Supa tight LS32

[FrancoB]

I have LS32s in all my panels. I've come to a conclusion that IMO they have a couple of faults.

The first one is the amount of travel that they joystick has after the microswitch has actuated. I only have stock restrictors in and I don't know if other restrictors solve this but the joystick will continue to move for another 1-2mm the switch has engaged.

The second problem that I have noticed is the 'baginess' in the joysticks. This is the amount of movement that the joystick has before the spring even starts to compress. After disassembling the joystick I noticed that this is partially to do with the clearance between the shaft and the bore of the pivoting ball in the socket. I noticed the one I took apart had 0.8mm clearance! I've noticed that some of my sticks seem worse than others, I'm wondering if clearance is different from stick to stick.

To solve these problems I made a couple of replacement parts for the stick:





I made a replacement ball/elbow with 0mm of clearance. The shaft is a snug fit and it has pretty much eliminated the baginess.

The other part is a replacement actuator. The larger diameter is a fraction bigger than the stock one which reduces the engagement distance/angle. The major improvement is due to the increase in size of the smaller diameter. The lower part of the actuator hits the resistictor immediately after triggering the microswitch, I would say there is less than 0.25mm travel after that point.

I just had a couple of credits and its ace. My ship actually moves the amount I want it to rather than over/under shooting and changes direction sharply rather than feeling sluggish

[yosai]

Good **** Franco! If you need any Beta testers Etc....

[CPS2]

Genius.

That's one reason I prefer Sanwa sticks. Nice work.

[FrancoB]

Good **** Franco! If you need any Beta testers Etc....

I have four other LS32s, some old, some new. I imagine they may differ slightly so I want to try and make a kit that will suit them all.

I don't know if people will be interested in this type of thing but if so then a Beta tester or two would be a great help

Genius.

That's one reason I prefer Sanwa sticks. Nice work.

JLFs? I find them pretty awful to be honest. I find the stock springs to be too weak and for them to have too much throw. They seem to be a fighter fan stick and I'm not one of them so I can't really comment on them.

I do really like JLWs though, I think they are a great all round stick. Spot on for platformers etc.

[FrancoB]

I was trying to think of a good analogy earlier, that'll be the one

[emphatic]

I was trying to think of a good analogy earlier, that'll be the one

+1. You are on FIRE, kernow!

I'd be interested in testing/blindly buying as well. I've always just pulled the spring out to 2x the original height, but replacement parts should be much better. One of my bigger gripes with the LS-32 is that if you rest your finger on the tip of the ball, the shaft will move about way too much. And this is on a brand new unit WITH the stretched out spring.

[thegreathopper]

I would like to try one now that I am a Ketsui owner for the 3rd time.

[FrancoB]

Since you, Yosai and emph have asked I'll get a couple more made and you guys can try them out and see what you think

I'd be interested in testing/blindly buying as well. I've always just pulled the spring out to 2x the original height, but replacement parts should be much better. One of my bigger gripes with the LS-32 is that if you rest your finger on the tip of the ball, the shaft will move about way too much. And this is on a brand new unit WITH the stretched out spring.

Stretching the spring will increase the tension of the stick slightly but as the spring is already heavily compressed it won't make that much of a difference. What it won't do, as you have found out, is take out the play in the stick before the spring starts to compress further.

I've had quite a few more credits with it (3am insomnia ) and I'm really enjoying it.

[thomj]

wasn't my late night text that prompted that insomnia was it?

[davewellington]

Believe it or not he's been playing all morning trying to beat you

[mchay]

I'm also all in for testing/buying a couple of these

[emphatic]

I'm mad curious if this is going to be what finally replaces my SUZO 500 as the tightest stick ever. The Seimitsu LS-32 actually has less faults (you have hands on experience with the enigma that is the SUZO 500, FrancoB), but lot's more travel and is generally "wobbly". I really hope this is the end to both of those problems. If you have an easy way of making these I foresee them selling like butter over @ shoryuken or wherever you want to take your business.

[thomj]

Believe it or not he's been playing all morning trying to beat you

o/\

[yosai]

Franco was kind enough to send me a sample. Not played any games on it yet but it has shortened the throw quite considerably.



Exploded pieces....

DSC00261.JPG

Thanks Franco, I'll report back when I've given it a good working over.

[FrancoB]

Nice one buddy, great video! Thanks for doing that.

I modded all my LS32s which are a mixture of LS32s and LS32-02s. I originally made a actuator to fit my LS32-02 which worked great but it didn't work properly in the LS32s. I then made one to suit my LS32 but that wasn't suitable for the -02. After some trial and error I found a sweet spot that works in both sticks. I installed that size component in all my sticks and they all work great. I'm hoping it works ok in your sticks too.

I had some problems with the early revisions either not engaging micros or sticking on them but the latest version has worked flawlessly on all of mine, I would like to know how you get one with yours and I would be interested to know what you think about the difference in performance.

[emphatic]

I long for mine to arrive. Even more after seeing that video.

[KmanSweden]

OMG that looked super thight. I'd pay for that.

[Casey120]

I'm very interested in this also , I love the LS32 but a little less wobble would make them perfect !

[monouchi]

I think the LS-32 sucks.
...so I would like to try this too.

[emphatic]

Got my prototype today:



I might as well post my comparison shots too (original parts are in colour):





I've mounted the parts in my small arcade stick for testing with MAME tonight. Just grabbing and moving the stick after mounting these, my initial feeling is this:

1. If you already love the LS-32, you MUST get these parts. It will make it much nicer, yet have the same overall feel of the good ol' LS-32.
2. These parts does not fix the tiny shaft movements you can do because of the loose design of the shaft/spring. It's hard to explain, but just put your finger on the top of the ball and nudge it gently and you'll know. At least with the LS-32. I'll get around to testing the LS-32-01 tomorrow.