Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

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fistagon
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Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

Postby fistagon » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:32

Hello,
Last night while the stick was under some heavy use I noticed my X axis wasn't responding correctly (constantly moving hard to the left). After recalibrating, then updating firmware and recalibrating without being able to solve the problem, I opened the stick up to make sure all the connections were solid and noticed the red wire connecting to the Y PCB from the X PCB had been severed at base of the connector.

1. gunfighter mkII rev B (arrived late Jan 2018)
2. MCG v1.92.1
3. 1 30lb spring on both cams
4. #10 cams
5. latest versions of vkb software
6. Not sure what you are looking for in the joytester screens. It shows a solid horizontal line for both X and Y atm.
7. Not sure again for vkbdevcfg screens. The X axis seems totally unresponsive to the right, and to the left it jumps from the middle to the end of the range immediately.

I've disconnected the wire from both PCBs and I've removed the pin from the connector, but trying to work on or recrimp this connector is like doing brain surgery on an ant. I've been unable to locate a connector like this locally. Not even sure what it is called. Any idea what I can do?

I've only opened the unit up once prior to replace the stock springs and I was pretty sure none of the cables were being pulled or impinged. All of the other cables on the connector (and the other connectors in the unit) show no signs of wear and appear secure.

Hopefully the attached screenshots are descriptive enough.
Attachments
1 - Copy.jpg
1 (1).jpg

YAGA
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Re: Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

Postby YAGA » Fri Apr 20, 2018 17:52

Mine did the same thing. As an aside, when I replaced the wiring all my axis and button glitches went away.

fistagon
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Re: Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

Postby fistagon » Sat Apr 21, 2018 2:21

Yaga, did VKB send you a replacement cable? I wouldn't bother waiting for VKB support if I could source the cable on the web or locally, but so far I've been totally shut down finding one. I think, maybe, I have a clue on the connector, but even so wiring it up is probably beyond me.

rtrski
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Re: Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

Postby rtrski » Sat Apr 21, 2018 16:20

Mine did something kind of like that once, where X-axis movement to the right seemed to get oddly intermittent or not make full range. I opened it all up and 'arranged' the wires into place a little bit, made sure connections were tight, and made sure to be careful when I put the whole thing back down on the baseplate to not move them, and it hasn't done it since. Commented about it on Reddit, here: https://redd.it/7yj0x3

But I think I might see what is going on now.

In your upper picture, just behind the broken wire is the wheely-thing at one end of one of the cams. I suspect with X-axis movement left and right while the Y axis is in a certain position, the whole wire loop might kind of slip 'behind' that wheely thing because it's also confined by the baseplate in actual use. Once it gets 'behind' the next time you move in the opposite direction, it's getting tugged on until in your case the wire under the most tension got fatigued and broke.

I don't know if a slightly longer harness here is the cure or would make the problem worse...maybe instead it should be shorter so it can never get behind (but obviously needs enough slack for all movement). Its hard to envision the whole movement with everything in place from one inverted photo. If I can find a spare piece of plexi to screw it all down to (replace the baseplate) I might see if I can video the stick movement from below....
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fistagon
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Re: Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

Postby fistagon » Sat Apr 21, 2018 18:04

I was thinking that could be the cause too. The 3 pin cable has shrink wrap around the wires just after the connector and I wonder if that might help as well.

fistagon
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Re: Wire for X-axis (?) disconnected from Connector in Gunfighter

Postby fistagon » Thu May 10, 2018 23:30

A replacement wire from VKB was received today (along with an additional replacement wire for each of the other wires) and that has fixed the problem. The shipment came from Hong Kong and took less than a week to arrive.

I'm still suspicious that the problem may reoccur, but with 1 extra set of wires I'll wait and see before attempting to secure or reinforce anything.


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