teenage mutant ninja turtles 4 player joysticks

[postmortem]

I just purchased a 4 player tmnt in amazing condition for its age. the only thing thats bad with it are the joysticks.. they barely work. I plugged in my unused x-arcade stick and it worked fine, however I dont want to use this for the game. The original sticks are the Wico ball sticks. Can anyone tell me if i can get the original sticks for this game? If not, what are the most popular replacment sticks? I would need each of them to be a different color. Red, Blue, Purple, and Yellow. Thanks

[knohbody]

I'd take em apart and give em a good cleaning and lubricate the stick before anything else.

For cleaning, you want to disassemble the stick as much as possible and get any old grease, soda, nastyness off the shaft. People have used electrical contact cleaner, carb cleaner, and brake fluid to clean with good results, though i would try some degreaser and water beforehand. Also, be careful if you use carb cleaner or brake fluid, as they're both pretty nasty, and brake fluid can dissolve plastic.
For lubrication, lizardlick.com sells joystick grease (molycoat), but others have noted that spray silicone works as well, and is much cheaper than the molycoat.
Provided no parts are broken or overly worn, you should be able to get a smooth feel relatively easy.

If the problem you're having is that certain directions aren't working when you press them, I'd look at your microswitches. Since you've hooked up your xarcade and it worked ok, I'm assuming the wiring is ok.
To check microswitches :

• Remove the wiring from the microswitch.
  
• Take a multimeter and set it on either ohms or diode checker (diode checker is easier since it usually beeps or lights up).
  
• Put one lead of the multimeter on NO (Normally open)
• Put the other lead of the multimeter on COM (common). At this point your reading should be 0 (or open leads). If you're using the diode checker function, it should not beep at all at this point. If you get a beep or a reading of more than zero, check to make sure you're on NO and COM. If you are, then your microswitch is bad. Replace it.
• Next, while still holding the multimeter leads to NO and COM, press the plunger (usually red) at the top of the microswitch, either by hand or with the joystick or button. When you depresse the plunger, your reading should go to .2 or .3 ohms (more than zero) or it should beep. A 0 (open leads) or beep and you've got a bad microswitch. Replace it.
• The above is for a normally open wired switch. Some games use a normally closed connection, in which case you should be using the NC lead on the button. Since it's normally closed, while you're not pressing the button, you should get a reading of .2 or .3 ohms, and when you are, you should get 0 (open leads).

If you need to order new joysticks, lizardlick carries wico sticks. These are 19.99 a piece. Not sure if they're the same model as whats in your game though.
http://www.lizardlick.com/Wico_c_150.html
EDIT: got it backwards

[Nephasth]

On the NO terminal of the switch, you shouldn't have any continuity while the button is not pressed. The meter should read OL (open leads) or infinite, indicating no continuity (open circuit), 0 indicates no resistance (which means good continuity). You should only have continuity on a NO terminal while the button is pressed (the complete opposite goes for NC terminals, continuity while the button isn't pressed, and no continuity while it is pressed).

[knohbody]

You're right. I was looking at the wrong terminals on the buttons while checking my post    I've edited so people don't get confused.

[boardjunkie]

Turtles used leaf switch sticks, not micro switch.

Do dissassemble them and clean them up first. You can wash everything but the switches in the sink with some dish soap. When its time to reassemble, any kind of grease works fine. Its not essential, but it does make for a bit smoother feel and cuts down on wear.

There are several ways to clean the leaf switch contacts.....

Quick an' dirty: some card stock cut into strips, drag it thru the contacts while manually pushing them closed. Do this several times until the contacts no longer leave debris on the strip.

#2: Brasso metal polish and some q-tips. Saturate a q-tip in Brasso and scrub a bit on both contacts. Let it dry, then clean off the polish with a clean q-tip.

#3: Dremel and a brass (gold colored) wire wheel: This method works well and is pretty quick. Just spread the leaf sections apart and go over them with the wire wheel until shiny.

If you don't feel comfortable removing the wiring from the switches for complete dissassembly, then leave it alone. Just clean the switches with the ctrl panel opened up. All leaf switches will require cleaning every once in a while to keep them operating properly.

[SavannahLion]

no alcohol?

[boardjunkie]

No. Alcohol won't do much to clean the contact. Its oxidation we're worried about, and alcohol won't do a thing for that. DeOxit would be the best to use on a cardstock strip, but just the strip alone will work due to the slight abrasiveness of it. The Dremel and wire wheel trick is the best comprimise of speed and effectiveness. I would do this all the time back in my days as an arcade repair tech. I also used that trick to clean oxidised/tarnished chip pins.

Just another note: *DO NOT SAND/FILE* the contacts. Sanding/filing the contacts only applies to high current tungsten contacts used in high power (old style) pinball flipper and EPS switches. Sanding will wreck signal level contacts in a hurry....

[postmortem]

i think the joysticks are actually in perfect shape. the problem is the leaf switches. I cant seem to find any to purchase. Does anyone know a website that sells them?

[WhereEaglesDare]

Bob Roberts

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/

[postmortem]

hmm. its crossed off on the list of parts but i emailed him anyway askin if he had em. thanks for all the info!