Mk3 MCG Ultimate (twist) Grip Dead? Blinking Red Light on BB, no power to grip

[gunjniir]

I put in a ticket last Wednesday or Tuesday but haven't heard back so I'm turning here. This is a Rev-C modified, twist MCG Ultimate Gunfighter Mk3 with a Mk2 BB and the gunfighter base that came with the package

My grip had been apparently shorting out. WHen I'd sit down it'd blank off, I'd hear the windows disconnect sound, then it'd come back. Earlier this week, it did so but did not come back on.

Base light was green on BB. Grip lite was blinking red. Config software sees base and x y axis but grip appears completely powered off. Does not even blink on for a moment when reconnected.

Here's a list of things I've tried:

-Swap USBA cables between BB and PC
-Tested continuity of the 4 pin cable that runs between base and BB
-Tested voltage on VCC and gnd pins, around 3 v or so?
-Tested voltage directly out of BB, seems okay? its about 3v, i only have a small cheap multimeter tho
-Disassembled and cleaned inside grip, inside base, checked connectors
-stabbed PCBs in grip to see if anything was obviously shorted or burned out, nothing that I could really tell but i don't have a PCB so its some guesswork
-Flashed BB making sure to use BB mk2 based on support documents, made sure to use MCG ultimate with twist and even tried regular without twist
-Powered base+grip directly from a bench powersupply at around 3.5 v and the grip lights DID come on, so the grip CAN get power but for some reason just...isn't.

A few things of note was that the 3 pin wire that connects the plug connector in the stem (to which the grip attaches) to the board in the base was slightly frayed (pic included). The connector itself also didn't appear in great shape.

I tried to stab the pins inside the plug to the pins that connect directly to the board on the base and it seemed like there were no shorts, but its hard to stab inside that little plug with regular probes.

I did find this post which I haven't tried yet: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4879&start=15#p43720

At this point the last thing I want to try is to remove the connector plug from the stem and cut the wires, but I don't have another micro form factor PCB 3-pin connector that the connector plug in the stem uses (and its a pain in the ass to remove that also since it runs down through the stem in a very tiny opening).

I'm open go try anything, ive got a bench power supply, multimeter, can solder, etc. But at this point my guess is that the software is borked somehow. either the BB or the grip is bricked because of how it was disconnecting/connecting when it got a static shock.

Also note that I have a VPC grip/base for a throttle in left hand and 2 control panels. NONE of my other electronics had this issue with shorting. It would short even if I touched the mount to which it attaches to the desk.

Here's the small yellow cladding frayed, but I looked at the wire and did not see any actually exposed wires


Here's the plug connector on both ends for reference


Here's what I see in the config tool with a few config screens if it helps:


Additional global config screens:




Sanity check for the firmware im using to flash the BB:


ANY additional troubleshooting help would be appreciated.

[AeroGator]

Sorry for your ticket not being properly addressed - I need to know your location to pull the strings!

[gunjniir]

Heya, I'm in US, CO. I haven't heard back except once but I heard they are on a lunar new year hiatus so I shouldn't expect to hear back any time soon.

I think I'm going to take it a part, cut the wires off the plug in the stem and cleanly splice in new wires, re route them and see.

[AeroGator]

No ignoring the ticket is something we try to avoid by any means. After all the guys who are in the US are no Chinese (for the record: neither are most of VKB core guys who are in China, with a few exceptions) hence they don't care for Chinese New Year.
If you haven't been helped out yet, tell me your order number AND ticket number asap.

[gunjniir]

Ticket is 14529
Order is 229505, placed back in 2022

Worth mentioning is that I received my gunfighter mk4 with base and blackboard. I plugged in the MK3 grip (since it has a RevC adapter) into the new base and BB. The old Mk3 grip did not power on at all. I tried plugging the mk 3 into the old base and BB and now neither base nor grip are providing signal to BB.

The new mk 4 grip, base, and BB are working like a charm, with no powering off due to esd shocks or anything.

[Alex Oz]

You need to check if power is reaching the grip. Then I would check the bus line.

[gunjniir]

Grip won't power on connected to PC through the BB but it DOES receive power if I connect a raw VCC and gnd from a bench power supply (tried 3.5v and 5v) to the pins of the 4 pin cable that goes into the base. It lights up, at least, where as it does not if PC -> BB -> base.

How best do you recommend checking the bus line? I have checked continuity and yes it does have continuity

[Alex Oz]

The Line BUS voltage must be 0, 1- 0, 3 V less than 3.3 V

[Alex Oz]

How to check BUS line
Swicth USART2 to OFF ( & write to controllern [SET} )
Restart configurator
Normal state:

short-circuiting the BUS line to the GND should extinguish

Clipboard Image (1).jpg (7.36 KiB) Viewed 3207 times

[gunjniir]

I turned USART2 OFF, restarted application, as instructed.

Shorting the bus to ground from the grip as you pictured above did NOT extinguish the red light:



Shorting the bus to ground from the BASE as shown below DID extinguish the red light:



Because I had not heard back in a while (previously), I attempted to re-wire the plug connector at the base that feeds through to the inside of the base's case. I used my own micro 3 pin connector so maybe that connector isn't to spec, even though continuity tests with a multimeter indicate there is proper continuity and no shorts. But maybe I did something wrong, not sure. I can try to re-re-wire the connector from the stem to the base PCB if you think that might help? Though Id prefer to know the spec 3 pin micro connector you use if you have a part number. I used shrink tube to cover where I soldered wire together near the stem. Feeding it through was a pain.

[gunjniir]

By the way, I have the box that my Mk4 came in. If i need to ship the inoperable Mk3 base, grip, and BB back, I could use that, at least.