Random question, but I was just switching out the balltop on my TE when I noticed that now the shaft cover rotates incredibly easy now. Just to make sure I wasn’t crazy I tried using my SE with a Sanwa JLF with a shaft cover, and sure enough the cover doesn’t spin separately from the shaft itself. It’s like the cover grips to the shaft, just like it used to on my TE.
I’m not sure if I can get used to it spinning freely like this (I know with enough time I could, but you know what I mean). At first I thought it was because I hadn’t tightened the ball top enough. But that thing is on there as tight as can be.
What could’ve changed in my stick for such a large difference to occur like that? I may have to superglue the shaft cover onto the shaft if I really can’t get used to it.
Well I did some tinkering and I found out it’s because of the balltop. My red “Sanwa” balltop is slightly rounder at the bottom. The white Sanwa balltop is quite flat at the bottom, which makes it ft snug against the cover and restricts its movement.
Does anyone have any more information about the different balltops? Most people seem to just say all balltops are created equal, and only talk about the looks. Why haven’t I heard more about this issue of the shape of the balltops?
Also: does this mean that the “Sanwa” balltop I got is actually a Seimitsu? It seems strange that a Sanwa balltop wouldn’t fit flush on a Sanwa shaft cover. Is there any way for me to be sure that I didn’t get ripped off?
The only way to know if you have a genuine Sanwa balltop is to measture it and check the dimensions against the real product’s specifications, or find another person that purchased a JLF directly from a Sanwa vendor and compare it to theirs.
Really there is no quality difference between Sanwa and other balltops, and most people wouldn’t notice if they weren’t using a shaft cover. Also, this is the first case I’ve heard of where a non-Sanwa balltop is actually rounder; Seimitsu and most off-brands I’ve seen tend to have about the same dimensions, or an even flatter bottom.
I would suggest returning the balltop if you can, and getting an authentic Sanwa balltop. Super-gluing parts of your joystick together is generally not a good idea.
The shaft should spin slightly, however if it is spinning effortlessly that means that the balltop isn’t completely tightened and secured down on the shaft. You have to tighten it more. The difference of being round at the bottom is irrelevant.
If I tighten it any more I’ll strip the friggin threads. I don’t put nearly as much pressure on it when I put on my white ball top, and yet it holds down the shaft cover just fine. However no matter how much pressure I put on the red ball top, it spins freely.
And my Dark Hai that came with my JLF-01 is flat bottomed, so is my white balltop that came on my TE. So I guess Sanwa doesn’t have as much quality control on their balltops as they do on their other parts perhaps.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the tops they supply with the TE weren’t made to exactly the same standards as the others.
If they were going to cut cost somewhere for the TE that nobody would really notice, but still give ‘authentic’ Sanwa parts, that would be a good place to start.
But the strange thing is that the ones that come with the TE is the one that holds down the shaft cover correctly. It’s the one that I ordered separately that doesn’t fit right.
I just noticed the same thing today, i took my TE parts and dumped them into my SE. The shaft cover fits snuggly.
I ordered another JLF, with an orange balltop from LizardLick. Put it into my TE, and the shaft cover spins freely. Its not a huge deal, but if definitely feels different in my hand.
The Seimitsu balls do have a much larger flat area on the bottom. The Sanwa balls always have the smallest flat area on the bottom, but the newest balltops they have made have smaller ones yet.
I just got a new TE and the spinning shaft cover is driving me nuts. I assume some form of glue would be a really bad idea to stop it from spinning, did anyone find a solution, or have any creative ideas? Should I just order an identical colored ball top and pray that it works? There’s got to be a better way.
I bought the new MvC2 stick, and so did my friend. My shaft cover spins freely and his does not… what gives?
