Author Topic: Logitech Extreme 3D Pro a good beginner's stick?  (Read 696 times)

Offline Krusty

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Logitech Extreme 3D Pro a good beginner's stick?
« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2006, 03:53:31 PM »
Halo, you might not want to do this and you might not believe this is possible, but....

I had a wingman like you do, that kept losing right rudder. In fact even recalibrating didn't help. It simply wouldn't move all the way over on the input. The stick would turn but only 1/3 the total input. Full left, almost no right. [EDIT: that is, the stick gave full motion but would not register full depression]

So I am about to say "screw it" but I decide to open the sucker up instead. My urge to vomit aside, looking at the crappy interior design showed me two things: The cheap-o plastic pot that works for the twisty action is about halfway up the handle on the stick. You can open this up without dismantling the base. Inside there, the pot has a peg sticking out one side (I *think* it points to the left). This is a free-turning pot, and the stick turns around it. The rudder is twisted by the pot's pin fitting into a notch inside one half of the handle. As you turn the handle around the pot, the notch pushes it back and forth. Not the best system. My pot wasn't even properly installed or aligned. I put it back and it worked.

The second thing it showed me was that the reason my trigger stopped working was because it came (from the factory) with the wire to the controller board pinched horribly by the twist-action pot. I think it got trapped between the halves of the handle somewhere, and almost pinched in half.

When I put it back together I made sure the wire wasn't pinched. This got my full rudder motion back and my trigger.

2 important things to note:

1) There is a VERY tricky spring to put back in juuuuuuust right if you want your twisty action to spring back to neutral. Make sure you get it on right. You'll be annoyed with getting it back in, but it's do-able

2) Giving you back your full rudder twist-motion does NOT negate the fact that sitting still without touching the stick at all it will spike full throttle, full rudder, in both directions, and moving any axis of the stick front/back or left/right will spike rudder and throttle up and down no matter what their settings are at -- the circuits controlling the signals are shyte!

You CAN fix the rudder input problem, but not the spiking problem.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2006, 03:56:25 PM by Krusty »

Offline Halo

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Logitech Extreme 3D Pro a good beginner's stick?
« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2006, 08:30:14 PM »
Thanks, Krusty, for that detailed reply and fix.  I thought a couple times about opening the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro and messing with it, but then ... I fiddled with it some more and it eventually shaped up.

I don't dispute the adverse comments about Logitech, and I don't play enough to give the Extreme 3D Pro anything like the workout it receives from people who use it a lot.

Nevertheless, in all fairness, I thought I should pipe up and give Logitech credit due for serving me well in light play over several years.  

I also have Logitech keyboards on both my computers and they have served flawlessly for many years.  I don't use many of the extra programming features, but the few I do work fine.  

Logitech's paramount appeal to me with both joysticks and keyboards is its excellent ergonomics which suit my preferences very well.
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