TSW pedal problems

[jrowland96]

OK, I tried the DXTWEAK2, and it totally hosed my calibration. As I said in my other post, I have no clue how TSW pedals are supposed to be calibrated. Just in Windows Game Controller screen, you get the joystick with the X/Y box (Y is throttle), and Z is brake which corresponds to one of the sliders.

Brake is fine, but my throttle with no pressure on it jumps from off to full on without touching it. Finally got it calibrated somwhat, but because of the eratic "never off" problem with the pedal the smoothest I could get it was about 10% travel goes quickly to 50% in the rFactor controller screen, and then after that it's very smooth up to 100%.

I'm wondering if I need to replace the pots in the throttle? I bought the long life, high precision ETI pots, and bought replacements at the time, but that was about two years ago, and I don't think I have a chance in hell of finding the replacement pots.

Tim, DA? How hard is it replacing the pots in the pedals? I looked at the manual and it's not THAT difficult looking, but this is a guy that deals with mostly hanging pictures as far as my handyman skills go. lol Sending it back to have them fixed, shipping, and checked over is a waste of money in my mind... That would probably get me 1/2 way to a G25 in cost. TSW already charges way too much for what they are imho. Metal, and built like a tank, but crude design, and simple engineering... i.e. Sport pedal pads are $60 from TSW, but I can go to any auto store and by the same exact "sport pedals" for $13?

I wish I had never tried tweaking the pedals... they worked to 99% capacity before. Now just lightly touching the gas jumps me immediately to 50% throttle... makes it almost impossible to be "smooth" getting on the gas coming off a turn.

I may be out of commission for a while... until I either try and fix these TSW, or get the wife to let me spend $300 for a G25, or $400 + for good aftermarket pedals (ECCI/BRD).

[HenryHudson]

John,

Have you used contact cleaner on the pots?

I would think that as long as you can use a soldering iron with burning down the house you should be able to replace the pots.

And what are you doing up at 0300?

[TimCollier]

I have changed out the pots in my pedal unit before, and it's very easy to do.

But before you order new pots and so forth, do this...

Unplug the pedal unit from the USB port so that there's no electrical current, then remove the pedals and the cover from the unit.

Using a can of WD-40 or Liquid Wrench (or electrical contact cleaner) look for a small hole in the pots that you can do a short spray of cleaner into to clean the inside of the unit. After you spray it in, move the lever back and forth several times to rotate the shaft on the pot, then move to the next pot. When you're done, and this is important, if you used WD-40 (or something that has an alcohol base in it) do NOT plug it in for at least an hour to let the lubricant dissipate. Otherwise you'll get this really cool blue flame...well, maybe, but better to be safe than sorry.

When you set it all back up and get into the Game Controller screen in Windows, what I do to calibrate the pedals is push them one at a time, and don't push them as hard as you can so that the limits that are recorded in windows are within a easily attainable range of movement, and not from having to push the pedal down as hard as possible. I also push both pedals down at the same time to make sure there's no issues there.

The only place I use any sort of deadzone is in the settings within each sim, where I use zero on the wheel, but put 2-4% for the pedals to allow for the start of the range so that the brake isn't applied in the sim when I'm totally off of it.

If you need to replace the pots yourself, don't sweat it...it's not that hard really. But try this first just to see if the pots need cleaning.

[TimCollier]

Wow, Henry's up late too!!!

The latest version of the pots won't require any soldering thank goodness!! I can't do that myself!!!

[HenryHudson]

Tim,

It's not about being up late - it's about working... Every other weekend...

12 on - 2 off...

[TimCollier]

Ugghh...didn't think you'd be at work tonight....sorry to hear it buddy.

[Mike Tribble]

JR, sorry I screwed up your calibration!

[jrowland96]

Mike, it's not YOURR fault! lol I remember now why I didn't use this before, because it did something similar a couple years ago. lol I've got it working again, but still not as smooth on the gas as it was before. it will do for now.