Elite: Dangerous PvE - Mobius

Gosh darn it!



Began having the issue where one of the buttons stopped working when the lever was at full throttle and then came back to life when I eased off a little bit. Suspected the wiring, them being the known issue. So I opened it up to see what's going on since the warranty's long gone anyway and lo and behold. The wire in question had a really sharp kink in it and when I touched it, it just snapped in half. Guess at that point it held together with only rainbow dust and positive thoughts.

"Luckily" the particular button is the pinky switch (UP) at the back of the throttle. And the switch has always been System Map (up) and Galaxy Map (down) for me, so no massive hindrance there. I can live without it. That said, got to keep my fingers crossed rest of the wires stay in one piece, although the purple one next to it doesn't look to hot, so I can keep flying.

But it should be fixable even if it broke down completely. Came across this video where some guy replaced all the wires by cutting off the broken section and soldering in new ones. Just that I don't have a soldering iron nor am I very skilled at doing such things.

Still, bit of a bummer.

I've had the X-55 from its launch and the wiring work was pretty shoddy to say the least... I had one go in the Joystick about a year and half ago where it had broke free from the solder on a small board which i did manage to solder back together and its been great since.

I have seen this area go before and fixed in a Youtube video back when i was looking around the interwebz for a fix on my Stick issue but if i remember correctly, its that disc which 'holds' the cables in a groove, and as the cables move with the throttle they cant be fixed to the disc, which means eventually, they dislodge and catch the cogs.

I cant find the video again now to drop you the link but I am sure the guy wrapped all the cables in a sheath then greased that so it all ended up too big for the cogs to catch and stayed in the groove of the disc more securely.

Never opened my Throttle up so I am only going on memory of what that guy did... but I'd honestly say have a go at soldering that cable back together... a soldering iron is what... £10? Practice a few times on some cut up cables? Gotta be worth it over buying a new HOTAS

Cant really cock up any worse than the factory default, and this time spend the extra 0.25 cents and get a cable sock.

Ohhhhhhh he said Sock.......

Cmdr Kharma wrote:Ohhhhhhh he said Sock.......

Time for another twelve pack?

Qpidstunt wrote:I've had the X-55 from its launch and the wiring work was pretty shoddy to say the least...

Mine actually lasted over 2.5 years, so kudos for that I guess, lol. After I bought it I read about those wiring issues and was kinda worried how long it would last.

TorTorden wrote:Cant really cock up any worse than the factory default, and this time spend the extra 0.25 cents and get a cable sock.

In one of the videos(* I watched the guy pointed out the wires being made of cheap, stiff rubber/plastic that is not meant to be bent. Probably the cheapest variety Saitek could find. It never seizes to amaze how companies try to "save" money on the most ridiculous things.

*)Watched a whole bunch of 'em before opening it because a while ago I had to take my G27 wheel apart for little maintenance and stupid and impatient as I am I just went for it and of course did everything in the wrong order and a quick, simple task turned into a complete and utter mess

I might wait until the rest of the wires break and replace them all at once so I don't have to take it apart too many times.

HAMM3R wrote:

Qpidstunt wrote:I've had the X-55 from its launch and the wiring work was pretty shoddy to say the least...

Mine actually lasted over 2.5 years, so kudos for that I guess, lol. After I bought it I read about those wiring issues and was kinda worried how long it would last.

TorTorden wrote:Cant really cock up any worse than the factory default, and this time spend the extra 0.25 cents and get a cable sock.

In one of the videos(* I watched the guy pointed out the wires being made of cheap, stiff rubber/plastic that is not meant to be bent. Probably the cheapest variety Saitek could find. It never seizes to amaze how companies try to "save" money on the most ridiculous things.

*)Watched a whole bunch of 'em before opening it because a while ago I had to take my G27 wheel apart for little maintenance and stupid and impatient as I am I just went for it and of course did everything in the wrong order and a quick, simple task turned into a complete and utter mess

I might wait until the rest of the wires break and replace them all at once so I don't have to take it apart too many times.

I wouldn't really bother waiting for the rest to break, Just get in there when you have the energy and all the ducks lined up.

I think I'll first ask around if someone has a soldering iron and dem skillz to do things with it. I don't know anything about soldering/fixing electronics/the likes so I'm a bit hesitant doing it myself.

Interesting. Now that the throttle is back together I opened the configuration program to double check if the other buttons still work. Turned out the pinky switch works both ways but the rotaries on the throttle stick are dead. I wonder how that's possible. Maybe the wires carry more stuff than just individual button commands.

Oh well, never found use for the top rotary but the lower one was my forward-backward throttle control. Mainly used when landing.

HAMM3R wrote:I think I'll first ask around if someone has a soldering iron and dem skillz to do things with it. I don't know anything about soldering/fixing electronics/the likes so I'm a bit hesitant doing it myself.

Well if you lived in Dorset I'd have a crack at it.....