HOTAS Warthog and the o-ring

Hi,

my HW started to behave very strangely a few weeks ago. The o-ring was the cause.

This picture is called "The Lord Of The O-Rings is working on Tony Stark's Arc Reactor"! :megalol:

It's the O ring of (no not death but) inconvenience....

Does anyone know if replacement rubber rings as see n here can be obtained?

I took mine apart tonight for general maintenance check, and noticed that this ring has shifted and the underneath metal is exposed on one side. Worried this will start biting into the plastic gimbal ball now if I don't address it soon.

Does anyone know if replacement rubber rings as see n here can be obtained?

I took mine apart tonight for general maintenance check, and noticed that this ring has shifted and the underneath metal is exposed on one side. Worried this will start biting into the plastic gimbal ball now if I don't address it soon.

I would be interested in this as well as I pulled mine out some time ago when it was acting funny too.

I would be interested in this as well as I pulled mine out some time ago when it was acting funny too.

Did you remove and reattach, or remove completely? Assume you reattached?

I see over on the warthog forums someone has made PTFE replacement rings. Have to PM them and see If still they can make them.

Completely removed mine. If you do PM them, let me know if someone is making them, I'll have on I think.

Interesting, what effects did that have? I see its a friction ring I believe.

I might remove it, clean it up and then re-glue it back in place, whilst I look for a replacement.

Has anyone asked Thrustmaster? I have not torn mine apart yet, and am still considering buying a second one before I do.

I asked Thrustmaster before, they quoted $25 shipped.

I think the O-ring is for both reducing wear & tear and center detent. Mine got really mangled too, so I used the WH without it for a while. I noticed that the center flat transition is strong without the rubber gasket. The old gasket eventually shrank back to it's original shape after a while so I super glued it to the piston...

I have been making solid PTFE (Teflon) rings for this since 3 or 4 months after Warthog came out, now CO2 laser cut. You just take the old ring out, wipe the residue glue clean, put the new PTFE ring in, grease up, reassemble, and go. Since it's cut out of a solid PTFE sheet (1/8" thick), it's stiff enough to wedge itself in place without any glue, and you can flip around and use the other side too.

I only sell it on the Warthog World forum as a service to fellow Warthog owners who run into the same trouble w/ the ring.

I must have sent out at least 40 or 50 of them worldwide for the last 2 1/2 years. No failure of the PTFE ring reported yet.

Since my goal is not to make money out of this, I charge only USD $8 apiece, S/H included w/ USPS first class mail. Priority mail would have cost an additional $20 per shipment.... not worth it.

Since I don't have a desire to turn myself into a minimum wage worker, I don't really feel like "advertising" it. But seeing people here resorting to super glue... My heart ache for you. If you have a need of it, send me a PM on Warthog World (the site is currently down though). Try your luck w/ PM on this forum if you want. But since I rarely read this forum, your mileage may vary...

thrustmaster send me a new one with the whole black plastic ring as well for 25 euros

thrustmaster send me a new one with the whole black plastic ring as well for 25 euros

I'm on my second one from Thrustmaster ---- the key seems to be to grease it up every month or two depending on use and you won't wear it out as quickly.

I have been making solid PTFE (Teflon) rings for this since 3 or 4 months after Warthog came out, now CO2 laser cut. You just take the old ring out, wipe the residue glue clean, put the new PTFE ring in, grease up, reassemble, and go. Since it's cut out of a solid PTFE sheet (1/8" thick), it's stiff enough to wedge itself in place without any glue, and you can flip around and use the other side too.

 

I only sell it on the Warthog World forum as a service to fellow Warthog owners who run into the same trouble w/ the ring.

 

I must have sent out at least 40 or 50 of them worldwide for the last 2 1/2 years. No failure of the PTFE ring reported yet.

 

Since my goal is not to make money out of this, I charge only USD $8 apiece, S/H included w/ USPS first class mail. Priority mail would have cost an additional $20 per shipment.... not worth it.

 

Since I don't have a desire to turn myself into a minimum wage worker, I don't really feel like "advertising" it. But seeing people here resorting to super glue... My heart ache for you. If you have a need of it, send me a PM on Warthog World (the site is currently down though). Try your luck w/ PM on this forum if you want. But since I rarely read this forum, your mileage may vary...

Hempstead,

I am so happy to have found you after considerable searching from forum to forum. I finally made the decision to purchase a couple O-rings for the Warthog from you, but when I went to Warthogworld.com to get your info, it has been down for quite some time.

Can you please PM me with the information on the address I can paypal you or another way to provide payment for a couple PTFE O-rings?

Thank you so much for providing this service.

Regards,

Pand

#Pand, Please check your PM.

Apparently, I would get an email when somebody PM me on the ED forum. So, if you wish to purchase PTFE O-rings, please PM me on ED forum.

I still have 16x in stock. Like I said, I do this as a service to fellow Warthog owners, and it's currently laser CNC cut, so I can make as many, or as few as there is stock PTFE sheet I can purchase at reasonable price.

Please note that, since it's cut out of solid 1/8" thick PTFE sheets and you can flip around and use the other side, you really don't need to buy a lot. I have never received a failure report. Please limit your purchase to 2x rings per Warthog so we can serve more fellow Warthog owners.

Thanks!

Hempstead,

 

I am so happy to have found you after considerable searching from forum to forum. I finally made the decision to purchase a couple O-rings for the Warthog from you, but when I went to Warthogworld.com to get your info, it has been down for quite some time.

 

Can you please PM me with the information on the address I can paypal you or another way to provide payment for a couple PTFE O-rings?

 

Thank you so much for providing this service.

 

Regards,

 

Pand

#Pand, Please check your PM.

 

Apparently, I would get an email when somebody PM me on the ED forum. So, if you wish to purchase PTFE O-rings, please PM me on ED forum.

 

I still have 16x in stock. Like I said, I do this as a service to fellow Warthog owners, and it's currently laser CNC cut, so I can make as many, or as few as there is stock PTFE sheet I can purchase at reasonable price.

 

Please note that, since it's cut out of solid 1/8" thick PTFE sheets and you can flip around and use the other side, you really don't need to buy a lot. I have never received a failure report. Please limit your purchase to 2x rings per Warthog so we can serve more fellow Warthog owners.

 

Thanks!

Email sent! Thanks!

Not really sure if this will help, but... in my job I have a supplier of all things 'o' ring related. I have taken some pretty nasty, beaten up things to them and they've always been able to match/accommodate. Try a supplier of plumbing, hydraulic, or even electrical concerns... if they can't satisfy, they will surely steer you in the right direction.... adapt and overcome...

But I must agree with Cichlidfan... might be simpler just to buy a new rig...

Here's the specification. If you wish to make it in small or large quantity. You are most welcome to make it yourself and sell it too.

The outside diameter is 64mm, inside is 59.5mm nominal. Thickness is 1/8" (3.175mm or about 3mm). The material is PTFE (Teflon) sheet. Nylon sheet should do just fine, except that Nylon is not as slick as PTFE so you must grease the hell out of it. With PTFE, technically speaking you don't even need to grease it, but I would still advise greasing it just in case. Why not, right?

If you do start making it and selling it commercially, please drop me a note so I can stop making it and refer the business to you. I will be glad to get out of it.

Correction

-----------

The spec. Should be OD = 64mm, ID=54mm, thickness=1/8".

Not really sure if this will help, but... in my job I have a supplier of all things 'o' ring related. I have taken some pretty nasty, beaten up things to them and they've always been able to match/accommodate. Try a supplier of plumbing, hydraulic, or even electrical concerns... if they can't satisfy, they will surely steer you in the right direction.... adapt and overcome...

 

But I must agree with Cichlidfan... might be simpler just to buy a new rig...

@Hempstead. PM sent.

No big hurry, guys/gals... even after the recent in rush of orders, I still have 8x PTFE in stock. And I have already ordered another new batch of raw PTFE sheet enough to make another 36x rings. I will be around to provide this service, unless someone else wants to take over the service or start a business.

It seems that GoogleMail recently changed it's SPAM filter policies so that I had to fish out a couple of your emails out of the SPAM folder. It's not as convenient and fool-proof as getting a ding on my cell phone as soon as the mails are delivered. If I don't respond to your PMs or emails within 24 hours, please send the PM/email again (I might have missed it among the vast number of "enlargement... SPAMs" in the SPAM folder. ;-) And, perhaps check your SPAM folder too?

But I must agree with Cichlidfan... might be simpler just to buy a new rig...

Just to clarify, I was referring to purchasing a second Warthog, as a backup, in case I trash my first one when taking it apart. I would certainly attempt a fix in any event but I would rather have a backup in the closet than pay a premium price when I suddenly need it. ;)

EDIT: I have one broken and two working TIR Proclips, as well!! :D

thrustmaster send me a new one with the whole black plastic ring as well for 25 euros

They quoted 35 euros a few weeks ago!

Is this this the primary cause in the stiction we experience? So far the only time it becomes apparent is when I am flying something with very fine controls. If I'm in WT, I barely notice it... but in the DCS 'stang, it causes me to 'jump' when i move to a point, stop, then proceed a further (or lightly)...

So moving from rubber to teflon sounds like a nice improvement for durability in the long term (Wont be warping/stretchin, friction wear should be extremely minimal). How does it affect resistance tho? Increased/decreased friction? Or negligable/unnoticed? Beings this is my first Serious move towards flight simming, I didnt realize tearing down/relubing would be as important (monthly as one suggested) but considering the price of admission, I'm not opposed to maintenance :D My old x52 Pro just got a dust-off. When it started to stick I lubed up the aluminum ring.. didn't get into tear down tho.

I may be contacting you for one or two of those teflon rings... tho I am curious about how the stick feels going from rubber to teflon. I imagine smoother and lighter/less friction.

The o-ring is not responsible for the static friction... the four poles and the inner ball joint are responsible for most of the static friction.

The o-ring is not responsible for the static friction... the four poles and the inner ball joint are responsible for most of the static friction.

Agreed. The 4 holes and the 4 poles on the spring platform is mainly the cause of sticktion & center play. These 4 holes are slightly tapered to prevent lock up against the 4 poles. The taper is needed to increase the contact area between the holes and the poles, but at the price of center play. I actually CNC milled a solid block of 6061-T6 aluminum and precision reamed the hole to 5.01 mm diameter (the poles are 5mm diameter) making a new spring platform in an attempt to eliminate the center play. That was a beautifully machined part, but a spectacular failure nonetheless. Because, sure, there is absolutely no center play I can detect anymore, but it completely binds the 4x poles! This, of course, is an extreme case of indication where the sticktion is coming from, i.e. I proved that I can increase the sticktion to 100% binding the poles so the Warthog stick won't move at all.

However, the ring does contribute a very small portion of the sticktion... but it's so small that I must tell you that the PTFE ring will NOT improve the sticktion situation.

A re-grease with some M-kote EM-30L sorted my sticktion problems I keep the o-ring well greased and so far so good, but getting rid of the crap grease they use is the best thing I have done for my warthog.