King_Salamon Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hey everyone, I mentioned in another post that I just got back into the Atari 2600 and retro gaming. In my purchase of the system (A very nice 4 switch woody) I ended up with several controllers... including a set of jittery paddles. I recall seeing a list of instructions on how to fix it but can't find it for the life of me. I don't have a soldering iron or anything fancy but I want to clean em up. What is the best cleaning solution to use etc. Thanks guys! I only have Video Olympics to play with the paddles thus far but I need to get them fixed up and then I will be hunting for a copy of Circus Atari and then my wife will be all over it! (Her ALL TIME FAVORITE GAME!) I want to get KAboom! But I digress... please help an Atarian in need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Type this in the "Search for Keywords" section of the SEARCH feature : jitter* paddles No knock intended at King_Salamon, since he's new, but we really need a linkable FAQ in this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthead Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 All you need to do is open it up and spray some contact cleaner into the back of the pot. It's very easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrldstrman Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Last few sets of controllers I fixed when I took them apart someone had put a thick coating of grease all over the contacts...looked black like motor oil but thicker..anyway I cleaned them with alcohol and the worked great..Probally better to use some kind of electronic cleaner. I think paddels are probally the easiest at least for me to take apart..just be careful when you pull the knob off do it easy so you dont crack it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Last few sets of controllers I fixed when I took them apart someone had put a thick coating of grease all over the contacts...looked black like motor oil but thicker.. I bet that is the dielectric grease put in the pot originally to keep corrosion of the contacts to a minimum. It is best to put new dielectric grease on the contacts (a very small amount of course) or else they will start jittering again after about 3-6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King_Salamon Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 Well I went searching for some rubbing alcohol and a couple cotton swabs and went to it. Opened the back of the paddle (and left the knob on) and swabbed the pot a little and squeezed a drop or two of Rubbing Alcohol into the pot. Turned the knob a few times and closed it up. Slapped in my Video Olympics and played a round against the CPU... at first it had a little jitter and then after a few more turns of the paddle it was about 90% jitter free.. maybe 95%. I beat the CPU which is something I must not have accomplished in years as I haven't had a set of jitter free paddles! As for the second paddle I think I'll need to do another run with the Alocohol as it still has a bit of shaking going on. Thanks everyone for the help! I just saved myself some cash on 'having to buy' another set! Now I can put that cash into snagging a copy of Circus Atari! Speaking of Circus Atari... my wife's birthday is the 1st of February and the game would be a perfect gift that she wouldn't expect! Time to go hunting! Thanks again everyone and thanks for the tip on the search thing! I'll put it to use! (Still learning..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Well I went searching for some rubbing alcohol and a couple cotton swabs and went to it. Opened the back of the paddle (and left the knob on) and swabbed the pot a little and squeezed a drop or two of Rubbing Alcohol into the pot. Turned the knob a few times and closed it up. Slapped in my Video Olympics and played a round against the CPU... at first it had a little jitter and then after a few more turns of the paddle it was about 90% jitter free.. maybe 95%. I beat the CPU which is something I must not have accomplished in years as I haven't had a set of jitter free paddles! Be prepared to do that every time you want to use the paddles. As soon as all of the alcohol dries up they start jittering again. It is best to take the whole thing apart and clean all of that crap out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King_Salamon Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 What crap is in there? When I opened it up (took off the back plastic cover) I swabbed the back of the pot and dropped a couple drops of alcohol into the center of the pot. The inside of the controller was pretty clean... where would this gunk be? I'm rather new at playing around with electronics so be patient with my silly questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 What crap is in there? When I opened it up (took off the back plastic cover) I swabbed the back of the pot and dropped a couple drops of alcohol into the center of the pot. The inside of the controller was pretty clean... where would this gunk be? I'm rather new at playing around with electronics so be patient with my silly questions. You have to take the whole potentiometer apart. Including pulling the knob straight off, taking the nut unerneath that out, bending the tabs up on the side of the pot, taking it apart, cleaning the contacts, and putting it back together. Thats it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King_Salamon Posted January 11, 2005 Author Share Posted January 11, 2005 Last night I thought I had that controller clean and working great! BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I followed these instructions and HOLY COW! I'd say the controllers are at 99%!! I'm impressed and now they are smoooth! I'm normally don't open up electronics but this was an easy fix! Thanks again! Now I need to go and find myself a copy of Kaboom!, Circus Atari (For the wife), Breakout, Super Breakout, SCSIcide (Once the news breaks on that one) and all the others! HOORAY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser724 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 how do you bend the tabs up on the side of the pot?? all my screwdrivers are too thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 (edited) how do you bend the tabs up on the side of the pot?? all my screwdrivers are too thick. 953533[/snapback] I use needlenose pliers. Although I opt for my favorite option, get me a pair of 1 mhz pots from Radio Shack. Tear apart, desolder the old wires, solder the new ones. Works like a charm for a long time. Edited October 24, 2005 by keilbaca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser724 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 (edited) Nevermind, I used a sharp cheese knife. I opened it up, and there was the same goo everyone was talking about. Cleaned it with a moist towelette, and with a little tinkering, put it back together. Hooked it up to video olympics & beat the CPU 21-7. Sigh of relief. Now to get Kaboom!. Edited October 24, 2005 by bowser724 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Nevermind, I used a sharp cheese knife. I opened it up, and there was the same goo everyone was talking about. Cleaned it with a moist towelette, and with a little tinkering, put it back together. Hooked it up to video olympics & beat the CPU 21-7. Sigh of relief. Now to get Kaboom!. 953565[/snapback] Kaboom! will jitter slightly, always. Its a programming error. Trust me, this was driving me NUTS when I fixed a pair of paddles, and used Kaboom! to test them. I love kaboom! with a passion, so I figured, why not test it on my favorite game? So, when it jumps slightly, don't let it get to you, its all programming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 What about if you break that little black piece that the pots' metal traces glide around on? I broke one on one of my Atari paddles trying to clean under it. Is there a piece to buy for repair, or am I kinda FUBAR on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser724 Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 (edited) You can most likely, if there is a videogame pawn place near you, get a pair of used paddles for about $5 or under. I got mine for $4.99. Can't think of anywhere that would sell that replacement part. Edited October 25, 2005 by bowser724 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 What about if you break that little black piece that the pots' metal traces glide around on? I broke one on one of my Atari paddles trying to clean under it. Is there a piece to buy for repair, or am I kinda FUBAR on that? 953712[/snapback] You can't buy just a potentiometer resistance element, but with luck you may be able to find the right pot. Try Radio Shack, Fry's or your local electronic parts shop. You need 1 Meg Ohm, linear taper. The "D" shaft (plastic or otherwise) is the hard part to match; most are round or splined. If you're good with a bench grinder you could flatten a round one but it's tricky to get just right. Another possibility, if you find a pot with a resistance element exactly the same size and shape, would be a transplant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Gotcha. It looks like I'll have to go to Skycraft (hobby electronics store) down here sometime this week and get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Although I opt for my favorite option, get me a pair of 1 mhz pots from Radio Shack. Tear apart, desolder the old wires, solder the new ones. Works like a charm for a long time. 953536[/snapback] Keilbaca, do you mean 1MHz, or 1MOhm? I couldn't find any of the MHz ones at Radioshack. Also, for "tearing apart", wouldn't we have to replace the metal dial with the Atari's plastic dial as well? I'm just needing some answers before I go spend a couple bucks on a pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 (edited) Although I opt for my favorite option, get me a pair of 1 mhz pots from Radio Shack. Tear apart, desolder the old wires, solder the new ones. Works like a charm for a long time. 953536[/snapback] Keilbaca, do you mean 1MHz, or 1MOhm? I couldn't find any of the MHz ones at Radioshack. Also, for "tearing apart", wouldn't we have to replace the metal dial with the Atari's plastic dial as well? I'm just needing some answers before I go spend a couple bucks on a pot. 954800[/snapback] Yeah, 1MOhm (sorry was multitasking, was in the middle of helping someone overclock their comp). 500k is too little (you'll have dead spots) but if you like yours a bit more responsive, you can go with something a little higher than 1M. Edited October 26, 2005 by keilbaca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 In that case, what's the highest one can safely go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 In that case, what's the highest one can safely go for? 954876[/snapback] If you use a 10M put, then rotating it 1/10 of its range of motion will be equivalent to rotating a 1M pot through its full range of motion. If you were to find a 50M pot, rotating that through 1/50 of its range of motion would be equivalent to turning a 1M pot the full distance. You could go as high as you want, but I would expect that things would get hard to control beyond 5 megs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Don't listen to these guys. They do not know what they are talking about. Here is what you need to do in just 3 simple steps: 1. Buy yourself 48+ cans of Mountain Dew. 2. Start chugging Dew 3. Play Kaboom. At some point the caffiene will produce shaking in your hands that perfectly compensates for the jittery paddles. Stop drinking Dew, and enjoy your jitter free game play. Have a nice day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Don't listen to these guys. They do not know what they are talking about. Here is what you need to do in just 3 simple steps: 1. Buy yourself 48+ cans of Mountain Dew. 2. Start chugging Dew 3. Play Kaboom. At some point the caffiene will produce shaking in your hands that perfectly compensates for the jittery paddles. Stop drinking Dew, and enjoy your jitter free game play. Have a nice day. 955087[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Ok, got myself a 1MOhm pot from Radioshack, problem is, I can't get the metal rod inside the pot assembly out so I can replace it with the one in the old CX30's pot (so I can put the original knob back on). How'd you work with yours, Keil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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