels, because once you stretch a spring you will have a hard time getting it back to its original state.
I have yet to put the Cherry switches into my stick. I actually use a LS-40-01 so putting them in is going to require some mod work. I will need to add levers to the Cherry switches which is why I bought the Zippy’s, which requires modding the Cherry switch housing a tad. Then, I need to mount the Cherry’s a bit higher than stock because otherwise the LS-40 won’t hit the levers proper. When I do, I’ll put up pictures of the mod, because there are quite a few differences between modding a LS-40-01 to use levered Cherry switches than the stock Matsushita’s. It sadly isn’t like a JLF where you can just drop them in.
We are also trying to get our hands on the D2RV-G micros that Sanwa is supposedly putting into the official Silent JLF, the Micros are at least $6 a piece… The crazy part is that we got quotes since the stick is supposed to be release in May and the pricing will probably be north of $60 each. If possible we are going to put together an upgrade kit including D2RV micros, probably for around 40.
I wonder how the D2RV-G micros will compare to 20 micro gram Zippy’s?
D2RV-G’s are a reed switch not a snap action so no sound
Any word on this upgrade kit?
D2rvg’s are in
Hey Brian. I have bought your custom harnesses for the JLF silent mod before and they are awesome! Would you be able to sell the harnesses with Sleeves for AT-110 open barrel terminals made by Sanwa like in the picture below? It would make hooking the harness up to the micros a lot easier. If you could sell a package that included the harness and the D2RVG micros you would have a carbon copy of Sanwa’s upgrade.
Jayducky, we have another version of the harness coming in, the harness is made to allow any microswitch joystick to be installed into a JLF connector. We have D2RVG’s in stock and will be selling the completed stick. I believe retail on these is around 60 or so, we will DEFINITELY be coming in cheaper than that. Probably around 45-55… Hmmmm… maybe we should run a special on RGB silent JLF joysticks…
Hi Brian! Any update on those new harnesses? I want to order an bunch of custom JLF springs but want to wait for the harness so I only have one order. Also, I got to try it with those D2RV-G micros. Have you tried the D2RV-G micros yet and do you have any thoughts on them?
The D2RV’s are very nice! We have ordered them, just waiting for them to tell us they are shipped!