Happs Optical Rotary Joysticks

[Dan K]

I've had a pair of these things for about a year now, and for the most part I love them... I've got 1 problem with them though:

Whenever I'm playing a game, say for example super mario bros, if I stop and turn right and fire, then turn left and fire without moving, sometimes the joystick will bounce back to the right unintentionally, causing me to fire right instead of firing left, baddie eats me from left and I die... This can become very annoying that in certain situations it will happen 2 or 3 times in a row... I can only think that it may be due to the extra weight that the optical encoder wheel and PCB /bracket assembly brings to the joystick handle, and that maybe it's still operating with the spring from the non-rotary version of that joystick... i.e. it needs a stiffer spring, or some sort of shock absorber to prevent bounceback... Now maybe happ has fixed this in later models?

Does anyone have this problem with me? Or does anyone have any advice to try and fix it? The only thing I can think of right now is to get a stiffer spring, but I really have no Idea where from, or what spring... It could get expensive to trial and error order a bunch of them before I get a fix...

Dan K

[cdbrown]

I have 2 new ones and have this problem but it is getting better.  I have bent the actuators of the microswitch slightly so they aren't as sensitive as they once were.  Previously I'd let go of the joystick and the character would go the other way and keep going.  All the actuators are only just slightly touching, I will probably bend them a little more to keep them clear of the joystick by a mm or 2.  But yes if you have the joystick in one direction and don't actually return it to centre with your hand (ie let go of it) it will bounce back past the middle and slightly activate the other switch.  A few people have put stiffer springs in their supers and what not which may help reduce any "over throw" the stick has.

Have a careful look at how close each of the actuators are to the joystick.