Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X Discussion thread.

It's a WD-40 product and is described as: Specialist Anti Friction Dry PTFE Lubricant.

I bought this in Halfords where it costs £4.99 - maybe thereare bargains to be had online, but for me the PTFE in the hand is worth two in the post.

Thanks. Ah good ol' WD-40. Where would we be without it? I love the way it's called Anti Friction. Isn't that one of the key requirements of any lubricant? ;)

Mr Sheen furniture polish is my friend. ;)

I'd keep that sort of thing to yourself Malc if I were you ;) :)
 
...and he's probably less toxic.
Decided I didn't like the smell of the WD-40 lubricant - maybe I sprayed too much. In addition to its toxicity it can cause drowsiness - not what you want on the command deck. Therefore, I made an additional collar to wrap around the stick to stop any vapour escaping (a latex glove was the first thing that came to hand). I cut the fingers off the glove and wrapped the remainder around the base of the stick to seal the gap left by the rather loose rubber sleeve.

It occurs to me that the loose fitting sleeve allows dust to enter the works and that might contribute to the squeakiness in the first place.
 
It occurs to me that the loose fitting sleeve allows dust to enter the works and that might contribute to the squeakiness in the first place.

Not sure about that. My second T.Flight (first was replaced under warranty) started creaking almost straight away - if it wasn't creaking on day 1 it was certainly creaking on day 2 (whereas my first one didn't start creaking until it was about two months old). I think it's just the internals rubbing against each other (he said, stating the obvious...doh!).
 
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Not sure about that. My second T.Flight (first was replaced under warranty) started creaking almost straight away - if it wasn't creaking on day 1 it was certainly creaking on day 2 (whereas my first one didn't start creaking until it was about two months old). I think it's just the internals rubbing against each other (he said, stating the obvious...doh!).
I guess it's engineered to a price-point, but at least the 'anti-friction-lubricants' solve the problem :)
 
...and he's probably less toxic.

The use of silicone-containing furniture polishes like Mr Sheen and Pledge, leaves a very thin film with very low surface tension and so is an excellent lubricant for plastics as it does not harm the plastic material. It is also non-toxic and not electrically conductive. In fact it should not be sprayed directly onto controls as it is an insulator and the pressure may cause a film to be deposited on internal electrical contacts causing issues. I spray some polish onto a cloth and wipe that part of the cloth on the control surface, manipulating the controls makes the polish film spread between the areas in contact and so lubricates them. Anyone who has ever used a CH Yoke will know that the long spindle can get "catchy", a wipe with polish and it is as smooth as silk.

The same process is useful when positioning / moving things like washing machines - a spray of polish on the floor where the feet have to travel makes the appliance very easy to slide under / out from an under-worktop space for example.


[hotas] (squeak free!)
 
Sorry if this question has already been answered, this thread is 44 pages long (!), it's too late at night for me to go hunting through all that, and I have yet to find the option in this forum to search within a thread, but I have the same problem with this joystick squeaking that a lot of others have, although nothing I've attempted so far has been able to fix it. I sprayed a bunch of dry silicone lubricant down into the works, tried rubbing lithium grease in there twice, in different places (yes, silicone and lithium lubricants are compatible, I checked), even took the whole thing apart and got into the mechanical area where everything functions, and sprayed a bunch of the silicone in there. The only thing I haven't tried so far is disassembling the whole sensor unit thing and lubricating each component in there separately.

It squeaks, yes, but that's not the main issue. The squeaking is caused by some minor sticking, which isn't really all that bad except for the fact that it will throw off my aim in delicate situations. It happens in the full range of the Y-axis, not just at the edges like is the issue with some others.
 
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