Joystick problem

[TheLizardKingMike]

Hello. I'm new to the forums and I am having issues with my joysticks. Sometimes when I'm playing a game, the joystick won't move the character in the up direction. If I pull the joystick so that the cord is taught, it seems to fix the problem. Should I buy another set and see if they work, or is there another solution to my plight? Thanks in advance,

 

Mike.

[toymailman]

It could be a bad cord in which case you would need a new cord. Atari joysticks are one of the easiest things to repair as they don't even require any soldering. Its all just simple switches and connectors.

 

I would open it up and take a look at it. Check the white plastic handle to see if its broke. Check the switches to see if their aligned properly with where the handle would push on them, or if they've cracked. Check the wire connectors to see if they've come lose.

 

Lots of things, but all super easy. The hard part is if you don't have any replacement parts.

[toymailman]

Also, when you're opening it up there is a little spring on the joystick button. Just be aware of it so you don't lose it. That happened to me the first time I opened up a bad stick (years ago now).

[TheLizardKingMike]

Thank you, so I guess if I don't have any replacement parts, there isn't much I can do. Is this a reasonable assumption, or am I just looking at this the wrong way?

 

Thanks again,

 

Mike.

[atari_envy]

It isn't that hard to get replacement parts. I have picked up quite a few replacement parts for joysticks over the years. What is available varies from time to time. I have two original, new old stock, joystick repair kits from Atari that I picked up from eBay. Here are a couple examples:

 

New PCB Board:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ATARI-2600-JOYSTIC...93%3A1|294%3A50

 

New Inserts:

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-White-Inserts-Joysti...93%3A1|294%3A50

 

Rubber Pads:

http://cgi.ebay.com/28-Rubber-Feet-Atari-2...93%3A3|294%3A50

 

You can also buy new (i.e. Atari clone) and used joysticks on eBay. In your case, it sounds like the cable is bad. An option would be to buy a used joystick and swap the cable out. I agree that these joysticks are very easy to repair. All you need is a screwdriver. But ToyMailMan is right, watch for the fire button spring. It is small and can get away from you.

 

One of the best sites for Atari parts is the Atari Best Electronics store. They have all kinds of Atari parts. Their site can be tough to navigate but they have great customer service.

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/

 

One repair you can do without replacement parts is to clean the contacts. It has helped several of my joysticks that were becoming unresponsive.

1. Unscrew the screws in the bottom of the joystick.
   
2. Pull the two halves apart, being careful to catch the spring from the fire button.
   
3. Make a note of which colored wire goes where from the cord to the PCB board.
   
4. Note the position of the silver discs on top of the PCB board.
   
5. Pull the multi-colored wires off the PCB board that run to the cable (btw, it will become apparent doing this how to swap a cord out).
   
6. There is a transparent tape over the top of the PCB board that holds the five silver discs in place, peel the tape off and remove the discs.
   
7. Where the disc contacts the PCB board, use an eraser, superfine grit sandpaper, or an exacto knife (depending on your level of comfort) to buff/scrape the PCB board -- get the copper surface nice and shiny again
   
8. Take some Q-tips with 90% alchohol and swab the area you just cleaned, then swab the inside of the discs
   
9. Place the discs back on top of the PCB board in their original position
   
10. Take a piece of clear packing tape and place it over the PCB board securing the discs
    
11. Use an exacto knife to cut the sides and holes in the tape.
    
12. Replace the cord wires on the PCB board.
    
13. Replace the joystick spring and position the PCB board in the joystick base.
    
14. Put the two joystick halves together and replace screws.
    

[tzoneman]

Hello. I'm a Newbie to this site, and this is my first post - but I'm not a newbie to my good old Atari 2600, first Sunnyvale version (I guess you guys call it the Heavy Sixer;)

 

So, recently, I took my Atari out of storage, with the urge/dream of hooking it up to my 52" Samsung HD TV (through the coaxial on my VCR as suggested), and boy does it look bad on there (double imagery). Then I hooked it up to my bedroom 27 JVC, and it looked great. My original joysticks (with Atari logo on connector of cords) don't respond at all, they are dead. But I have an after-market one (forgot the name right now, yellow button...) that seemed to work fine. But after about 3 minutes of playing Berserk, I could no longer move to the right.

 

I was planning on having my pinball/arcade wizard go through everything INSIDE my 2600, just to give it a once-over; you know, for any solder problems and whatnot. Well, he went through it, re-soldered a few things that really were ok, and checked it electrically, to make sure everything was working; the right joystick function works through the cpu board, and all is actually working great inside. But for whatever reason, we couldn't get any of the joysticks to work. I think it's the cords. But I also noticed that one of the brown wires inside, close to the board, had the plastic covering worn through, and there was exposed wiring.

 

I thought, well, I'll just buy some of these new joysticks through Amazon, but then found you cool folks, and read that it is better to fix the original joysticks rather than buy the 'stiff' newer ones. AND THEN I found many links for Best Electronics, of which that seems to be the best route.

 

My question is, even though the insides of the joysticks look fine (besides that one brown wire problem), would you suggest I simple just buy ALL new inside parts, including the cords...?... since the prices at Best Electronics are so very reasonable.

 

Another question is, I guess my original video switch box seems to look goofy, so I went with the simple gold-plated coaxial connector, as has been mentioned here. Is there no way that I can get it to look good on my big 52" flat-screen? My pinball/arcade wizard's advice was, "Well, look, the Atari was basically made to play through a 19" color cathode-ray tv set, and it's not a 360, man. Just settle for leaving it hooked up to your bedroom tv."

 

Anyways, thanks guys for any advice on the joysticks and such. I think I'm going to order all the parts for them, for nostalgia sake. (((As a side-note, 2 of my original Atari joysticks have the deep-screws that hold the case together, but the third joystick is of the shallow-screw design. THIS joystick's cpu board actually has the Atari logo on it, and is screwed onto posts inside, the spring is a much bigger one, and it doesn't say "TOP" on the outside. Just interesting to note the differences.)))

 

Oh another cool thing is, while down at my parents house a couple of weekends ago, I was cleaning out their garage attic space, and low and behold, behind some boxes and such, I found the original box to my Atari 2600, AND, it's like in very near-mint condition. So awesome that it never got thrown out those 34 years ago. Cool memories;)

 

Anyways, look forward to hearing your advice on my just ordering all the parts to rebuild my joysticks.

Edited January 18, 2011 by tzoneman

[A.J. Franzman]

Regarding the joysticks not working, did you try all of them in both ports, using a 2-player (simultaneous) game? Most games use the left port for 1-player games but several use the right port. It's very common for joystick wires to break inside the cable, but it's also very common for the pins in the console ports to get bent, pushed in, or broken off. They even break on the back side (inside the console), and of course the solder connecting them to the circuit board can crack. So you could have faults in one (or more) of several locations that are difficult or impossible to see.

 

Regarding the bad picture, some modern TVs simply can not cope with the VCS's non-standard output. Sometimes feeding the signal through a VCR will clean it up enough to be playable, but not always. Beyond that, there's nothing that can be done unless you have very high-end video production equipment available.

[tzoneman]

Regarding the joysticks not working, did you try all of them in both ports, using a 2-player (simultaneous) game? Most games use the left port for 1-player games but several use the right port. It's very common for joystick wires to break inside the cable, but it's also very common for the pins in the console ports to get bent, pushed in, or broken off. They even break on the back side (inside the console), and of course the solder connecting them to the circuit board can crack. So you could have faults in one (or more) of several locations that are difficult or impossible to see.

 

Regarding the bad picture, some modern TVs simply can not cope with the VCS's non-standard output. Sometimes feeding the signal through a VCR will clean it up enough to be playable, but not always. Beyond that, there's nothing that can be done unless you have very high-end video production equipment available.

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I have not tried port number 2 because I didn't think any 1 player games would work through it. I guess I should try that, then. Thanks.

 

When I first tried the Gem joystick in port 1, it was working fine. Then after a few minutes, the RIGHT direction wouldn't work. I tried other joysticks and they wouldn't work at all - so I assume the port was working but the Gem joystick just died, having sat there for years and then tried years later, only to gasp out it's last breath...? And that the other joysticks just have problems with them (like the brown frayed wire...)...

 

Interestingly enough, when I first inserted the joystick, the pins on the console were all fine looking. When I then tried another joystick, I then noticed the two right pins on the #1 port had suddenly been slightly pushed in. I carefully pulled them back out with needle-nose pliers, but to no avail, the joysticks still wouldn't work in the RIGHT direction. When my pinball/arcade mechanic had the console opened, he couldn't find anything wrong with the pin connectors, and surmised it was likely the joystick cables. But then again, as you've mentioned, the pins can get bent inside, or pushed in (as mine "were"), or broken off. So, you're saying it won't be possible to see if there is actually an inner pin problem if you have the console open? If not, and if it's a pin problem instead of a joystick problem, I could be doomed ;( Any other advice on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

Well, I am going down to Best Electronics on Saturday to pick up a couple complete rebuild kits, in hope it's something with the joysticks.

[A.J. Franzman]

If the controller port pins pushed in into the connector housing, it's very likely that one or both are actually broken on the back side, ahead of where the wire turns 90 degrees downward to connect to the circuit board. Prodding those wires with a suitable tool (dental pick, small crochet hook, or even a small screwdriver) and moderate force can reveal any that are broken. If you find no breaks, you can reduce the chances of the pins pushing in again by standing the board on edge, port side down, and putting a drop of super glue into the little "well" where the lead wire comes out behind each pin. Use a tissue, paper towel, or cotton swab to soak up as much excess glue as you can and then let it cure for a while.

 

I believe Best carries replacement ports, should you need them. If you can solder fairly well but are not experienced in or equipped for removing multi-pin parts, a simple trick to remove a part that's no good anyway, is to cut all of the pins, remove the body of the part, then unsolder and remove the remaining bits of the pins one at a time. Then simply clean out the holes using solder wick, a vacuum tool, or even a soldering probe to prepare for installation of the replacement part.