DIY arcade stick troubleshooting

ktownhero · Post by **ktownhero** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:04 am

I built an arcade stick out of Happ Parts about 7 years ago for DC. It collected dust for a number of years, and I just busted it back out a few weeks ago.

It still works perfectly, with the exception of "down" on the joystick. It is a Happ Ultimate, I have tried swapping out the cherry switches, but still nothing.

Here's the weird thing, it works if you pull the joystick down just far enough to hear the switch click, and you can hold it there and it will work fine. But, if you pull the stick farther than that, it stops working. Does anybody have any idea at all why that would happen? It makes no logical sense to me, since the switch is depressed during the whole down-stroke.

It's driving me nuts, I obviously can't play any games like this. Any ideas?

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:09 am

Since you determined that the microswitch isn't at fault, inspect the actuator and see if there are any dings or dents in that. Perhaps while it was in storage it took a hard hit and caused the actuator to deform. I have one from a Comp that was dinged and now has trouble performing smooth sweeping motions due to catching a dent. More than likely it's catching the dent and causing the nipple on the microswitch to depress at an angle.

ktownhero · Post by **ktownhero** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:33 am

That's exactly the problem, thank you. I had no idea that such a slight trauma to the actuator could cause such a problem.

I've been thinking about getting a japanese-style joystick to replace that one anyway. I see you are into Ultramarc, do you have experience with their J-stick?

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:01 am

The J-Stick is simply a renamed JLW. It all depends on how you feel about sticks that use actuating levers. I'm not too fond of them on any stick where the actuator hits the lever at any point other than the nipple, i.e. on a Happ Super. Some people love them, though...