Leaf Joystick Issues?

[codeena]

Hi all,

I bought a couple of new leaf based joysticks and have issues w/my Act Labs Powerramp joystick hack which works perfectly fine w/my Happ microswitch joystick. Sometimes I get beeps from my pc's speakers and sometimes the joy won't register movements or get stuck. Is there a difference between leaf connectors and microswitches that may be causing these problems? BTW (and slightly off the sub), the leaf joys had a diamond shaped opening but were supposed to be 4/8-way swapable. I had to round the diamond shape to make it easier to hit the diagonals.

Thanks in advance.

[Level42]

If your joysticks are those cheap Chinese Wico fakes, take a look at this thread:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=41573.0


then you'll know the only place for this rubbish is the bin.


Don't know what the Act Labs stuff is, but no there is no ELECTRICAL difference between microswitches and leafs. They either do or do not make contact. That's it. On the non-electrical part, leafs and microswitches are WORLDS apart. But that's a whole different story....

[Fozzy The Bear]

sometimes the joy won't register movements or get stuck.

Carefully check how you have the new leaf switches wired...... Make sure that your ground connections are all made to the ground terminals on the leaf switches, and that none of them are connected to the NO or NC contacts. Buzz through your wiring with a meter.

Also check that all of the leaves of the switches are properly adjusted and not making contact at the wrong times. It sounds like a stuck leaf or incorrect wiring to me.

Leaf switches are tempramental and DO need periodic adjustment and setting. This is why the arcade industry moved over to microswitches, because when one of those fails you just chuck it away and stick a new one in.

The most likely cause of this problem is a short or an incorrect connection somewhere. Electrically there is no difference between a leaf and a microswitch.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[shardian]

sometimes the joy won't register movements or get stuck.

Carefully check how you have the new leaf switches wired...... Make sure that your ground connections are all made to the ground terminals on the leaf switches, and that none of them are connected to the NO or NC contacts. Buzz through your wiring with a meter.

The original leaf switches I have don't have NO, NC, or ground connections. It's just two strips of metal that complete a circuit when they touch. Am I missing something, or does this have to do with some new hybrid leafswitch that goes on a micro joy? I've seen a replacement leaf switch mentioned on here before, but have never looked into it.

[Fozzy The Bear]

The original leaf switches I have don't have NO, NC, or ground connections. It's just two strips of metal that complete a circuit when they touch. Am I missing something

Joystick Leaf Switches come in lots of varieties..... Some have two leaves and some have three... So you can have NO and NC connections as well as the ground connection. 

Some leaf switches used in Bally Midway pinball machines had up to six leaves with various connection arrangements.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Level42]

Whoah, yeah..welll if you are the first person using the NC connection of a microswitch in an arcade game situation, congratulations !



Indeed, indeed.....a REGULAR leaf switch is a NO (Normaly Open) contact.

MOST microswitches have both a NO (Normaly Open) and a NC (Normaly Closed) contact (and a common of course...) the electicity can flow either from the common to the NC contact (when untouched) or from the common to the NO contact (when pushed down)....

You can safely forget about the NC connection on the microswitches, you'll never use it in an arcade game situation. (Apart from special home-brewn applications !) Even better: forget about microswitches at all, they suck anyway

So let me refrase:
There is no ELECTRICAL difference between the COMMON and NO contacts of a microswitch and that of a REGULAR leaf.

[codeena]

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, the joy I bought is the Chinese version and I'm not a fan of its performance/feel. I have an original Wico 8-way for my second joy and I will just look to find another one to replace the "leaf-style" one, which just doesn't feel right.

[steveh]

i was just on ebay and saw these.  figured it might spark some interest.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ATARI-GAUNTLET-CONTROL-PANEL-JOYSTICKS-BUTTONS-PLUS_W0QQitemZ250067525059QQihZ015QQcategoryZ13718QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Fozzy The Bear]

i was just on ebay and saw these.  figured it might spark some interest.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ATARI-GAUNTLET-CONTROL-PANEL-JOYSTICKS-BUTTONS-PLUS_W0QQitemZ250067525059QQihZ015QQcategoryZ13718QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hmmmmm... Wonder what happened to the rest of it.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[u_rebelscum]

....a REGULAR leaf switch is a NO (Normaly Open) contact.

Got me thinking:

Normal arcade leaf switches (from Bob Roberts)

some leaf switches with NO & NC (or 2-way depending on leaf bending)

Bazillion contact leaf switches

[tranq]

There's, I think, a new design reviewed at Retroblast:

http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/leaf-switch_bracket-04272006-01.html

[Level42]

....a REGULAR leaf switch is a NO (Normaly Open) contact.

Got me thinking:

Normal arcade leaf switches (from Bob Roberts)

some leaf switches with NO & NC (or 2-way depending on leaf bending)

Bazillion contact leaf switches

Sigh....... A NORMAL LEAF SWITCH AS USED IN THE MAJORITY OF VIDEO ARCADE GAME MACHINES

Satisfied ?

[Level42]

There's, I think, a new design reviewed at Retroblast:

http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/leaf-switch_bracket-04272006-01.html

That's leaf buttons, not leaf joysticks....

[tranq]

Hmmm, notice u_reb's is, also.   I incorrectly assumed they could be fitted for both applications.

[Level42]

Well, it could actualy, but in most joysticks it will be impossible to fit them in.