Gladiator NXT "sticktion" issues in X and Y

[Buzz#77]

Hello friends,

My first post here in these forums. I have VKBs rudder pedals and they are AWESOME.
After that great experience, I picked up a Gladiator NXT [the non-EVO model] in December last year. Fantastic stick... for the most part. Indeed, when I first got it, it was light years ahead of my old Saitek X 52 pro. Amazing performance for that price point; or so I thought. I swapped out the stock #20 springs for the #10 springs that it came packaged it since I'm a chopper guy mainly.

Unfortunately, these last two weeks or it has started developing "sticktion" issues in both axes when I'm making gradual small movements from the centre, nowhere is this more apparent than when you're trying to maintain a controlled hover in DCS 's AH 64D. Once I move the stick away from the center, its fine for the first ~5 mm or so, but then there's a sudden lurch in movement as you have to overcome friction before it moves.
It does't move gradually and smoothly and the saving grace of the damped Nyogel movement isnt there. The lurching continues at a other points after the initial sticktion near centre. It's making lining up for hovering, rocket runs etc a pain.

Is there an easy fix for this? Or is this a recognized/expected issue?
I've reseated the springs, the wires are'nt catching on anything, and replacing the #10 spring with the stock #20 spring just compounds the issue.

Please help. Any and all advice is welcome

I'm adding some VKB Tester screenshots here that give you an impression of the sticktion issue. With gradual pressure from the centre the precision of the Gladiator is such that I can hit single steps, but only up to 0.5cm to 1cm or so from the centre, then it lurches [ as evidenced by the sudden spikes in values].

Warm regards and thanks.

[fallout9]

This is unusual, the grease should hold for longer than that. Are you sure it's grease related though? Did you opened up to see if there's no mechanical blockage, if the wires have enough slack? If it's grease related after all, then try opening up the gimbal; there should be some grease at the edges of moving parts - push it back between moving parts. You could see here a guide on how to disassemble the gimbal.

[Buzz#77]

Thanks for the prompt response Fallout.

I did as you asked. Thanks for the link to the guide btw.
Opened the whole thing up. No dust, no wires catching on anything, more than enough slack.
Took apart both the gimbals and took the grease from the edges and reapplied it on the moving parts.
There was not enough grease between the dust cover and the plastic tray that it rests on, grease was inconsistently applied to that; so I re-distributed the grease evenly thinking that may be
a source of the problem as well, and..

No joy.

The problem still is there. Sticktion on slow movement.
When I was rotating the X and Y gimbals through their range of motion after I regreased them there was subtle ratcheting. You could feel "bumps" as you rotated the gimbals.
Perhaps this is the root cause? A machining defect of the gimbal?

I've included pics here of the disassembly process for your perusal. Maybe something will catch your eye and shed light on the issue.

Regards and thanks. Great customer service by the way.
P.S: All the same, I'm buying a Gunfighter III next . Looking at the guts of the Gladiator is a testament to the quality of VKB stuff.

[fallout9]

I don't think there's a machining issue, you'd have noticed that from the start. There's also plenty of grease in there, shouldn't be a cause.
Did you took the pinchers off and regreased between them too? The pinchers are those parts which holds the springs on their hooks.

[Buzz#77]

Hi again,

Excuse my late reply to your post.
Did as you asked. Opened the unit again and rechecked the pinchers. and regreased them too, the pinchers move smoothly with no catching or ratcheting.
I'm including some pics of the pinchers here for your perusal.

Sadly, the issue is still there.
The ratcheting comes from the main gimbal rotational mount.

Any other suggestions? sigh, the sticktion really is making it difficult to use the controller. Please help.

Regards and thanks always.

[fallout9]

Could you please point an arrow at the area where the issue is coming from in a pic?

[Buzz#77]

Thanks for the quick response Fallout.

Here you go good sir. I've labeled the relevant area as "not smooth" in the attached pics.

Also I'm also including a screenshot of the sticktion as it occurs across the full range of motion of the X axis. As you can see the precision of the stick is fantastic as it registers single pixel/step movements, but there are repeated "jumps", where the gimbal/stick/spring/[or whatever is the cause of the problem] causes the sticktion.
And it occurs continuously across the range of movement in the X axis.
It's also the case in the Y axis but to a lesser degree.

Regards and thanks always.
Cheers good sir!

[fallout9]

Which store did you got this joystick from?

[Buzz#77]

Ali Express

[fallout9]

Please contact seller through Ali store and post a link to this post, they'll send you a replacement.

[Buzz#77]

Thank you so so much Fallout.

I tried contacting the VKB Ali Express store earlier via the messaging service on Ali Express, but they did'nt respond yet.
I'll link this post as you said.

I'll update you accordingly.
Cheers and thanks again brother!

[Buzz#77]

Just a bit of an update,

I contacted the VKB Ali Express store and they said they will send me a replacement gimbal.
They asked for my mailing address, which I gave them accordingly, after which they have'nt sent me an acknowledgement that they will
send the item to the address, nor have they confirmed the ETA of the delivery.

I'll keep you updated Fallout.

Warm regards and sincere thanks.