Indy 500 controllers - repairable?

[almightytodd]

I opened one of mine up today, and saw that there is a rectangular plastic device underneath the control wheel with the electrical leads connected to it. It appears to be glued together. Is the entire unit available as a part? Can it be taken apart and repaired?

 

Thanks,

[supercat]

I opened one of mine up today, and saw that there is a rectangular plastic device underneath the control wheel with the electrical leads connected to it. It appears to be glued together. Is the entire unit available as a part? Can it be taken apart and repaired?

 

Many forms of rotary encoders are available, some of which would--if suitably mounted--work better than Atari's (which was designed to be inexpensive). Thus, if you wanted to make your own rotary controller, it could be done fairly easily. On the other hand, I'm unaware of any encoders that would mount nicely within the Driving Controller. There may be some, but I'm unaware of them.

[Prodos8]

When all else fails, spray the mechanism down liberally with WD-40 and twist it back and forth several dozen times. This will usually revive the paddles as well as the driving controller. If not, then its time to find a replacement controller.

[shadow460]

Here's the post I wrote up with repair instructions.

 

Post

[Atariman]

I was under the impression that the driving controller was optical (rather than being some sort of potentiometer like in the paddle controllers) - if this is the case, WD-40 isn't going to do a whole lot for it...

 

EDIT: though after reading Shadow's post, (sorry - I think it got posted while I was posting) I can see how giving it a good cleaning would help.

Edited April 15, 2007 by atariman

[Prodos8]

They're definitely not a pot, but they certainly are mechanical like shadow said. Its a pair of wipers that spin around a circular array of contacts. If they get dirty then won't register right, so cleaning them with alcohol or wd-40 (imo) will revive them.

[+Cobra Kai]

Driving paddles take extra care to clean and get back into working order, but with a little patience they are fixable much like standard paddles. I've personally fixed a few sets of Drivers.

 

The white box inside is able to open up, you just have to take note of where to replace the connector leads when you reassemble the unit.

 

In my experience it's unwise to ever spray WD-40 or another silicone based spray inside any of Atari's paddle devices. You may get a temporary fix this way, but the lube inside will eventually gum up the unit. The best way to really fix paddles/drivers is to completely disassemble them, clean the rust and other carbon deposits off them, and put them back together without lubricant.

Edited April 15, 2007 by Gunstarhero

[shadow460]

It's actually a physical encoder that simulates pressing nothing, then left, right, and left+right on a typical joystick. One could actually spin the cars with a set of paddle controllers by pushing the fire buttons in the correct sequence on the paddles, since those also simulate left and right joystick movements.

Internally, the DC is, in fact, very similar to the paddle. The only real difference is that it has discrete contacts instead of a potentiometer.

 

To answer the original question quickly, yes, you can open the plastic encoders for a cleaning.

[A.J. Franzman]

WD-40 or another silicone based spray

I don't think WD-40 is silicone-based. I've read that it's kerosene-based. WD-40 was originally designed to protect metal parts from rusting, not as a lubricant or cleaner (the "WD" stands for "Water Displacer").

[Prodos8]

WD-40 is mostly mineral spirit (solvent) and mineral oil (libricant) and the rest is propellants like liquid propane to get it out of the can. No silicone to my knowledge.

 

Still, better to put a heavier oil (or grease) for long term luberication in any event.

[+Cobra Kai]

Doesn't really matter. WD-40 is not designed as a long term lubricant, nor should it be considered as any kind of cleaner. Without proper cleaning and care, Atari Paddles will gum up with this stuff and make them worse in the long run. If someone insists on putting lubricant in the paddles (mind you this is not necessary after cleaning them properly) then I would recommend white lithium grease.

[shadow460]

I never lubricated mine, although lithium grease is recommended around the plastic shaft ONLY.

 

The wipers must be completely CLEAN to work properly. This includes being clean of any oil or chemicals. WD-40 won't be a permanent fix. Period. Greasing the wipers/contacts will also cause problems.

 

Maybe paddles are easy to disassemble time and time again, but Driving Controllers are not. Even though it's similar to a paddle, there's a bit more stuff in there--more wires to get crossed, more little tabs to break, etc.

 

Assembling your controller completely clean and dry determines whether or not you'll be cleaning it again in less than a year or two. I've got two sets of paddles and a pair of Driving Controllers. I had to clean them all out almost two years ago when I got them. I assembled the with no chemicals of any kind inside, and they still work flawlessly.

[Pob]

I just took one apart that had been liberally filled with grease and wasn't working at all - the spinning disk part was coated in grease on the business side.  It's not a big deal to strip down, wipe out the grease, and clean with IPA.  I added some silicon grease to the shaft where it passes through the plastic, and it's all working fine now.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Pob