Thrustmaster T.16000M Joystick Rudder Problem and Z Axis Remedial Work.
[A member asked about this problem some months ago and this is the first opportunity I have had to find a remedy.]
I have had this happen before and got a no argument replacement from the store.
The rudder became uncontrollable and the FSX calibration wizard showed the Z axis flickering from left to right making it impossible to determine the center at 50% travel.
So now the replacement was doing the same, violently flickering from side to side.
Looking for answers on the Internet I found that a number of people had experienced the same problem and couldn't calibrate their rudders.
So I decided to set about finding the real problem as I did not want to lose the trouble free TWCS throttle.
How to disassemble the handle [ONLY] as that's where the problem lies.
1. With a fine, hardened, pin-punch and a small hammer, very carefully punch the cross pin out of the, orange, trigger and remove the trigger.
2. Remove the chrome screw holding the palm rest in position. [Posidrive.]
3. Remove 2 screws holding the 2 halves of the palm rest together and separate the two halves.
4. Pull out the rubber pad opposite the thumb grip to expose a chrome screw.
5. Remove this screw and remove the thumb rest.
6. Carefully remove all other screws holding the two halves of the handle together.
7. Gently separate the two halves of the joystick starting from the top as there is a plastic pin used to align the two halves and it must not get broken.
8. Make sure not to lose any of the three small, white, rubber, switch pressure pads; so put these delicate items somewhere safe.
9. The printed circuit board can now be inspected. Look closely for very fine threads of the glue used in assembly stretching across and around the PSB and gently remove them with a small clean dry brush, brushing over the board top and bottom.
NB Do NOT be tempted to spray - anything - with ElectroLube or WD4O as this type of electronic circuitry needs to be kept 100% dry.
Reassembly is the reverse of the above but here is a tip to make things easy, as otherwise it can be - very - troublesome to replace the three small, white, rubber, pressure pads.
[The central thumb button will have detached itself when the two halves of the joystick were separated.]
Carefully push the two trim buttons [Buttons 3 & 4] out of their emplacements.
With these three buttons readily available apply a drop of a suitable adhesive to the small holes and carefully glue the three small, white, rubber, pressure pads in place on the underside of each button and allow 30 minutes for the adhesive to dry.
NB
A word on avoiding cross threading so as NOT to damage the plastic threads.
Put a screw into the appropriate hole and turn it anti-clockwise until you hear or feel it find the start of thread. Now you can gently turn the screw clockwise and it should go in easily. If you feel resistance start over turning first anti-clockwise...
9. Use the 30 minutes to reassemble the joystick handle and gently replace the three buttons which will click into place. Finish by carefully tapping the trigger cross pin back into place.
NB You will find it easiest to FIRST replace the long screw holding the thumb rest in place as this clamps the two halves together. When all other screws are in place you can remove it to replace the final screw.
10. Plug the joystick into your USB port and recalibrate.
As for my own T.16000M joystick, well ... it worked out just fine.
It is now 100% accurate again.
As a double check I installed the Thrustmaster Calibration tool v1.03 [TM_CALIB_103.EXE]
With four greens you are good to go.
Thrustmaster T.16000M Joystick Rudder Problem with Z Axis
-
harrysmellington
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2020 1:11 am
Re: Thrustmaster T.16000M Joystick Rudder Problem with Z Axis
Thanks for the info. But I think you may be missing the real cause of this issue.
I found myself having the same issues as you so I opened mine up and cleaned it as you said, however, I found it hard to believe that hot snot would cause these issues and you never really nominated a likely cause in your post.
On close inspection of the wiring and Z-axis sensor, I noticed something that I think is the cause of this issue.
seen below is a cable that seems to have been nicked by something and cut through the insulation and exposed some copper
And the culprit? none other than the Z-axis sensor, seen below are some sharp bits of metal not covered by hot snot.
My theory is that as you twist the stick it pulls the cables towards the internal central shaft that the Z-axis sits on, dragging the cables across the sharp metal and causing the Z-axis to short with the exposed wire it has created. According to your post, it seems you may have simply repositioned the offending cable, you should probably reopen your stick and hot snot the exposed metal bits to avoid future failure (assuming you still have the stick).
I found myself having the same issues as you so I opened mine up and cleaned it as you said, however, I found it hard to believe that hot snot would cause these issues and you never really nominated a likely cause in your post.
On close inspection of the wiring and Z-axis sensor, I noticed something that I think is the cause of this issue.
seen below is a cable that seems to have been nicked by something and cut through the insulation and exposed some copper
And the culprit? none other than the Z-axis sensor, seen below are some sharp bits of metal not covered by hot snot.
My theory is that as you twist the stick it pulls the cables towards the internal central shaft that the Z-axis sits on, dragging the cables across the sharp metal and causing the Z-axis to short with the exposed wire it has created. According to your post, it seems you may have simply repositioned the offending cable, you should probably reopen your stick and hot snot the exposed metal bits to avoid future failure (assuming you still have the stick).
