Should i open my SE stick?

Tech Talk
1

I just got an SE today from some guy on craigslist. He gave me the receipt so my warranty should be ok.

Should I go ahead and open it now to see if hte washer is loose? I also have a spare JLF lying around but I have no idea of how to put it in. Is there any way to tell if the washer is loose without opening the stick (hearing it)?

I also read somewhere that madcatz has been honoring warranty’s even for people that opened their stick?

2

if you have a JLF that you know works, the question is: why wouldnt you put it in? the stock washer has been known to eat the PCB and the stock buttons get stuck after a while of use. to me it just makes sense to swap out the parts.

3

yes but i heard that some people that have swapped in their own parts still end up having a defective PCB…and then their warranty is shot…

4

dont think you can hear the washer being loose or intact but i would just open it and put the JLF in, IMO much better chance that the JLF will not be defective compared to the stock stick.

5

I thought the PCB within the stick itself breaks.

So if people are putting in JLF sticks and are still getting broken sticks, they’re doing something wrong.

6

Wouldn’t they only know if you opened the stick if you broke that seal on the bottom? I guess if you keep that seal intact, while still being able to open it and have access to it, gamestop will be none the wiser

7

Be a true modder and take the plunge.

…Or wait out the measly 90 day warranty. I bet they figured that people are going to mod it regardless.

8

I just got my SE Friday and put a JLF and OSBF’s in today. It’s definitely worth it. The stock stick was making a funny, kind of sqeaky maybe grinding, sound when I was hitting corners. The Sanwa, on the other hand, sounds beautiful.

It’s definitely worth it. Even if my PCB does somehow crap out. I can always get a Cthulhu board or something and drop it in.

But like Nagoo said, you can wait out the 90 days if it makes you feel better.

9

I opened mine right when I got home. It’s so much better with sanwa parts.

10

play with the stick for a while… to get a feel for the oem parts

then crack her open and put the sanwa or what ever in and feel the diffrence.

so YES do it but be aware about the warrenty you are voiding it…

11

Within minutes of getting my SE home I opened it up immediately without even bothering with the stock parts. Took all of 15-20 mins to do the entire swap and no regrets so far.

12

lol. Go ahead n open it up. That was my first stick and my first mod as well. Kind of afraid at first but everything turned ok. If you are to replace the js, be careful when separating the mounting plate. Those screws are really painful.

13

I’m actually waiting for some of the stick madness to die down so I can either get a cheaper SE stick or a dead one.

14

I’d save your warranty. You’ve already got the spare laying around in case the stick pcb does get eaten. It’s also pretty easy to tell if your washer is loose. Makes a lot of extra noise and gets stuck.

15

Wait, the PCB damage is not to the controller PCB right? Only to the stick PCB? …Which can be replaced by changing the joystick.

16

If you can keep the seal intact go for it. I made the mistake of replacing the stick and buttons as soon as I got it. Now every once in awhile the stick will freeze up in the last held direction (i.e. constantly jumping up and down), and at least once a day during a match the trigger buttons will stop working until i unplug the stick. This is after i replaced the parts. A friend of mine has the same problem, and we’re both stuck with this garbage.

17

I’m pretty sure it only damages the joystick’s PCB.
http://www.ps3informer.com/playstation-3/news/madcatz-sfiv-se-fightstick-defects-horror-stories-009931.php

18

Is the Throw of a sanwa amaller than the throw of a stock stick in the hori ex2 or se?

19

I have the Sanwa JLF and Hori Ex2 and the throw of the JLF feels slightly smaller than the Ex2’s throw. Not sure about the SE.