Hi all, I'm hoping this is the right place to post this thread.
I bought a HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) joytick from ebay that had a dead throttle. I'm pretty confident with electonics and soldering so I thought I'd buy it and attempt a repair. Worst case scenario, PCBs are apparently still avaialble direct from Thrustmaster for around £60 so I was willing to take a punt.
Initially, when plugging the USB cable into a windows 10 pc, it would pop up saying the USB device had malfunctioned. This is a very common problem with these devices and a PCB swap fixes the issue. However, I want to deep dive into what exactly on the PCB has broken.
These PCBs have a main IC which I assumed would probably be at fault here. I bought a couple of new ICs but I wasn't aware of the need for a programmer to insatll the bootloader/firmware to the chip. So in the end I simply reflowed the IC that was already there. This, amazingly, has made everything on the throttle work apart from the main throttle slider axis. All buttons now work and all LEDs light up. It's also correctly identified by windows and I can see all buttons working in the game controller window.
I know this is probably a long shot but I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a schematic of the PCB from? Or if anyone is able and willing to assist me in reverse enginerring it? I feel like I'm so close to getting this PCB fully functional that it would be a shame to simply swap it out for a new one.
To me, the PCB is very simple. A load of I/Os for all the different buttons, switches, dials and sliders.
The sliders that aren't working are using a rotational position sensor (316bcg) with magnets in the shafts. I have a feeling the power delivery to these separate PCB boards is incorrect probably due to a reg or moseft that has blown...
There is one suspect regulator or mofset at position Q2 which is marked up as "MGW 42". I've not been able to find any information on the net about this part.
Anyway, I thought I'd open it up to you electronic gurus to see if you can point me in the right direction. I can supply as many photos as needed. Here's one to start off.
Many thanks in advance to anyone that is willing to help me with this.
I bought a HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) joytick from ebay that had a dead throttle. I'm pretty confident with electonics and soldering so I thought I'd buy it and attempt a repair. Worst case scenario, PCBs are apparently still avaialble direct from Thrustmaster for around £60 so I was willing to take a punt.
Initially, when plugging the USB cable into a windows 10 pc, it would pop up saying the USB device had malfunctioned. This is a very common problem with these devices and a PCB swap fixes the issue. However, I want to deep dive into what exactly on the PCB has broken.
These PCBs have a main IC which I assumed would probably be at fault here. I bought a couple of new ICs but I wasn't aware of the need for a programmer to insatll the bootloader/firmware to the chip. So in the end I simply reflowed the IC that was already there. This, amazingly, has made everything on the throttle work apart from the main throttle slider axis. All buttons now work and all LEDs light up. It's also correctly identified by windows and I can see all buttons working in the game controller window.
I know this is probably a long shot but I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a schematic of the PCB from? Or if anyone is able and willing to assist me in reverse enginerring it? I feel like I'm so close to getting this PCB fully functional that it would be a shame to simply swap it out for a new one.
To me, the PCB is very simple. A load of I/Os for all the different buttons, switches, dials and sliders.
The sliders that aren't working are using a rotational position sensor (316bcg) with magnets in the shafts. I have a feeling the power delivery to these separate PCB boards is incorrect probably due to a reg or moseft that has blown...
There is one suspect regulator or mofset at position Q2 which is marked up as "MGW 42". I've not been able to find any information on the net about this part.
Anyway, I thought I'd open it up to you electronic gurus to see if you can point me in the right direction. I can supply as many photos as needed. Here's one to start off.
Many thanks in advance to anyone that is willing to help me with this.
