U360 question for users: did your U360 register weirdly when first set up?

[Gray_Area]

In particular, upon installation and with stock restrictors (if used) and maps:

- did wiggling the stick register?...did it get stuck wherever you 'left' the stick?

- were there directions, usually diagonals, not registering?


Do/did you have a sloped/angled control panel?

Made of wood or metal?

[AndyWarne]

In particular, upon installation and with stock restrictors (if used) and maps:

- did wiggling the stick register?...did it get stuck wherever you 'left' the stick?

- were there directions, usually diagonals, not registering?


Do/did you have a sloped/angled control panel?

Made of wood or metal?

I am not clear whether or not you are having problems with the U360 but if so, can you drop me an email and I will try to help.

Andy@ultimarc.com

[Nephasth]

In particular, upon installation and with stock restrictors (if used) and maps:

- did wiggling the stick register?

How much of a wiggle?

...did it get stuck wherever you 'left' the stick?

Nope.

- were there directions, usually diagonals, not registering?

Nope.

Do/did you have a sloped/angled control panel?

Very slightly.

Made of wood or metal?

Metal, and properly grounded.

I should add that I installed octagonal restrictors and the stiff springs before I ever plugged them into my computer...

[Gray_Area]

I am not clear whether or not you are having problems with the U360 but if so, can you drop me an email and I will try to help.

Andy@ultimarc.com

I'll wait till you open back up. It's not urgent. Also, I'm trying to gather some data to help explain my experience.


@Nephasth: restrictors aren't relevant. By 'wiggle', I mean a very little amount.

[Gray_Area]

bump

[VanillaGorilla]

I had similar issues too, and it seems to have resolved itself with the use of some synthetic lubricant. Exactly as you describe though, return to center went 98% on release, and then would 'hop' 2%, or I'd have to bump it to have it center accurately. I could watch it on the ultimarc calibration/configuration tool. I actually increased my dead zone to compensate for it until it stopped being such an issue. A lot of 'break in' helps too. Play some games!

[Gray_Area]

@Vanilla Gorilla: the behavior I experience is on all my sticks, old and new, restrictors (round, octagonal, square) or no, ball top and bat top. What I've gotten it down to is two sets of maps that will cover the areas of change - a sort of diagonal field that's affected. It's very consistent: if the current 4-way map works, so will the 8-way I made at that time; if that 4-way has a dead space, so does the 8-way; switch to the other set, and they both work, too. The only difference is that the map is for each stick is slightly different.

This has always been the case in my sloped, wooden panel. Stock settings never worked. But my candy - which has a thin metal, level panel - almost never has these problems, and works with the stock settings. The only thing I can guess is the angle on the sloped panel makes for some kind of graviational vector affecting the magnet. And maybe the mounting plate of the stick is flexing more against the wood, but not on the metal. ?

[Gray_Area]

New information!

I fired up my rig, and the 4-way map loaded with Mala was a little screwy. Looked in Ultramap, and sure enough....except it was 'down' that was off. My maps address a basically side-to-side deviation. So I rotated the stick shaft at least a quarter turn. Looked back at Ultramap - and now it's fine!

I'm pretty sure the magnet is flush up against the end of the shaft.

I experimented a bit, and found it is somewhat consistent. Here's a video showing the behavior. (By the way, I don't even say hell in this one.)

[AndyWarne]

New information!

I fired up my rig, and the 4-way map loaded with Mala was a little screwy. Looked in Ultramap, and sure enough....except it was 'down' that was off. My maps address a basically side-to-side deviation. So I rotated the stick shaft at least a quarter turn. Looked back at Ultramap - and now it's fine!

I'm pretty sure the magnet is flush up against the end of the shaft.

I experimented a bit, and found it is somewhat consistent. Here's a video showing the behavior. (By the way, I don't even say hell in this one.)

This indicates the magnet is irregularly magnetized. We have come across a couple like this before. If you drop me an email I'll send another one. andy@ultimarc.com

[Gray_Area]

This indicates the magnet is irregularly magnetized. We have come across a couple like this before. If you drop me an email I'll send another one. andy@ultimarc.com

Ohh. I kind of assumed that wouldn't happen. Would be really cool if that were all it is. Lemme double check with my spare stick's magnet.

[VanillaGorilla]

Ohh. I kind of assumed that wouldn't happen. Would be really cool if that were all it is. Lemme double check with my spare stick's magnet.

So did swapping the magnet from your spare work? I bet this was the same issue I'm having... I'll have to re-install my U-360 and see if its the case...

[Gray_Area]

Ohh. I kind of assumed that wouldn't happen. Would be really cool if that were all it is. Lemme double check with my spare stick's magnet.

So did swapping the magnet from your spare work? I bet this was the same issue I'm having... I'll have to re-install my U-360 and see if its the case...

I haven't gotten off ---my bottom--- to flip my CP over and open it up. I love my candy's flip-top CP. If I get/make another wood CP, that will be a definitive feature.

[Gray_Area]

Okay, I finally got round to this. There's a vid for the overly curious. I used default settings and maps, and set for 4/8-way restrictor, for the testing. Essentially, two magents (the original for this stick, which is an older stick shaft model; and the other was from a newer stick shaft model) have a whole quarter turn of funky space that shows up in each direction you turn it to. My other two magents (one old model, one new model) have slight funky spaces that are very weird, but fixable via map configuration. This latter seems to me to suggest weirdness with the older model mechanical function, and that fits, in that there is greater wobble travel in that design.

Of course, if there was no shaft wobble, there would be no problems of this sort.

I played some DK and MsPac with the right candy magnet and the slightly altered map (the left column in the right box was set to center, otherwise it was the stock 4-way map), and especially MsPac was awesome. I was playing with my left hand even, and it rocked.

So I guess I needs ta ask Andy for two magnets.

[Nephasth]

I thought about your problem the other day, and did a little obersvation on my sticks. I have 2 U360s and 2 JLWs. All have the same octagonal restrictors and stiff springs from Ultimarc. My U360s do NOT wiggle like yours. My P1 U360 has maybe .25mm of movement at most (it gets the most use), my P2 U360 has NO center freeplay. However, the JLWs do have about half as much movement as yours, but that isn't relevant. None of the sticks can get stuck slightly offcenter like yours, they all return dead center. I would recommend you get stiff springs for your U360s (you haven't mentioned you have some installed, so I'm assuming you don't). Doesn't necessarily fix the magnet problem, but keeping the stick centered might keep that problem from showing itself.

[Gray_Area]

I thought about your problem the other day, and did a little obersvation on my sticks. I have 2 U360s and 2 JLWs. All have the same octagonal restrictors and stiff springs from Ultimarc. My U360s do NOT wiggle like yours. My P1 U360 has maybe .25mm of movement at most (it gets the most use), my P2 U360 has NO center freeplay. However, the JLWs do have about half as much movement as yours, but that isn't relevant. None of the sticks can get stuck slightly offcenter like yours, they all return dead center. I would recommend you get stiff springs for your U360s (you haven't mentioned you have some installed, so I'm assuming you don't). Doesn't necessarily fix the magnet problem, but keeping the stick centered might keep that problem from showing itself.

Yeah, the sticks in my candy have perhaps half the wiggle this one does - one is a newer model shaft with stiffer spring, the other an older with stock spring - but I recall that, very oddly, the newer model suddenly had more wiggle after being installed in the wood cp. I can't fathom what would invoke such a difference....

[Nephasth]

Have you lubed them with silicone grease?

[Gray_Area]

Have you lubed them with silicone grease?

No.

[Nephasth]

My P1 stick got sticky after about a month of use. Took it and the rest of my sticks apart, cleaned the sockets and lubed them with plumber's silicone grease. Been over a year with no problems. Might help yours return to center easier.

[Gray_Area]

I lubed it up. It's a little smoother, but the wiggle's the same. Also noted it has the stiffer spring. The new shaft design makes for less wiggle, but as you can see in the comparison video, my main rig's U360 just has lots of wiggle.