Gladiator Mk II. Upgrade Kit LIte Issues

[coreyo]

I recently received the upgrade kit lite for my Gladiator Mk. II and several SCG grips to go with it. However, I followed the video tutorial linked on the product page and it was relatively straightforward, if not time consuming. I have had two issues:

1. The side-to-side (left/right) axis makes a light scraping sound and has additional resistance as compared to the back-to-forward (up/down) axis. I tried both loosening and tightening the shaft mounting screws to make sure that they were not scraping against the plastic cams or causing extra friction. I also tried re-seating all of the plastic cams and making sure that they were properly aligned. My suspicion is that the bottom of the new shaft is scraping inside of the plastic channel that sits over it, as I cannot see anything else that might be rubbing or scraping on the X axis. The upgraded kit otherwise works, but drag on the X axis is noticeable when doing precision flying tasks in DCS world such as Air-to-Air refuelling. Others on reddit report that they are not experiencing the same symptoms after the upgrade.

2. I ended up having to clip, strip, and resolder the little pin on the red wire that fits into the little plastic connector because it was not making a connection. It seems to be working for now, but I'm not sure if it will withstand regular use. Is it possible to swap out the 3 wire that came with the new shaft, or are the wires soldered to inside of the upgrade kit's shaft?

Please advise, and thanks in advance.

[fallout9]

I've heard a similar thing recently on Reddit, are you the same person? https://www.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments ... =8&depth=9

As I already stated, there should be no scratching if everything is put together right. It should be really easy to find out if the end of the adapter shaft grinds against the plastic holder - just put some very thin film of grease on the bottom of that white plastic part the adapter end is running along, tighten the screws, move the stick on that axis, take the screws and the part out and check if the grease is still untouched. If it is, then you should look elsewhere. If the grease has been pushed aside, then you should check again to find out what's creating the tension on that part, pushing it up towards the adapter.

With the cable it's way more easier to solder the connections again rather than disconnecting the other end. See tutorials about JST connectors on Youtube.

[coreyo]

Hi fallout! Yes, same person. I was hoping that I could get one of the engineers to comment. I may be able to find some JST connector pins online, but not sure if I need a special device to strip and crimp them properly.

[fallout9]

The JST connector is very basic and I'm sure you'll have it fixed fast.

About the grinding - I love the little Gladiator too much to know that someone's unhappy with it ), so I took mine apart again to see where it might grind.


First of all, check this image below; make sure the bolt head (the one in red circle) doesn't stick too much out of the plastic frame, otherwise it could scratch along the guiding frame:

Second, check if the guiding part is smooth when rotating in the side holders:

At last, if it's still grinding try to install some washers as in photo below. Obviously you'll have to put 2 washers on the other side too, so 4 in total.

[coreyo]

Thanks again fallout. I already checked the first two places that you mentioned. I wanted to note the piece that you are holding in your fingers in the third picture. It's been my suspicion that this is the root of my issues. I think the bottom of the shaft is scraping up inside of that. It didn't occur to me to add some spacers to lift it up further away from the bottom of the shaft. I'm on travel in Las Vegas until Thursday. I'll take it to the hardware store to grab some little washers on Friday and see if that fixes the problem.

If anyone else is troubleshooting resistance on their gladiator, I'd mention the following two thinigs:

On the first picture, I've noticed that once you've attached the grip, you can get the mounting screws pretty tight without noticing any excessive resistance on the Y axis. Better to go a little too tight than the opposite. On my gladiator, this axis hasn't been a problem. Except for the normal flopping sounds of the plastic gimbals and springs, this axis is pretty smooth.

Once you have both gimbals in place, I've noticed that the plastic bends and has torsion when you apply pressure. If I push the top piece to the left or right you can increase the gap around the mounting screw on one side, while decreasing the gap on the other side. When you let go, the plastic frame will stay in that position (up to a point). If that gap becomes too small on either side, the mounting screws will scrap the plastic when you push the X axis to one side. Push that frame to the left and right until the gap around each of the mounting screws is equal. You'll know that this is a problem if one side of the X axis has resistance or makes a scraping sound while the other side does not.

[coreyo]

After taking my gladiator apart again, it looks like the mounting screws are indeed scraping along the guiding frame. Unfortunately, I've tightened shaft mounting screws as much as I can reasonably, and they are sitting flat and very tightly against the inner frame. As I stated in my previous post, I can push and bend the guiding frame to stop the scraping, but once I turn the gladiator right-side up and start moving the grip, the scraping comes right back. In fact, it's much worse now that I've pulled it apart and reassembled it. I've included a picture, but you'll have to click on it to make it bigger. You can see that there is more space on the left side than the right side (indicated inside the circles). You may also notice that the frame is bending inward a little bit along the lines that I have drawn. There is a little extra space between the hinges on either side and that frame.

[fallout9]

You mean these bolts?

If yes, then you could sand their head a bit, on both sides.

[coreyo]

Those screw heads are already so thin that it's difficult to tighten them. I'm hesitant to start grinding them unless I have no other options. I've filed a formal support ticket and we'll see how VKB responds.

[coreyo]

I'm talking with one of the VKB engineers right now. He asked me to send him some audio of the scraping sound. My modmic died on me, so my phone camera is currently the best that I have. Let me know if the scraping sound is clear here (you may have to turn up the volume).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HYyMFWbfwG8wmGAr9

[Ron61]

It seems that the axis screws are tightly clamped. Grease must be applied on both sides of the plastic. Tighten the axles so that there is very little resistance. Almost absent.
And only then clamp the screw-axis clamp. The fact is that while the latch is not clamped, the axis screws can sit tightly in the plastic and at the same time freely rotate along their thread. As soon as the lock is tightened, the screw-axis becomes stationary. And already the plastic will rotate around it. It is necessary to consider this moment.

[coreyo]

I haven't tried extra lubrication around the screws. Is there a lubricant that you recommend?

WRT to tightening or loosening the mounting screws, they act as the fulcrum for the Y axis (forward and backward). The Y axis feels pretty good and has no scraping or drag on it. I originally kept these mounting screws fairly loose, but after I noticed that the screws were scraping the outer cams, I tightened them as much as I reasonably could to try and add more clearance between the mounting screws and the plastic outer frame. The forward and backward motion still feels good. It's the X axis (side-to-side) movement that is the problem. Ultimately, it looks like the outer plastic frame is crooked and bows inward, not providing enough clearance for the inner frame to move around. See my picture above.

[SpinCykle]

Hello,

Just stopping by to say I have this exact same issue. I first thought it was just some dust/dirt I got into the roll axis gimbals mount or maybe it just needed to be re-greased, but I do in fact have contact from the flat headed bolts as others have pointed out. I'll disassemble later today and see if the issue persists.

Regards,

SpinCykle

EDIT:

After disassembly and further inspection, I'm lost.... My first thought was contact from the bolt heads as described above but after tightening the flat head bolts and securing them properly, the noise is still there. Pitch and Roll are silent with the first gimbal in place. When you secure the second in place, the one that caps the black stick shaft to control pitch, the noise starts.

I've also tried washers to raise the height of the second gimbal cap, thinking the roll noise was coming from the shaft rubbing, bottoming out, inside the cap of the second gimbal... Nope. Still get the noise.

What grease do you guys recommend I buy? And why was grease not included if its a mandatory step?

[fallout9]

Means that you're close to finding the cause of grinding. Take the bracket out of the holders and verify the contact area - is there any debris? Is the bracket making noise when you're rotating it with the holders on? Does it take some force to push the bracket into place?
Grease is a personal preference, there are several types of grease available. Most of the people seem to like Nyogel 767A best. And it was recommended in the video, check 5:34.

[bakon]

Hey,

I believe I have the same issue; it seems that the metal peg is scratching the inside of the housing that it moves back and forth in. I do not have lube or washers so I cannot currently test anything, but I couldn't see any issues with the mounting bolts touching the sides(despite one of them not going all the way inn because it simply stops). Not sure how relevant, but before I installed kit+grip I had problems with uneven x/y directions and noticed that the entire slide warps a bit when moving the joystick in the y direction. Just in case this could be some of the reason why it touches. (?)

Update 22.01.2019:
Tried washers and it doesn't seem to change anything. I also want to add that the scratching only specifically seems to happen when going down and to the sides. Going perfectly side to side on the x axis (and y) seems to make almost no if any scratching. I tried carefully "retrieving" some unnecessary lube that had stacked up on the inside of the plastic piece (in the area out of reach) and apply it to the inside where the guide rod goes, but it did not seem to change much.
I still can't see the side pegs of the guide rod housing get close to the sides, but its extremely difficult to see with the naked eye, I could potentially try to tighten them later.

[fallout9]

Take it apart and put it back testing for grinding at every step. When it occurs please take pictures and explain the context.
In your case it could be that bolt that's not getting in all the way, you'll have to either force it in or shorten it.