Happ Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga reunion joysticks are SO stiff…

[LightningBolt]

I’ve only purchased these by themselves and never experienced them new in an arcade machine direct from the factory. Are they exactly the same (when purchased from Happ vs a new Namco Pixel Bash machine for example)? I do know that the Pixel Bash machines use a Super Joystick 8-way restrictor plate but other than that.

Anyway they are so stiff they’re very hard to use. And if you pull the ball top/shaft back and let go there is ZERO bounce. Like it IMMEDIATELY goes back to center and stays there. But the machines I’ve encountered with the same joystick seem looser. And they actually bounce when I let go of the shaft. Do you think the spring really just wears in and gets soft, or do arcade operators alter the spring?

I’ve cut off 2.5 whole rings from the spring and it’s made it a lot softer/loose.

[RandyT]

They are stiff when new.  I played a brand new machine, fresh on the floor when it was first released and walked away wondering why the stick they used was so bad.  I later came to understand that compression springs experience dynamic wear, meaning that the more they are compressed and decompressed, the less "springy" they become. The other side is that in their static compressed state, they experience little if any loss of that property over a huge amount of time.

The sticks were expected to loosen up over the course of the rigorous use profile of life in a commercial arcade.  Had they used a spring which felt good when new, it quickly would have felt sloppy or soft.

In a home machine which isn't played a lot, either one will want to try to beat on the motion a bit any chance they get, even when not playing, or modify the unit a bit.  To accelerate this, some will place the spring SECURELY in a vise, compress it SLIGHTLY and heat it with a propane torch.  When it cools, it retains the size.  It could take a couple of tests to get it the way you like.  If anyone tries this, just remember that springs fly if unexpectedly released and you don't want a glowing piece of metal flying off into flammable material!

[MartyKong]

I bought a Pac Reunion stick and it was way too stiff. I wish you hadn't cut the spring down because I have no idea how that will effect it long term. What I did was remove the spring get a bolt long enough to go through the spring with large washers on each end. I then screwed a nut on a little at a time compressing the spring and then took measurements to see what each did. I found compressing the spring between a 1/4" to 1/2" would lightly shorten the spring. It's been playing great for seven years now so that's the way I would do it.    Marty

[RandyT]

I bought a Pac Reunion stick and it was way too stiff. I wish you hadn't cut the spring down because I have no idea how that will effect it long term. What I did was remove the spring get a bolt long enough to go through the spring with large washers on each end. I then screwed a nut on a little at a time compressing the spring and then took measurements to see what each did. I found compressing the spring between a 1/4" to 1/2" would lightly shorten the spring. It's been playing great for seven years now so that's the way I would do it.    Marty

This theoretically shouldn't work, unless you meant to to say that you compressed the spring so that the final dimension when compressed was 1/4 to 1/2".  Springs can only be modified if they are hyper-extended or hyper-compressed, depending on the spring in question.  If a compression spring of that size couldn't handle 1/4 to a 1/2" compression without deforming, it wouldn't be much of a spring.

But on the off chance that the springs in these are poorly heat-treated and just compressing them achieves the desired outcome, a vice (if available) would do the same thing.  But I have my doubts, as numerous folks who have contacted me about this (who also tried just compressing them in a vice) noted that heat was necessary for them to achieve the feel they desired.  That last part is subjective, so different expected outcomes will require different methodologies.

[MartyKong]

No, The reason I started with the smaller number of 1/4" to 1/2" and then rechecking the spring size to see the effect was to avoid someone starting out by over compressing the spring only to find out now it was too short. The key to this is going incrementally then measuring to see if this adjust the spring tension to where you want it. Mine started out as the OP said way too stiff and now it plays very easy. Yes, I did overcompress the spring to achieve this result and fortunately I didn't need to heat or use a vice.