+Random Terrain Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Open it, poke it, explore it. The hardware is really quite durable. Take your time. If you are concerned, take notes and put that digital camera to use. Guy #1: ". . . put that digital camera to use." Guy #2: "How are taking nude photos of my girlfriend supposed to help?" Guy #1: "You can use a digital camera for more than the original reason you bought it." Guy #2: "Doh! There I go again with that rigid thinking!" Guy #1: "With those photos, I'm sure it's not just your thinking that's rigid." Guy #2: "Double doh!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Dielectric grease, helps ensure a positive contact action. Either the circuit is open or closed. In the case of these low voltage applications it prevents pitting in the pots and micro-arcing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esplonky Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 what did you use to paint the sticks with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Over the past 24 hours I've refurbished five pairs of paddles, and I have this guide to thank for it! Terrific stuff, and a big thank-you to SlowCoder for his efforts. It's an incredibly satisfying feeling to take paddles that are basically non-functional and make them into smooth, jitter-free controllers. The only spot that threw me for a loop was opening the potentiometer itself. Maybe other folks had better luck, but I found it pretty tough to get a grip on those four tines, and the description makes it sound like they're more delicate than I suspect they are. What did the trick for me was feeding a small piece of sticker backing -- or whatever you call the shiny, coated paper on which tape labels, etc. are issued -- underneath one of the tines, and then using a small screwdriver to pry them up. Once I had a feel for it I didn't need the paper anymore, and fortunately I was able to make sense of everything inside the pot without the "missing" picture. Also, it might be worth noting that you can test a paddle's fire button by pulling off the two wires that connect to it and shorting them together. That's probably obvious to electronics veterans, but it's maybe not obvious to newbies -- and being able to swap out a dead fire button without soldering helped me turn my last two pairs of "bad" paddles into a and a bad pair (my only unsalvageable pair!). BTW can the fire button switch be opened and fixed? Another thread mentioned squirting contact cleaner into it as a possible fix. Oh, and one more thing -- the joystick guide says that "if [the domes on the PCBs] have cracks or are caved in, they need to be replaced", or better yet the whole PCB should be replaced. Out of curiosity, what would be involved in fixing/replacing the domes? Does anyone do that, or does everyone just junk PCBs with bad domes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) For prying those tabs (and other pryable things) I generally use a jewlers scribe, this tool is cheap and pretty much unbreakable. Most things break before the tool does. And the rounded shaft leading to the point is a great smooth leverage surface too. yeh baby I'm scribe'n! Edited September 10, 2012 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Now the driving controllers. The driving controllers are basically the same assembly as the paddle controllers, except for the pot inside. Once you get inside, this is what you see: Related to the above, a question for SlowCoder, or whoever would like to answer it: I recently bought a couple of filthy driving controllers at a flea market. The outsides were horribly dirty and the screws were rusty, but the internals seem clean. When I fired them up, one worked fine, but the other's knob/plastic arm was very, very stiff and hard to turn, though it worked. I removed the knob, disassembled the controller, and by bending the tabs back as suggested here, I was able to remove the arm and its metal housing from the board with the pot on it (you can see the parts I mean in the picture above). But it didn't improve -- even when it's just the arm and its housing, it's very hard to turn. I tried putting a few drops of silicone lubricant on the top & bottom of the arm, but it didn't help. If anything, it made it worse: now instead of turning stiffly but steadily, now it turns in discrete steps (click-click-click), like something that's badly stuck. Any suggestions? What's causing it to be so horribly stiff? Can this part be disassembled, and can the plastic shaft be removed from the metal housing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hizzy Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Thank you for this! If I can ask, what color/plaint do you use for painting the orange on a bezel? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Thank you for this! If I can ask, what color/plaint do you use for painting the orange on a bezel? Thanks! I use these paint markers from Tree House Studio. They sell these at Hobby Lobby. The yellow is good for the Heavy Sixer and this orange one pictured for the Light Sixer and 4 switch woodies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bretthorror Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) I just got a 7800 (well, coming in the mail), does anyone have any cleaning tips? Like maybe not taking it apart, but just in general? I'm not the biggest stickler for an immaculate console, but the picture of where mine is coming from makes me wanna clean it up before I start using it. Could I get away with windex wipes around the black parts? Goo-Gone suffice for the stuff on the silver? Will Goo-Gone mess with the colors on the rainbow? I just would rather clean it before I handled it much. Seller's pic isn't too enticing, but it was a good deal. Edited December 8, 2015 by bretthorror Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Simply start with a cloth and some dish soap + water mix in a spray bottle. Q-Tips and toothpicks for the cracks and crevices. If you think there's organics and fecal matter or snots involved then disassembly and hot water washing is in order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bretthorror Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Haha, I don't think anyone shit in it, I just feel weird when people don't take pics of their items in the cleanest possible places so I really wanted to clean it and not fry it. Having never held or seen a 7800 in person before, I dunno how susceptible they'd be to water. I know I'd wipe an NES with water and soap like it wasn't nothing. Not ridiculously of course, but you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 This video is a great tutorial in how to clean up your 7800 and in case you do want to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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