Regarding the Happ competition stick in the very 1st post:
These flaws make the stick seem almost as if it has a square gate installed on one side and an octagonal gate on the other. However unlike the Perfect 360, the can be fixed easily by sanding down the exterior of the microswitches (the white casing, not the red button thing) and by replacing the too large black actuator with the white/clearish looking smaller one that was made by IL. This modification appears to get the nice, circular feeling back.
Question, what part of the rectangular microswitch do you actually sand down? The corners??
The center of the microswitch from what I see,you should just move the microstick on one of the corners and see where the actuator rubs the switch. I donāt really want to touch it, but itās really really really pissing me off. Sometimes I end up not doing any SA or shoryukens instead of hadoukens.
What part or parts in each of the 3 competition sticks is responsible for whether or not you achieve that perfect circle (such as those found in the old Happ distributed iL comp sticks). I have one of these thatās brand new and has been in storage for years. I just recently opened it and swapped out some of the parts into my Arcade in a Box; which uses the new (crappy) Happ (China manufactured) competition stick. I swapped out the actuator, the spring, the switch bracket, the z-stop, and the e-ring. I did not however, swap out the hub (the rectangular piece that is bolted to the top of the wooden cabinet), the microswitches, or the knob/shaft (the stick itself).
The result, it hits the points better than it did, but still not perfect; like my MAS which moves in a perfect circle (has an āoldā style Happ comp stick in it). The Arcade in a box stick has a tendency to hit the corners way too easy, yet simply trying to hit forward and back (left and right) is actually difficult. It seems like you have to swing the stick up higher than you normally should have to, just to avoid it registering the corners (which it seems obsessed with doing :/).
My problem is, the MAS is wired for PS2 (I use a Pelican adapter for use with PS3 VF5), the Arcade in a Box is wired for Xbox 360. I want them both to āfeelā identical, so that I donāt have to adjust when I play fighting games between the 2 systems.
The main thing is the microswitches. Sometimes you have to sand them down because the placement of them on newer Happ bases is often times off-center. But sometimes that does not fix it either. What I did in addition to sanding is when mounting the switches onto the base, only screw in the inner screw, ie. the one closer to the center, then pivot the other end of the microswitch as far from the center as possible.
What this does is make the microswitch sit as far as possible from the center while still being screwed in so the actuator will not rub up against them, which causes the non-circular motion. It also make the microswitch tab closer to the center, making the activation point somewhat earlier and diagonals much easier to hit.
Hope that made sense. If people want me to post a picture of what Iām talking about I can do so.
Okay, I just thought it would be easier to explain if the pictures showed here, but now that I think about it they will probably be pretty self-explanatory.
You might as well, pictures are worth a thousand words. And if anyoneās confused I think he means leave the screw thatās closest to the red tab in the microswitch.
Wow, u guys respond promptly. Should I not waste my time swapping out the hub then? I have a brand new set of the āold styleā microswitches. Iām wondering if I should just swap them out? Or can I just use the existing ones, once I see this diagram?
I donāt think you need to swap out the hub. Just loosen up the screw behind the red tab, and take out the one at the corner of the microswitch, then with that end pull it back as far as you can and tighten the screw behind the red tab.
Iāll give that a shot with unscrewing and repositioning the microswitches then. Also:
The main thing is the microswitches. Sometimes you have to sand them down because the placement of them on newer Happ bases is often times off-center. But sometimes that does not fix it either. What I did in addition to sanding is when mounting the switches onto the base, only screw in the inner screw, ie. the one closer to the center, then pivot the other end of the microswitch as far from the center as possible.
I actually did replace the base (aka, the switch bracket), with a brand new āolder styleā Happ base that Iāve had in storage for years. Still didnāt entirely fix the problem though. Well, Iāll try the to adjust the microswitches and see if I can achieve the perfect circle that way. If that doesnāt fix it, there is only 2 things I have left to do. Swap the hub, and completely swap out all of the microswitches with the a new set of the āoldā Happ ones. Iāll let you guys know how I make out.
Donāt forget you probably will still have to sand down the microswitch on the side with the red tab (take the tab out first of course. After that and the repositioning you should get an almost perfect circle. Iāve done this with about 6 sticks and it worked every time.
ok cool, thanks 613. I wasnāt quite sure what part of the microswitch to sand until you just clarified that. I probably wonāt mess around with it til next weekend sometime (leaving for Vegas Monday). So Iāll let you know if it worked when I get time to mess with it. Thanks again for the help guys!
Well I tried unscrewing and re-aligning the microswitches and it did nothing (may have actually made the problem worse). I noticed you mentioned in an earlier post that doing this makes the corners easier to hit, but the corners on my stick were already way too easy to hit. My stick registers the corners at many times when it shouldnāt; like when Iām simply pressing right/left (forward/backward). This is the only major problem Iām having with it. I did NOT however, try sanding the switches down yet, so thatās still an option.
Other than that, I can try to swap out the hub, and make sure it is lined up perfectly straight when I put the one from my brand new āoldā style Happ stick into the cabinet. The last option if that doesnāt work (I doubt thatās the problem) is to completely swap out the microswitches that are currently in my stick, and replace them with a brand new set of āold styleā microswitches.
Question about sanding, why should it even be necessary if you have the old style actuator? I was lead to believe that the actuator was the main problem with achieving the perfect circle. And since I swapped out the crappy black one for an older clear/white one, it has to have something to do with the microswitches they are using now vs. the old microswitches. Any thoughts/advice on this??
The microswitches are the same old Cherry ones they always use. The problem with the black actuator was that EVEN with repositioning the switches and sanding them you still wouldnāt get a nice circular motion.
The reason why you sand the switches is because most of the time the problem of not having a good circle is because the actuator rubs against the switches when you move the stick. In the case of some of the new Happ sticks, there could be a possibility the actuator rubs against the black base tabs even without the switches there.
If that is the case you would have to sand the black base tabs, which will be much more difficult than the switches. Put everything together, then look at the bottom of the stick while moving it around. You want to find out what the actuator is rubbing against that causes the non-circular motion.
Thanks for the input! I really donāt understand something. If the cherry micros are the EXACT same ones theyāve always used, and I have an actuator in there from a brand new āoldā happ comp stick; why donāt I have a perfect circle? Sanding the micros was not necessary for the comp stick from years ago. I went through a few of them myself and never had a problem; always a perfect circle. A far cry from the crap thatās in my Arcade-in-a-Box now :(.
Iāll update you on my progress results throughout the week.
Competitions I bought about 2 years never had the problem either. Actually, Competitions I bought directly from Happ (even with their outrageously priced shipping) never had the problem, anything from a reseller always had the problem. Go figure.
It could be the new base, because I remember trying one and I couldnāt get a prefect circle no matter what I tried to do. I got a pair of the ILs from LizardLick and was able to get a good circle with those using the methods I have described.
Repositioning the switches without sanding them will not help, because then the switch will stick out and definitely hit the actuator. From my experience sanding is the first thing you have to try before the reposition.
I can tell you right now, the base (aka switch bracket) is not the issue. I swapped that part out, and I am using a brand new āoldā base from an old happ distributed IL. Unfortunately, that did not solve the problem :(.