Bending Leaf-Switches

[Mr Kray]

Hey everyone,

  I decided to go for Wico leaf-switch joysticks for my cab as microswitches annoy me and leaf switches feel smoother, but the diagonals don't work very well and up+right doesn't work at all.
  I tried to bend the two plates of the leaf switch closer together but the metal is too flexible it just goes back to it's original shape! I tried bending it further so it would spring back closer but there's only so far you can bend it before you start pushing the other plate, bending it the wrong way.
  Is there a technique to doing this? I'm beginning to regret getting leaf-switch joysticks over microswitch.  

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks all.

Mr Kray

[creatine28]

I actually wedged a small piece of card board (or paper might work) between the metal switch and the little plastic flap and it seem make the joystick respond better.  It takes a little tweaking, but it does work well.  I wish I could put a picture,  oh maybe this will work?
You can kinda see the plastic area I'm talking about in this picture.
http://www.centsibleamusements.com/product.asp?3=393

Hope this helps?

[spidermonkey]

I'm assuming your wico joysticks are used since they are no longer made. You probably need new leaf switches. Leaf switches loose their resiliance over time and they just won't spring back anymore causing poor contact. They are dirt cheap. Give Bob Roberts a jingle.

[Mr Kray]

Thanks for the advice Creatine28, I'll give the cardboard a go.  

Spidermonkey, I expected the Wico's to be second hand too because you can't even get them from Wico, but when I ordered mine from Video Connection I asked if they were used and they seemed surprised at the question saying "Of course not!", apparently Video Connection are still selling new Wico's, I got four and they certainly don't look used!  

Mr Kray

[Thenasty]

maybe you have the actuator erverse. Some Leaf Style Joystick you can flip the actuator ot have it 4 or 8 way.

[Larry Smith]

I had the same problem with my new wicos. I carefully bent the outer leaf a tiny bit at a time with needle nose pliers near the base until they worked perfectly. I don't regret my purchase at all; they feel like much nicer than my happ ultimates.

[Howard_Casto]

I had the same problem with my new wicos. I carefully bent the outer leaf a tiny bit at a time with needle nose pliers near the base until they worked perfectly. I don't regret my purchase at all; they feel like much nicer than my happ ultimates.

There used to be a specialized tool you could buy to do this back in the day.  Guess what it was?  A fancy pair of needle nosed pliers.    Just bend em, as long as you don't do it too often it won't hurt the switches at all, plus it's much nicer than having a big piece of cardboard wedged in there.  

[Frostillicus]

I ordered 2 of the blue-top wico leaf sticks from video connection a long time ago and that was my problem.  After taking one apart I found you can flip the internal rubber grommet over (one side is labeled '8' and one is labeld '4') and remove the washer and it really improves the feel and hitting of the diagonals.  

They've been sitting on my shelf for a while but I was thinking of getting larger actuators so it's even easier to hit the diagonals.  Maybe home depot nylon spacer or something.  

let us know how it works out - I'm curious how it performs in a real CP.