Gunfighter mk3 w/ 200mm extension is losing connection

[Drano]

What is it that you're taking apart in the dark exactly? The grip from the extension or the extension from the base? The connections for both of these are identical, three little spring loaded pins contacting corresponding pads. If this problem is corrected by what you're doing, even temporarily, it's IMO pointing to a connection issue north of the base. First, take the grip and extension off in the light of day and take a good look at the pins inside both the grip and extension. Make sure they're not stuck. They should spring back when pushing on them LIGHTLY. Don't jam on them! Look on the pads on the extension and base. There should be a little mark on them where the pins are contacting. If you find one mark is lighter than the others, that's an indication of a stuck pin. Look more closely at that one to ensure it's springing. Make sure the pins and pads are clean. Hit them with some alcohol on a cotton swab. There shouldn't be a lot of gunk on them as they're in a fairly protected environment. I use a pencil eraser. But whatever you use on the pins and this can't be stressed enough---be gentle! Make sure that the grip is fully seated on the extension and also the extension to the base. The pins are spring loaded but they don't have a lot of travel to them. If either of the above are too loose the pins might not make good contact. Push them together until they stop then tighten the clamp.

Another possible factor is inside of the extension itself. Take the two screws near the bottom out. The bottom part will now come out of the tube. You'll find another white 3-wire connector inside that ties the top and bottom connections together. Try re-seating that connector making sure none of the individual wires are coming loose when you push it back together. There's a little slack in those wires to facilitate assembly. So makes sense they're bouncing around in the tube just a little bit as you move the stick around and maybe that connection is coming loose intermittently. I haven't had that problem with mine but have had it apart to see what was in there.

Try to replicate the problem without the extension connected to rule it out. That will help narrow down the problem.

[Drano]

Hmm. Upon further review of this whole thread, after all the replacement that bazookaman has done still having this problem I'm now thinking about another gremlin and that one is a lot harder to track down. A broken wire. Maybe the physical connections are fine but a wire is broken inside the insulation? Or bad solder at one of the connector pins? That would do it too. That it's so intermittent is making me think that.

Either way, clearly there's some random connection issue. The good news is if the problem IS with the extension, finding the problem is fairly simple as there are only 12 connections to test and they're all easily accessible. Are you any good with a continuity tester? Take the extension apart again and test the top and bottom 3 pairs, one at a time. Wiggle the wires around and look for a dropout in continuity. I hate gremlins and this would drive me nuts too!

Sorry for going over all in my last post that you've clearly already tried bazookaman. Looking at this on my phone. Just trying to help.

[bazookaman]

No, I appreciate it.

So, the problem is the connection between the extension and the base. When I loosen the bolt clamp and reseat the extension onto the base, it usually starts working immediately (I'm watching the real-time activity in the vkb diagnostic tool). However, this fix will only last for a while. Last night, it was getting to the point, after several loosen/tighten procedures, where I couldn't get a solid connection at all even though this fix lasted for quite a while over the past few months.

When I replaced the pcb in the extension originally, it worked fine for a few months, so I'm confident that is where the problem lies. Is it possible that the weight of my hand resting on the joystick over time pushes down on the pins and ruins the springs or something? (I put in a lot of flying time) I have another pcb (vkb sent two) that I'll probably try. But that seems like a short-term solution given I've been through two already. Maybe I'm not tightening the clamp bolt enough?

[fallout9]

If the fastener is tightened enough it shouldn't matter if you press on the grip while playing. If it's loose though, that might damage the contact pins.
Have you tried to replace that specific fastener with another one?

[bazookaman]

I have not. However, I just re-assembled using the method in the assembly video I saw in another thread where the "clamp bolt" (don't know the correct term) is taken completely apart before inserting it one piece on each side. Previously I had just loosened it and inserted it into one side. I don't know if it will make a difference, but for now the connection is good. I'll see if I make it though the night and will update.

I did gently push the pins with the eraser side of a pencil and I could feel them springing in and out.

[Drano]

FYI be careful of cross threading that clamp assembly. You shouldn't have to do more than looseni it enough to release the grip or extension. Taking it completely apart is just unnecessary. There's a guy in another thread that's messed his up.

[bazookaman]

Good to know.

[bazookaman]

It held up tonight, no issues. I think the key was to really tighten that clasp down hard. My hand puts a lot of weight on the stick. If it doesn't hold up, I'll post back.

[Maelstrom]

Just posting to say this thread helped me fix a dead-on-arrival problem with a brand new Gunfighter MCG Ultimate with 200mm extension. The grip was not communicating to the base (flashing red light on the black box) but I discovered the grip worked when I connected the grip directly to the base without the extension. This thread led me to dismantle the extension connector at the bottom and I found the problem was the red wire was not actually seated into the white plastic connector. I simply pushed the exposed wire firmly into the connector and reassembled the extension and it works now. So, thanks to the people in this thread for helping me with my problem months later!

Love the stick btw!

[fallout9]

Also thank you Maelstrom for reporting it, congrats for identifying and fixing the issue and of course, our apologies that it happened.

[Delta-canard]

Hello, I know it's a fairly old thread but I've been experiencing a similar issue. After reading this thread I tried swapping the bolts between the two connections and it seems to work better. The one I had in my handle seemed to fit tighter, shown less wear and was tightened with much less turning of the screwdriver. I don't know if there is a difference in quality of the bolts or the lower one was gettint too much force from my arm? anyway, I'll post back if it degrades again.

[1sascha]

I know I'm super late to the party, but:




I am pretty sure the dustcover isn't installed properly in this pic... one half of it sits too high and it looks like it's not seated properly in that "ring" on the gimbal's rod (it should "snap" into the groove in the ring and it shouldn't cover that steel "ring" when viewed from above).

I've had a similar issue with my MCG when my dust-cover was preventing the grip to be properly seated against that top "ring" of the gimbal's rod - God, this is so hard to explain, lol! If that rubber cover sits like in this pic, it's no wonder you can't get the grip to seat properly - one half of the cover is getting in the way and preventing the grip from going all the way down into its intended position.

Second issue for me (as discussed in another thread) was my grip fastener which might have been a bit too wide/long, and thus the two parts of the fastener would touch each other when tightened down, pushing into each other instead of only pushing into the rod/stem for a reliable connection between grip and gimbal/rod. I filed both parts of the fastener down a bit (by maybe 1 or 1.5mm altogether) - that resulted in the screw now sticking out on the left side of the fastener when used in my grip and tightened down and thus the fastener was exerting more force on the rod/stem when tightened down ... I guess.

I received two replacement fasteners from VKB today (thanks for that!) and when I insert the new one into my MCG's hole and tighten it down, its screw also sticks out on the left side - my original fastener never did that before I filed it down.

Third issue seems to be that some of these fasteners might come loose on their own, no matter how hard you tighten them down. I've read a few comments on here and on reddit, etc where some folks report that their fasteners never, ever come loose, while others describe the exact same problem I encountered. I mean... one of my two original fasteners (the one that came with the GF/MCG Pro) did come loose at least once per session - the other one (that came with my 100mm extension) never came loose on its own. I've checked both of them at least twice a day since the problems started, so I'm quite sure of this behavior. Doesn't seem to matter if it's with our without extension, because I've used the MCG Pro without an extension for a few months and that fastener came loose in this configuration, too.

If you happen to have such a problematic fastener, either open a support ticket and request help/replacement (worked for me) or try a bit of Loctite on the fastener's screw to lock it down. I haven't tried that solution yet, but I've read multiple comments from other users recommending Loctite.


S.

[Delta-canard]

Thanks for the reply! I checked the dust-cover but it's OK. I still have the impression one of the bolts is better than the other but it's about them getting really stressed when the long stick does all the way to one side. That explains why I get contact back when I release the bolt and allow the stick to fall back on the base.