Questions about original Donkey Kong joystick

[LeedsFan]

I just received my reproduction joystick from Mike's Arcade for my DK bartop. I've been searching around the net for an answer to this but cannot find it anywhere, and Mike's Arcade website seems to be a little contradictory. My question is regarding the "bush" that sits on the stick handle just below the ball top. Is there one on the original DK arcade sticks?

At the beginning of the "King of Kong" film there is a close up profile shot of a DK panel and you can clearly see there is no bush on that stick. Mikes Arcade has a page to compare all the different Nintendo joystick handles:
http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/njoysticks.html

On there the DK upright sticks are on the far left. #1 is original and #2 is his repro. As you can see there is no bush on either of these. But in his exploded diagrams lower down the page it clearly shows a bush for that particular handle.

For what it's worth the stick I received does have a bush on it... albeit just a piece of clear plastic tubing that's been sleeved over the handle afterwards. I bought this stick to be as original as possible so I dunno whether this bush should be there or not.

Also what microswitches were on the originals? This could be trickier to answer because chances are switches got swapped in and out on thousands of machines. The ones on my repro are Omron, but unfortunately one of the switches has been damaged in transit. The plastic housing is cracked along the full body of the switch and one of the terminals (NC) has fallen out altogether. The switch now sounds totally different to the other three so I want to swap them all out if possible.

EDIT:  Also how far up does the joystick protrude on an original panel? If someone could measure the distance from panel top to the base of the ball top that would be great.  

I managed to fix the microswitch that was damaged. I needed to glue in place the NC terminal that had fallen out. With it missing the actuator inside was travelling further, causing the difference in sound and feel. At least that terminal isn't one that I need to put a wire on.

[sk8ersublime]

I'm pretty sure the original joystick from DK upright was a leaf joystick not microswitches.

I bought the DK panel from mikes arcade, but I didn't splurge for the original or replica nintendo joystick, I just got the standard one installed, it actually works really well, has short throw too.

[CrazyKongFan]

I'm pretty sure the original joystick from DK upright was a leaf joystick not microswitches.

Nope...They used microswitches. I have a DK cocktail with original manual, and in the exploded parts diagram, all the switches are clearly micro's. And yes, I realize you said upright, but the parts are the same on the upright. I think the shaft might be a little longer and the ball a little bigger on an upright, but the actual mechanism under the CP used the same parts.

[sk8ersublime]

Oh, I thought I saw under the joystick on a bunch of pics and threads and they were leaf... Oh well. Don't listen to me lol sorry

[CrazyKongFan]

For reference, here's a couple links to some DK manuals:
early TKG-2 upright (most likely red Radarscope cabs converted to DK):
http://www.classicgaming.cc/classics/donkeykong/tech/dk_tkg2up.pdf
common TKG-4 upright:
http://www.classicgaming.cc/classics/donkeykong/tech/dk_tkg4up.pdf

[goldenageofarcade]

Wow...  That's a bit of a revelation.  I would have never believed any old game used switches, much less one of the all-time-icons like DK.  But sure enough, there's no mistaking the exploded view in that pdf...  I'm stunned.

Does anyone know if this was the case for all Nintendo titles of that era?

I wonder then how good the repro sticks are, since there's no inherant degradation due to having micro's instead of leafs like in other repros (like the Ms Pac). 

Has anyone used one a repro in a real DK that can give an opinion?

[Bender]

I'm pretty sure al of nintendo's cabs were micro switches most of the earlier ones were based around the same joystick with some slight variations

Mike's Arcade repros are spot on, you'd never be able to tell the difference, I have an original DK and one of mike's repros and I can't

[LeedsFan]

Well I received my DK repro from Mike's Arcade and it's in my bartop right now. I even went to the trouble of adding in the dustwasher below the panel and the clear dust washer up top. I think it may take me a little while to get used to this joystick. There's nothing wrong with it at all... it just has a slightly larger throw than I would like. I'm so used to playing with my Seimitsu LS-32. But I wanted this repro stick to make my bartop as authentic as possible in play and feel. And that is what I have now. So I better get playing more DK.....   

[jcroach]

I've got some Nintendo Donkey Kong joystick questions.  Thought this would be the best place to post them.

I have an original Donkey Kong upright. Bought it this weekend and I'm starting to assesses it and repair it.  I took the original joystick apart last night. It's very loose and unresponsive, in my opinion, but it's been years since I've play an original machine.

I'm going to replace my spring and i need a dust washing for the top of the control panel.

Question 1: What do you all use to grease the bearing? Most of what I've read suggested white lithium grease. Is this the best?

Question 2: Does this 4-way re stricter plate look worn to you?  This is the one listed on Mike's Arcade and the attached photo is of mine.



Thanks everyone!

[Thenasty]

Here is clip from Mr.Rogers showing whats under the CP

Donkey Kong on Mr. Rogers

[LeedsFan]

Funny you bumped this thread when you did because just today I made a small modification to my DK repro stick. I just did not like the long throw of the stick. I quite like the stick to be slack or loose but the throw just was too far.

I had some aluminium tube I had from B&Q which just happened by coincidence to fit perfectly over the actuator at the bottom of the shaft. (This may not be the best material but for now it works as a good test). This extra 1.0-1.5mm thickness around the actuator makes the stick feel so much better. It's just as loose but now the throw is noticeably less. Feels much snappier to play now. I just had to find a washer that fit over the end of the actuator and bit of tube to stop it from falling off when playing as the e-clip wasn't large enough to cover both. The tube was a nice fit which did hold on it's own but over time it would wind itself off the original actuator, so I had to use a washer with the e-clip.

That 4-way gate you pictured does look a little worn. However you can buy the parts separately from Mikes Arcade including the top dust washer that fits over the panel.

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=DKJOYGUARD

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-51

[CrazyKongFan]

I used lithium grease on mine and it worked great. It was sticking when I first got it and a little grease made a huge difference.

[Bender]

Funny you bumped this thread when you did because just today I made a small modification to my DK repro stick. I just did not like the long throw of the stick. I quite like the stick to be slack or loose but the throw just was too far.

I had some aluminium tube I had from B&Q which just happened by coincidence to fit perfectly over the actuator at the bottom of the shaft. (This may not be the best material but for now it works as a good test). This extra 1.0-1.5mm thickness around the actuator makes the stick feel so much better. It's just as loose but now the throw is noticeably less. Feels much snappier to play now. I just had to find a washer that fit over the end of the actuator and bit of tube to stop it from falling off when playing as the e-clip wasn't large enough to cover both. The tube was a nice fit which did hold on it's own but over time it would wind itself off the original actuator, so I had to use a washer with the e-clip.

That 4-way gate you pictured does look a little worn. However you can buy the parts separately from Mikes Arcade including the top dust washer that fits over the panel.

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=DKJOYGUARD

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-51

Funny, I just bent the levers on the micro switches in a little, same result though
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=76763.msg799790#msg799790

I used lithium grease on mine and it worked great. It was sticking when I first got it and a little grease made a huge difference.

same here!...  well different grease, but you get the picture

[LeedsFan]

Funny you bumped this thread when you did because just today I made a small modification to my DK repro stick. I just did not like the long throw of the stick. I quite like the stick to be slack or loose but the throw just was too far.

I had some aluminium tube I had from B&Q which just happened by coincidence to fit perfectly over the actuator at the bottom of the shaft. (This may not be the best material but for now it works as a good test). This extra 1.0-1.5mm thickness around the actuator makes the stick feel so much better. It's just as loose but now the throw is noticeably less. Feels much snappier to play now. I just had to find a washer that fit over the end of the actuator and bit of tube to stop it from falling off when playing as the e-clip wasn't large enough to cover both. The tube was a nice fit which did hold on it's own but over time it would wind itself off the original actuator, so I had to use a washer with the e-clip.

That 4-way gate you pictured does look a little worn. However you can buy the parts separately from Mikes Arcade including the top dust washer that fits over the panel.

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=DKJOYGUARD

http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-51

Funny, I just bent the levers on the micro switches in a little, same result though
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=76763.msg799790#msg799790

But that only lowers the engage distance... not the throw. 

[Bender]

ahh, yes good point,  err, dah, it seems I didn't think that one all the way through

I guess the throw doesn't bother me, though, glad you got it to your liking

[Gray_Area]

Here is clip from Mr.Rogers showing whats under the CP

Donkey Kong on Mr. Rogers

Switches all right. Hey, that's Keith David. And that kid was real smart: "Down's not really used on this game."