wacky wico 4 way

[KonkeyKong]

for some  reason I can't get the search to bring up anything dealing with 4 way, so I'm gonna go ahead and ask... I bought a NOS Wico 4-way a while back, but I can still hit diagonals with it.  Here's what I know:

1. It's authentic, says Wico Corporation right on it.
2. Has a diamond shaped hole in the top plate as opposed to a round hole.
3. Has an actuator different from all my Wico 8 way sticks, straight cylinder, no "step" in it.

any advice as to how to eliminate the diagonal action?

[torez]

That "diamond shape" hole has 4 edges or 8?

While the joystick is out, hit the diagonal and see if it activates any switches.  It should activate two of them for diagonal.

[RayB]

Photos

[KonkeyKong]

not great pictures, but...
the actuator on the right is from the 4 way

[rescue161]

The diamond shaped hole is there so that two switches will never contact at the same time.  That's the whole idea behind a 4-way stick.  The "straight" actuator will not physically let you contact two switches at the same time.

Hopefully this helps.

[KonkeyKong]

but it does allow me to hit two switches at once, triggering diagonal movements. how do I fix this?

[rescue161]

OH, then I have no idea without seeing it actually move.

Sorry, I missunderstood.

[leapinlew]

That looks different than my Wico 4ways. Mine doesn't have those white plastic pieces, and your contacts look closer together than mine. How sensitive is the joystick? How far do you have to push a direction before it engages?

It looks to me that the contacts need to be separated a little bit. I'll take a look at mine and let you know, but thats what it looks like to me.

[torez]

It looks to me that the contacts need to be separated a little bit. I'll take a look at mine and let you know, but thats what it looks like to me.

Yes, they are really close.  Make sure none of them are touching (closing the circuit) while joystick is in rest position.

[Kremmit]

The white pieces on the switches are supposed to be there.  The diamond shaped hole is correct, as is the smaller actuator.  You're in good shape, all you need to do is adjust your leafswitches. 

Very gently, with your fingers or a set of needlenose pliers, bend the outter leaves away from the hole.  Bend them gently, a little bit at a time.  They should all end up the same distance from the hole, just far enough that you can't quite close two switches at once.  (You can adjust them further if you want your stick to be a little less sensitive, but start there.) 

[NoOne=NBA=]

The white plastic pieces are stock on Wicos.
They keep the shaft from wearing on the leafs, and vice-versa.

To get them adjusted properly for 4-way operation, you need to separate them until they switch perfectly from one switch to the next in the middle of travel.
I generally leave the inside leafs barely off the actuator, and lightly tweak the outside leafs to get them where I want them.
A bent-nosed set of needle nose pliers works great for this.

Ideally, you would get the stick so that one contact breaks at exactly the same time that the next closes.
In reality a little bit of a dead zone is good.
You aren't going to spend much time in the diagonal zone anyway.
You just want to prevent the stick from engaging both switches in that area.

p.s. -- Again Kremmit and I are typing over each other.

[KonkeyKong]

sweet...thanks guys!  It's funny how you get focused on certain aspects when the solution is right there screaming at 'cha the whole time.  There was only a hair gap in my leafs, I opened them up and now...no diagonals,  wooo-hooo!

[XtraSmiley]

OH MY GOD, I've been dealing with this idiot for weeks trying to get a NOS 4 way and he just didn't want to believe they exist.  Also, NO one seemed to believe me when I said it is not JUST the 4 way hole cut that is different, the actual actuator is smaller as well.

Long story short, I still need a NOS Wico 4 way as I am still looking for one.  Where did you get yours?  Any more for sale?


EDIT:  Thanks a ton man!

[KonkeyKong]

I wish I could remember where I got mine, it was a guy on e-bay, great guy, who had a few of 'em for sale, but they were going fast, and this was over a year ago, so in other words I'm not a lot of help

[RayB]

They cost too much on Ebay.
I got one from a fair soul on this board. Just watch the BST forum as they occasionally pop up.