quieting the control panel's clicking (joystick and button related) please help

[hulkster]

okay, im going to build another cab and all that, and i had a thought.  the clicking of the super8 joysticks and pushbuttons from happcontrols wasnt bad, but i was wondering if it is possible to line the inside of the control panel with some noise reducing stuff just like in pc's.  anyone know what im talking about?  you use this foam looking stuff to line the inside of your pc to quiet it, so wouldnt this work with the clicking?

[The cranky hermit]

Personally, no arcade joystick or button would be complete without the clickety-clack. But if it drives you crazy, you should invest in some leaf-switch joysticks and buttons. They are silent to begin with.

[SirPoonga]

get leafswitch controls.

[hulkster]

are they more expensive?  are they as good as the super8's?

[SirPoonga]

They are harder to find.  The classics used leafswitches.

[hulkster]

alright, so im guessing since they are hard to find, you dont know where i can find some!  or do you?

[paigeoliver]

are they more expensive?  are they as good as the super8's?

Yes they are more expensive (new at least).

They are MUCH better than the supers. I have replaced supers with Wico leafs many, many times.

I would actually shy away from "new" Wico leaf joys, since there is apparently a repro out now that is not as good as the originals. Just stick to used ones. Used ones are very easy to find, they are on ebay all the time. You can often find a complete control panel with a pair of them along with some leaf buttons at a very cheap price.

Also, leaf buttons seem to still be in production, and are easy to find.

Leaf controls get a bad rap only because people hear rumors about having to adjust them. Yes, in 1982 when games got played 12 hours a day, yes you would have to adjust your leaf switches about once every 6 months to a year, and if an operator owned 200 games, that made it seem like he was doing it everyday.

In the reality world of home use you will likely adjust your leaf switches upon installing them (or bringing home a new leaf game, or pin, pins have TONS of leaf switches), and then never have to adjust them again. I have been collecting for almost 4 years now, and I have never had to adjust the same leaf switch twice.

[hulkster]

hmmm....well they are all the ball top design are they not?  id rather have the super 8 style joystick, so do they make them in this style?

[paigeoliver]

hmmm....well they are all the ball top design are they not?  id rather have the super 8 style joystick, so do they make them in this style?

No, they are only available in balltop design. I haven't really seen many leaf switch sticks with bat handles. Actually, change that sentence to "I have never seen a leaf switch stick with a bat handle).

Of course you could probably match up a bat handle top with a wico base if you had a good dremel tool and/or a lathe.

[hulkster]

okay, i didnt think they made them in bat type design.  so that leads me back to my old question.  can i use the foam on the inside of my cp to quiet the clicking?  i guess the obvious answer is "try it and see" but i was just wondering if anyone else has done this.

[Stingray]

Hulkster, there's a product available called Fatmat ( http://www.fatmat.com ) that's made for noise insulation in cars. I've never used this stuff on a control panel, but it works great for reducing noise when you stick it to your floor under the carpet. It's sticky on one side and you just press it on. I have no idea how small a quantity you can buy it in, you shouldn't need much. Worth a try I guess.

-S

[menace]

This may sound odd, but if you know anyone that works in a car factory they could get you the scraps for free--all the sound dampening is done through those mats which often come inside a sheet (like player 1 button graphics) when they have installed all the pieces the remainder goes in the trash--it would have more than enough material to quiet your clicking.

[Minwah]

How about the Perfect 360's?  I thought they are more or less the same stick as the Super, but with no microswitches so no noise

[Stingray]

Or possibly if you know someone who is now or has recently completed an auto restoration. I probably threw away enough fatmat to do a dozen control panels when I finished restoring my Mini.

-S

[RacerX]

okay, i didnt think they made them in bat type design.  so that leads me back to my old question.  can i use the foam on the inside of my cp to quiet the clicking?  i guess the obvious answer is "try it and see" but i was just wondering if anyone else has done this.

It seems to me that no matter how much insulation you put under the surface of the panel, you will still hear the clicking from the joysticks because the sound will travel out the hole the joystick pokes through.

With regards to buttons, it's probably the same situation because the only thing between your ears and the microswitch is the plastic of the button.

[menace]

You know i was just thinking that the noise is generated inside the microswitch as one metal leaf flips and contacts another--if it really bothered you, you could open them up, cover the contacts with conductive paste and then close them up.  This may dampen the noise somewhat (at least for a little while until the paste is all rubbed away).  The only trick would be to not put too much paste so the contacts remain connected after the leaf has flipped back.  I'm going to investigate this further I think...

[hulkster]

hmmm, thanks for all the input.  the clicking is not a huge deal, but i was just wondering if it was possible to quiet it. i know that in the arcades, theres no clicking, at least to my knowledge.  what sticks do they use?

[RacerX]

hmmm, thanks for all the input.  the clicking is not a huge deal, but i was just wondering if it was possible to quiet it. i know that in the arcades, theres no clicking, at least to my knowledge.  what sticks do they use?

On games that use microswitch joysticks (probably 99.9% of new games, if not 100%), there is clicking.  There's just so much other noise (music, talking, other games) that you just don't notice it as much.

Back in the golden age of arcades, most of them used leaf switches.

[grafixmonkey]

The opinions I've read of the P-360s have rated them much better for all kinds of games than the Supers, especially fighters.  They're a bit harder to wire, but for the amount of cash and effort you're looking to spend buying, finding and installing leaf switches, or trying to quiet the clicking on the Supers, you'd probably spend more on that than just getting some P-360s.  (unless you find a great lead on some leaf switches right away...  which could easily happen on this forum.)

As for the buttons, I like the clicking because it tells me exactly where in the process of pressing them the switch turns on.  You also hear the button plastic smacking the bottom of its throw at least as much as you hear the switch clicking.  I dunno, to me the button feels like it's not doing anything if it doesn't click.

[Tailgunner]

On the Fatmat idea, car stereo shops use this stuff all the time when doing installations. Roadkill and Dynamat are two other brands of the same type of product. Check your yellow pages, like the factories car stereo shops throw away scraps all the time that would work for a project like this.

I'd start by sticking squares of it directly to the exposed sides of the individual microswitches, that's as close to the source as you can get and it'd do the most good with the least amount of sound deadening material.