Jitter in Paddles

[Great Hierophant]

I have a pair of paddles that exhibit jitter, little twitching movements not intended by the player. How is it fixed?

[Mindfield]

1. Pull off the paddle knob.

2. Unscrew the hex nut underneath.

3. Remove the screws from the underside of the paddle.

4. Remove the lower half of the paddle shell.

 

Now, once it's open there are a couple of ways to go about doing this: The easy but less effective way, and the hard but most effective way:

 

A) The Easy Way:

 

5a. Remove the potentiometer and spray either some TV tuner cleaner or dab some isopropyl alcohol on the underside of the potentiometer (opposite the potentiometer knob) and then twiddle the potentiometer back and forth for a few minutes to distribute the cleaner. Leave to dry for a few minutes, then re-assemble and try it out.

 

B) The Hard Way:

 

This will require some careful attention paid to the order of disassembly and a little bit of technical fortitude.

 

5b. Remove the potentiometer and turn it over so that the knob side is facing you.

6b. With a pair of needle-nose or bent-nose pliers, lift the 4 (sometimes 6) tabs that hold the threaded metal cover on to the pot assembly. They're located at the left and right sides of the knob.

7b. Lift the threaded metal cover up and off of the potentiometer knob.

8b. Turn the knob over ad remove the lower, round aluminum shield off of the pot assembly.

9b. Separate the pot assembly into the knob half and the contact half.

10b. Using a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol, swab the black contact semicircle until clean.

11b. Using a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol, swab both aluminum contact combs on the knob side clean. You should also swab underneath arc where the combs face each other, just to get rid of any stray bits of schmutz.

12b. OPTIONAL: If you have a urea-based motor grease laying around, you can re-apply a very small dab on the combs. This doesn't improve contact any, but it does reduce friction wear on the contact strip.

13b. Reassemble the pot in the reverse order you disassembled it, making sure the combs are oriented such that they pass over the black strip and stop at the break in the circle to either side.

14b. Reassemble the whole works and give it a try. If you didn't skip 12b, twiddle the knob a few times to distribute the grease.

 

You should now have perfectly jitter-free paddles.

[Rob Mitchell]

The easiest way:

 

Remove the back of the paddles (2 screws). Use a cotton swab to apply 2 -3 drops of isopropyl alcohol into the pots. Turn vigorously for 30 seconds .. Test .. Repeat if necessary. Reassemble the paddles and enjoy!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Mindfield]

The easiest way:

 

Remove the back of the paddles (2 screws).  Use a cotton swab to apply 2 -3 drops of isopropyl alcohol into the pots.  Turn vigorously for 30 seconds .. Test .. Repeat if necessary.  Reassemble the paddles and enjoy!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

This is a good, easy, but temporary fix. Ultimately though it doesn't actually remove the dirt in the POT, just kind of distributes it around. Eventually the problem will return. (It will probably return with the "full" method of course, but not nearly as quickly)

[Great Hierophant]

Is it possible to replace the potentiometer in the paddles with an off-the-shelf part?

[Mindfield]

Is it possible to replace the potentiometer in the paddles with an off-the-shelf part?

 

Probably, but I couldn't begin to tell you where or what, exactly. Atari themselves used an off-the-shelf part, but whether or not that particular part is still available is another matter. It isn't really necessary to replace it though unless the contact strip is worn out -- and even then you could just salvage one from another working set of paddles easier. Ultimately if you're going to go to the trouble of replacing it you might as well just clean it. :-)

[Tsukasa]

Is it possible to replace the potentiometer in the paddles with an off-the-shelf part?

Yes, the potentiometer is a standard, linear-taper, 1 MegaOhm potentiometer. They are available at Radioshack for about 2 bucks a piece.

[Ness]

Hey, for the arcade project (That should have been done, that WILL be done) I fixed my paddles with one insulin syringe of my dad's. What I did was take a unopened bottle of rubbing alcohol and used the seal as a bladder to fill up and inject the alcohol into the pot. After a few applications and moving them around they turned out to be as good as new! I realize you may not have accsess to a syringe but I figured I would post on how I did it

 

Happy New Year to ALL!

[PapaCharlie]

The easiest way:

 

Remove the back of the paddles (2 screws).  Use a cotton swab to apply 2 -3 drops of isopropyl alcohol into the pots.  Turn vigorously for 30 seconds .. Test .. Repeat if necessary.  Reassemble the paddles and enjoy!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

This is a good, easy, but temporary fix. Ultimately though it doesn't actually remove the dirt in the POT, just kind of distributes it around. Eventually the problem will return. (It will probably return with the "full" method of course, but not nearly as quickly)

 

I popped off the knobs on mine, unscrewed the panels off the back, packed some tissues in the shell to catch any drips and squirted some WD-40 in through the top. Wipe off any excess/backsplash, put the knob back on, and give it a few dozen good twists either way. Make sure you wipe up any of the black gunk that runs out the back that you cleaned out before closing up.

 

I did the same thing on the game reset and game select switches on one of my four switch consoles (not the one that's having video problems now, LOL) when they weren't making proper contact. I have yet to experience any trouble, and did all this a couple years ago. Worked great, and once again cemented in my mind that there isn't anything you can't fix with a screw driver, hammer, WD-40 and silver tape!