Dagwoodyt Posted November 5, 2018 Posted November 5, 2018 Mouse cursor control on my old Saitek X45 stopped functioning. Since I recently obtained a replacement unit I figured I would disassemble the throttle in order to see if I could fix the mouse cursor. All wires looked intact. Once inside the cursor compartment I noted a silicone(?) pad containing four dark gray discs. The pad fits over the pcb. The mouse fire button is also on the pcb and works normally. I cleaned the pcb and silicone pad with alcohol and reassembled when dry. All the mouse cursors buttons started working again. After reassembling the throttle the mouse cursor buttons again ceased to function. All other hotas buttons are recognized by Windows. It might help if I could understand how the mouse cursor is supposed to function but I have not found any explanation online. What, for instance is the purpose of the four tiny black discs inside the silicone pad? Any enlightenment would be appreciated. Thx.
Sokol1 Posted November 5, 2018 Posted November 5, 2018 (edited) This "HAT" is made of typical membrane buttons common in cheap gamepads and some joysticks, e.g. T.16000M use similar buttons, only their trigger use an conventional micro-switch, similar to one for the button at left on PCB. The black disks in silicone piece is conductive material that connect one side to another in PCB circles with "S" cut, covered with same conductive material, silicone pad act like a spring, keeping the black disks away from conductive circle - divided in two parts by "S" cut. Theoretically none of this parts are subject to failure, unless maybe the contacts in PCB "S" circles, perhaps the conductive material worm out due friction. Inspect too solder points of cable in PCB and pressed points in cable that may broken then internally, what will explain why work with grip open and stop when assembled. An ALPS SQKU 4 way switch could replace this, but will require DIY a PCB for support. https://www.newark.com/alps/skqucaa010/multidirection-switch-4-50ma-through/dp/59M1983 Edited November 5, 2018 by Sokol1
Dagwoodyt Posted November 6, 2018 Author Posted November 6, 2018 Thanks for your input. Looks like no easy solution. Wires are of much finer gauge than they appear in photos so I don’t doubt there could be discontinuities somewhere in the loom.
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