Question about joystick dust covers

[markronz]

So I have a question.   I will soon be making a new control panel, and I was tinkering with the idea of making some artwork to go around the joysticks.  You know, just the sort of artwork typically around joysticks, that have like 8 directional arrows.   It occurred to me today that if I put my dust covers for the joy sticks on top of the control panel, that it will cover up my artwork.  Or it would make me have to put the artwork out farther away from the joysticks than I'd like, and make it look awkward.    So I guess my question is what to do about this?   Can I put the dust covers UNDER the control panel?    I will have a 3/4" thick wood control panel.   I bought the joystick mounting kits from GG to mount the joysticks.  Will putting the dust covers between the joysticks and the wooden control panel interfer with the mounting process?   Are the dust rings still effective if they are mounted under the control panel like this?    Or do you think that I should just not use the dust covers at all?   I don't really understand the importance of the dust cover, so it's hard for me to figure out if they're worth worrying about this much...

[Ed_McCarron]

I think they're meant to go between the wood and the plastic on top; in a recess routed out.  My guess is originally they were to keep debris out more than dust.

[ragnar]

I think they're meant to go between the wood and the plastic on top; in a recess routed out.  My guess is originally they were to keep debris out more than dust.

That is my understanding.

However ... last night I did some testing with my u360s.  I am not using restrictor plates.  And if I go past a certain point, the dust covers can not lay flat anymore.  Which means that if I put the dust covers between the plexiglass and wood panel, that will limit the range of motion of the sticks and may even bind.  But if they are on top, they will come up once the stick is moved beyond a certain point because they can not lay flat anymore.  The only option I have is to make the hole bigger for the dust cover which is not my intent.  I can take a picture of it tongiht if you would like to better see what I am talking about.

The thing is, the way these sticks are made, I ahve a hard time believing that anything could really ruin them if dust/dirt got down int to the ball and socket style mechanism.  It make me really want an intermediate restrcitor plate to become available for the u360  Maybe I'll tinker with routing mine out since I am not using them anyways as I view them as overly restrictive.

[NOP]

on my cocktail machine, I have metal CPs (and u360s) and without the dust covers above the CP, I found that you could get nasty pinches on your hands in the heat of battle.  it is too bad, because the covers obscure a big part of the CP artwork.

[severdhed]

i thought i remembered a thread on here where someone had custom clear dustwashers so you could see right through them...don't remember who though

[severdhed]

do you have bat top or ball top u360s?

if you have ball tops, then these may work. 

http://www.arcadeshop.de/Sanwa-Joysticks-Washer-JLF-clear_1032.html?osCsid=31e8a4d8918369eff00321423e5f7e87

The u360's are (were) base off of the Sanwa JLW series joysticks. the bat top (JLW-UM) and ball top (JLW-TM)...the dustwashers above aree for the Sanwa JLF.  lizardlick sells JLW dust washers that are supposed to work with the JLF as well, so i am assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that the JLF and the JLW-TM have the same shaft diameter.

perhaps someone can confirm this.

[DCsegaDH]

Yes, I own both Sanwa JLW and JLF sticks and the shaft diameter is the same size, the JLF dustwasher fits on both sticks. I hope this helps.