Warthog throttle friction worn out.

Does anyone know where to find the rubber that goes at the base of the throttle levers and create the frictions? Over the years mine has completely worn out. I have substituted with teflon tape, woks great but the glue in tape doesn’t hold well. Not sure if thrustmaster will sell these separately yet.

You might try getting some teflon blocks machined. I doubt TM sells them as spares, but there's no harm in asking them.

Mine went years ago and like your self improvised replacement shoes from cloth/PVC tape.

The whole mechanism was designed by a 11 year old arts student.

Mine went years ago and like your self improvised replacement shoes from cloth/PVC tape.

 

 

The whole mechanism was designed by a 11 year old arts student.

I don’t think you have pictures to share, me not being the most handy or creative person? I contacted Thrustmaster and was not disappointed with their horrible support. First they wanted me to provide a video of the throttle with all buttons working. What does that have to do with anything? Second, they wanted me to ship all 20lbs so they can analyze and “repair” it. And they won’t simply ship a replacement part. Their support is a joke, as I expected from previous encounters. :mad:

I am curious about your solution, since it sounds more definitive than mine. The teflon is too thin and will loose adherence and move.

The rubber friction pads are definitely wearable items. I had mine apart the other day and was thinking I better find a replacement one day. Mine still have several years of use, though.

The material for the rubber is critical to maintain the proper feel. I think the feel of the Warthog Throttle friction is excellent and that is primarily due to the rubber material used. It is not a common plastic, but a low wear low stiction rubber that does not require grease or oil. And it should not be greased or oiled either - which is tempting if someone replaced the rubber with plastic. Even teflon (which requires no grease) would not provide the same friction feel. It would have stiction.

In the past, TM have shipped parts to repair stuff - even switches and buttons that required soldering to replace. Looks like they have changed that policy. It might be due to the difficulty of replacing the friction parts. Re-assembling the friction parts is a PITA due to the springs. And you have to disconnect a lot of wiring which is hot glued in place. It is easy to forget a connection, or hook something up incorrectly. To do the job right, you need to be meticulous, patient, and you really should hot glue the connectors back again as movement of the parts will work them loose. Not difficult for experienced people but if it's the first time you have taken a joystick apart, I would not recommend this as your first repair.

But without knowing the rubber used and how to fabricate new pieces, not sure there is any other recourse than to send it in to TM for service.

Does anyone know where to find the rubber that goes at the base of the throttle levers and create the frictions? Over the years mine has completely worn out.

Out of curiosity... how many years? And, in those years, have you had to replace any switches, buttons, etc.? Just got mine a few days ago and I'm pretty disappointed with the build quality of the throttle. Heavy means nothing to me... :-)

Out of curiosity... how many years? And, in those years, have you had to replace any switches, buttons, etc.? Just got mine a few days ago and I'm pretty disappointed with the build quality of the throttle. Heavy means nothing to me... :-)

About 5 years of light use. But it wasn’t just this. I had many small issues over the years and have completely disassembled both stick and throttle at least twice.

I would call it normal wear and tear, but the issue is dealing with their unreasonable and crappy support. The first month I received it one of the buttons on the stick stopped working. It took 10-15 emails with videos and being treated like a retarded until they sent me a replacement button for me to install. I still had to pay, and the alternative was to pay for shipping to Canada! Today that option is not even available, apparently you have to ship the whole thing to them.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good joystick, but the support is dreadful. I can say the same with Oculus.

Another data point... I've been using my Warthog Throttle for at least 5 years, light to medium use. The rubber pads still have many years of useful life on them. It may depend a lot on how far you crank the friction pressure down. Most my usage, I have had it set to low friction.

I don't use the Warthog Stick very much. I fly with a FFB stick instead.

I own two complete Warthog setups (throttle and stick). Both have had moderate use (the 2nd setup was bought used and had similar use as explained above before I bought it). Nether has ever had any issues. My only complaint has been that the Left Pinky Switch feels a little flimsy on both my Throttles. I haven't used the sticks enough to "break" anything, though. The Warthog stick is overall a much better build than the Cougar stick was, though, but people have had many complaints. The Warthog throttle, though, has generally been bullet proof and very highly rated. YMMV of course.

Again, I am very saddened to hear TM support has gone down hill. They used to be excellent.

The first month I received it one of the buttons on the stick stopped working....

....Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good joystick, but the support is dreadful.

Thanks for the feedback! However, I think you've proved my suspicions: a $400 setup that has stuff break within the first month is, by definition (mine at least), NOT a good joystick. I feel like there is this huge, almost Fan-boyish, support of the Warthog... but it sure doesn't seem to be very good for a lot of people; assuming 'good' is defined as 'something doesn't break in the first month for hundreds of customers.'

I've sent mine back (1 week old) to Newegg.com for an exchange because the mini-slew wasn't centering properly. But there were several other functions on the throttle that felt like they would go within the month too. :-) After researching, sounds like a fairly too common occurrence for a HOTAS at this price.

I'm actually contemplating getting another X-55 (in the form of the Logitech X-56 in black and grey) instead of the WH exchange. It's not just build quality for me (or in the WH's case, the mere feeling of build quality?)...but functionality. For example, with my X-55 scroll wheel on the throttle, I can do rapid and constant zooming in and out without taking my hands off of the controls... much faster than assigning zoom to a button or having to take my hands off to use the WH's 'friction' axis.

Just a bummer that TM put forth so much effort (maybe?) in making the WH heavy, but not making the actually buttons/switches more quality.

And at the price of the WH, I don't feel comfortable getting it all modded and un-warrantied.

Thanks for letting me vent and deliberate. :-)

The rubber friction pads are definitely wearable items. I had mine apart the other day and was thinking I better find a replacement one day. Mine still have several years of use, though.

 

The material for the rubber is critical to maintain the proper feel. I think the feel of the Warthog Throttle friction is excellent and that is primarily due to the rubber material used. It is not a common plastic, but a low wear low stiction rubber that does not require grease or oil. And it should not be greased or oiled either - which is tempting if someone replaced the rubber with plastic. Even teflon (which requires no grease) would not provide the same friction feel. It would have stiction.

 

In the past, TM have shipped parts to repair stuff - even switches and buttons that required soldering to replace. Looks like they have changed that policy. It might be due to the difficulty of replacing the friction parts. Re-assembling the friction parts is a PITA due to the springs. And you have to disconnect a lot of wiring which is hot glued in place. It is easy to forget a connection, or hook something up incorrectly. To do the job right, you need to be meticulous, patient, and you really should hot glue the connectors back again as movement of the parts will work them loose. Not difficult for experienced people but if it's the first time you have taken a joystick apart, I would not recommend this as your first repair.

 

But without knowing the rubber used and how to fabricate new pieces, not sure there is any other recourse than to send it in to TM for service.

That is very weird. When I had that issue happen I just emailed them pictures and they validated which it part (friction pad) was. They then shipped them after payment