frolik
Bass Invader
Link to the tutorial I am reviewing.....
Last night I bought a hot glue gun (AU$6) and craft knife (AU$1.20), and with a printed copy of the tutorial thread by my side I set to work on fixing the thumbpadon my FLU unit which has become very wobbly and completely unresponsive to diagonal movement.
Open Sesame
I opened up the case which I have done on various occasions before, and almost immediately managed to break off one of the orange cables connecting the FLU switch to a resistor. Very annoyed at this bad start since I don't have a soldering iron. Anyway I proceeded to remove the front shell and discovered how awkward it is to get to the joystick without removing the ribbon cable connecting the screen. Sheared off the plastic nobs, removed the plastic joystick parts and was happy to finally see how it works.
Shave and a Haircut
First thing I notice was LOADS of plastic shavings where it had worn down over the years, I cleaned this up and made the cross out of 2 layers of wide insulating tape, but this didn't work very well and I was worried that the central hole would make it split at some point.
Alternative method
Instead, I put 2 layers of tape on each arm of the joystick cross (one layer at a time), and used the craft knife to slice off the excess and made it look very neat and tidy. Put it in and the clicking felt spot on, so glued it back up and put it back together. While I had it open I replaced the button membrane which had broken over 8 months ago and made the buttons go soft and unresponsive. I wound the end of the FLU wire around the resistor wire (which had broken) and used a miniscule amount of insulating tape to stick them together.
Back together,... or is it?
Once I'd put the case back together I noticed the top was not on right, so I pushed the L button in and it clicked back ok. Fired up the unit and the diags were amazing, never seen them this good! Dead chuffed! Until I tried to use the L button that wasn't working at all. Took it apart again and found the plastic wall holding the metal lever had broken where I put it together badly. Used the glue gun again and bent the metal lever out some more and with some tweaking managed to get it working again, though it's not quite as responsive as before....
Conclusion
Can't believe it but it's working almost 100% and shootemups are extra playable now. Although I might at some point open it again and put one more layer of insulating tape on the joystick arms for extra responsiveness. But I'm dead chuffed with it. Thanks for the tut and the info, hopefully if someone else does it, the shite I've just written may help them too.
Last night I bought a hot glue gun (AU$6) and craft knife (AU$1.20), and with a printed copy of the tutorial thread by my side I set to work on fixing the thumbpadon my FLU unit which has become very wobbly and completely unresponsive to diagonal movement.
Open Sesame
I opened up the case which I have done on various occasions before, and almost immediately managed to break off one of the orange cables connecting the FLU switch to a resistor. Very annoyed at this bad start since I don't have a soldering iron. Anyway I proceeded to remove the front shell and discovered how awkward it is to get to the joystick without removing the ribbon cable connecting the screen. Sheared off the plastic nobs, removed the plastic joystick parts and was happy to finally see how it works.
Shave and a Haircut
First thing I notice was LOADS of plastic shavings where it had worn down over the years, I cleaned this up and made the cross out of 2 layers of wide insulating tape, but this didn't work very well and I was worried that the central hole would make it split at some point.
Alternative method
Instead, I put 2 layers of tape on each arm of the joystick cross (one layer at a time), and used the craft knife to slice off the excess and made it look very neat and tidy. Put it in and the clicking felt spot on, so glued it back up and put it back together. While I had it open I replaced the button membrane which had broken over 8 months ago and made the buttons go soft and unresponsive. I wound the end of the FLU wire around the resistor wire (which had broken) and used a miniscule amount of insulating tape to stick them together.
Back together,... or is it?
Once I'd put the case back together I noticed the top was not on right, so I pushed the L button in and it clicked back ok. Fired up the unit and the diags were amazing, never seen them this good! Dead chuffed! Until I tried to use the L button that wasn't working at all. Took it apart again and found the plastic wall holding the metal lever had broken where I put it together badly. Used the glue gun again and bent the metal lever out some more and with some tweaking managed to get it working again, though it's not quite as responsive as before....
Conclusion
Can't believe it but it's working almost 100% and shootemups are extra playable now. Although I might at some point open it again and put one more layer of insulating tape on the joystick arms for extra responsiveness. But I'm dead chuffed with it. Thanks for the tut and the info, hopefully if someone else does it, the shite I've just written may help them too.
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