Controller problems (Trackball/Wico stick/etc.)

[Laner]

I kind of jumped head-first into the whole 5200 thing, and have ended up with a lot of great stuff... unfortunately, a couple of them have minor glitches that I'm hoping you guys can help me out with.

 

First off - Trackball

 

The 5200 trackball I have is very nice, and works well for the most part. Though there two issues I need to resolve:

 

1) The primary fire button is "worn out" (for lack of a better term) - it requires a lot of pressure to trigger (moreso than the other three) and will occasionally not respond at all. What do I need to do to fix this?

 

2) When playing Millipede, I notice my charater moving steadily upward, even when the ball isn't being moved. This doesn't occur when using a joystick, or on any other game. Any idea what's causing this?

 

OK, on to the Wico Stick -

 

Again, I am largely satisfied with it. But when connection a regular 5200 controller via the Y cable, I can't use the bottom three buttons on the keypad - *, 0, # - they simply do not respond. The rest of the keys work fine, and I've tested multiple (fully working) CX52 sticks with the same result. Is there a fix for this, or do I simply have a bad Wico stick/Y cable?

 

Thanks in advance -

[Laner]

Sorry, I just realized there's a dedicated hardware forum - I'll repost there.

[Charlie_]

Sounds like you may need to adjust the pokey knob in your 5200.

Some games are more sensetive than others about the center position of the controller.

 

The keypad problem sounds like a bad WICO y-cable.

 

Charlie

[Laner]

Sounds like you may need to adjust the pokey knob in your 5200.

Some games are more sensetive than others about the center position of the controller.

 

Thanks - how does one go about doing that?

[Charlie_]

If you open the case of your 5200, you will see a knob type of pot low on the board near the controller ports. You should not need to remove the troublesome metal shield for this either.

 

Mark where the pot is now with a marker (just incase). I would start millipede and turn the knob very slightly until the player stops moving up.

 

I did something similar to this with both my 2 and 4 port 5200s, but i used a test cart.

 

Charlie

[mechanized]

Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back, I think) and Centipede or Millipede are great for centering a controller.

 

For your button, you may simply need to clean it. I believe those are leaf springs in there (feels like it, anyway, but I haven't actually opened it) and the point of contact might be slightly corroded (sounds worse than it is; I'm referring to the typical discoloration we see on game contacts, et cetera). Some 90% Rubbing Alcohol and a Q-Tip, or a few delicate swipes with a good pencil eraser will clear that up, if it's the case.

 

With the lower three keypad buttons, again, it could be an issue of cleaning. Also try cleaning the Y cable itself - get a wooden toothpick and some rubbing alcohol (90%!) and carefully wiggle it around in the holes with firm, but careful pressure. To clean the pins, break the tip off of the toothpick to get better contact surface.

 

For the most part, most malfunctions with 5200 items go directly to some basic cleaning and maintaining contact surfaces, with the occasional dismantling of a controller to clean inside or update it with new circuit membranes or buttons. It's generally a sturdy system, otherwise.