Gunfighter IV grinding sensation and sound

[cmptohocah]

I just got my Gunfighter IV delivered today and I must say that I am disappointed :
when I move my stick around I can feel a grinding sensation of sorts, as if as two sharp metal surfaces are rubbing against each other. The rubbing sensation is accompanied with a grinding sound as well. The issue happens on both axis equally. A quick search online, reveals that I am not the only one and for a 300+ eur base, I would say it's quite an issue.

Some facts about my case:
- unpacked the new base
- followed the setup instructions: released the tension in dry clutches; have not adjusted the spring tensioners
- springs and cams are stock

Personal findings:
- amount of tension in the clutches has no influence on the grinding
- when moving the stick extremely slowly, there is no grinding
- when moving the stick in a normal manner or moderately quickly the grinding (sensation/sound) is there and can be felt through the stick

I will definitely be returning the base for a refund unless some solution is provided, so I will give it a reasonable amount of time before shipping it back.

As an owner of a new base, I definitely do not expect to be troubleshooting a brand new piece of equipment, but if there is some way to mitigate this I would gladly keep it .

Kind regards

[cmptohocah]

Small addendum:
The issue is definitely coming form the bearing/cam assembly. When I push the cam out of the way, there is absolutely no grinding.
I will try some different cams to see what happens, but so far it seems either like a design issue and/or a cam manufacturing issue.

[cmptohocah]

Found a solution: Nyogel 767A

I've put a thin film of it on the cam's contact surface and spread it around using the bearing.
The stick is now butter smooth and has this industrial feel to it, just like a real Airbus side stick for example.

This leads me to believe that the culprit for the grinding feel is likely a faulty cam design.

Word to VKB: please consider pre-lubricating the bearing/cam assembly or at least offering some heavy duty dampening lubricant as an option, otherwise the base feels like very rough and cheap. I was lucky that I had some Nyogel at hand, otherwise I would have sent it back.

Looks like after moding it, it's here to stay.

[Pautss]

How do you flying after a while? The lubricant helped me for 1 hour
The problem is not in the lubrication. The crunch comes from the bearing races, metal on metal. Lubrication does not help - the bearing squeezes it out of the track. I think it will help if you put a ring from a heat-shrinkable tube on the bearing or glue plastic to the cam track. Damping with plastic will eliminate the crunch

[AeroGator]

Terribly sorry for the less than perfect experience; help will come soon - but in the meantime please do the first thing to be done, i.e. open a support ticket at the dealer's!
PM me with your order number, location (just city), and your ticket number. I will follow it up.

[fallout9]

Plastic would wear fast, so I don't recommend that. I would rather check if the cam is properly secured and if it moves smoothly along the guiding ball bearing, like explained here and here.

[Mora]

I had the same problem with T-Rudder MK. IV. The cam follower was not contacting the cam in perfect alignment and the cam coating was flaking. I sanded the cam surface with a very fine sand paper and applied an Ukrainian made engine/metal treatment called Xado. It's supposed to make a "triboceramc coating" on metal surfaces and indeed it did. The contact patch of the cam clearly has a coating of sort and when checking it with a multimeter it's only semi conductive unlike the rest of the cam. I had everything needed at home so I never bothered opening a ticket. Five years and maybe 5k hours later they are smooth as silk. I haven't given them Xado in years and only some Teflon spray every 6 months or so.