Hardware & Technical Thanks Saitek (aka rebuilding the X-55)

[Crank Larson]

I've seen other threads (both here and elsewhere) talking about the cheap build quality of the X-55. Unfortunately, it would appear to be true (at least with the model I got, about two years ago). Over the last few days I've noticed issues with the buttons and hats, particularly on the throttle. Some of the buttons (boost, for example) didn't consistently work, and then I found that some had failed completely. I also had an issue with the hat on the stick, in that it would often double press when I clicked down (which is hugely irritating when you're scrolling menus!).

So, I finally bit the bullet this morning and took the damn thing apart. The stick was actually quite easy to fix, and doesn't seem particularly badly put together. I found lots of dust on the contacts of the faulty hat, so I squirt of WD40 and a clean sorted that out, and the stick was fixed.

Then I looked at the throttle. And found this:

Looks like Saitek used nice thin wires, and didn't properly support them. On the left side, only one wire is actually snapped, but several of them are weakened. On the right side, all the wires are snapped. Joy.

Took me a couple of hours to splice the right side and properly strengthen everything. I have a slight concern still for where the wires go into the throttle stick, but there was very little I could do there - at least the length of the wire is now protected (using heat-shrink and tape).

The left side I took the easy option and just repaired the one wire and wrapped it in tape. I'm expecting that I will have to revisit that at some point, but hopefully not for a couple of years. The repairs turned out like this:

The completed repair:

Anyway, just thought I'd post this as I've had a fun afternoon thanks to Saitek, and as a warning to anyone considering buying one! For something that cost significantly more than £100, I have been less than impressed.

 

[Sylow]

Nice job there. I up to now was lucky: my X-55 broke down within warranty time. As that one was out of supply, i got a X-56 instead. That one again broke down within warranty time, so i was able to replace it on that.
.
I consider it likely that i'll even get one more replacement during warranty time and only then at some time have to dig out my soldering iron. But i fully agree: the one big problem of this device is its quality. The layout is awesome, wouldn't it have quality issues, it would be the best HOTAs you could get. In the current state, i have to warn people from buying it.
.

 

[Asp Explorer]

The whole issue could have been averted at the design level with a cent worth of spiral wrap or a split sleeve.

Glad you got it working again!

 

[Rørik Þrumsålr]

Saitek used to be pretty solid before their madcatz buyout. I had an original x-52 that lasted many, many years of constant abuse (when I was getting my Multi, IFR, Commercial, CFI and CFII I would spend at least 2 hours a day practicing with it). Unfortunately after their madcatz buyout I just couldn't bring myself to buy their products, even though they looked awesome and seemed to be of great value.

A shame for sure.

 

[Crank Larson]

The whole issue could have been averted at the design level with a cent worth of spiral wrap or a split sleeve.

This is what annoyed me when I opened it up. It would have been such a simple and cheap thing to prevent in the first place...

The repair isn't as neat as I'd like, but I only had heat shrink and electrical tape to hand. If it goes again, I'll probably rewire the lot, but I'd rather avoid that!

I like the X-55. It's just a shame they don't build them to last.

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

This is why madcatz went to the wall and had to sell off saitek to logitech.

 

[shadragon]

so I squirt of WD40 and a clean sorted that out, and the stick was fixed.

Glad the fix was simple, but WD-40 isn't good for use on electrical contacts. In time, it will turn gummy and attract all sorts of dirt and dust making it non-conductive. That may also lead to corrosion of the metal and another potential failure.

Denatured alcohol or contact cleaner (that's literally what it does) should be used for anything electrical.

 

[Connolly91]

Love the look of the x56 Pro myself especially the mini thruster sticks. But I can't bring myself to drop £200.00+ on a HOTAS system that is going to fail within a year.

When you drop 200+ on a piece of equipment you expect it to have a guarantee of quality.

 

[CMDR Ellegon]

Glad the fix was simple, but WD-40 isn't good for use on electrical contacts. In time, it will turn gummy and attract all sorts of dirt and dust making it non-conductive. That may also lead to corrosion of the metal and another potential failure.

Denatured alcohol or contact cleaner (that's literally what it does) should be used for anything electrical.

Agreed on the WD-40. I fix old pinball machines as a hobby and ancient WD-40 and contact spray are my nemesis. WD-40 turns into rubbery goo eventually and is agressive against some materials. Contact spray is an issue where silver-plated contacts are used, which is not the case with Saitek stuff, I guess. For lubrication, use high quality silicone grease or oil.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Another +1 for no WD40 - although of course in a pinch it will work.

Apply proper contact cleaner when you get the chance. I find gun cleaner works great too - as long as it's a proper cleaner and not a mixed lubricant.

 

[Stealthie]

Hate to rain on your parade but you need to be careful that you haven't just re-located the problem with all that insulation tape.

Unless there's a risk of pinching wires, it's often best to leave wires hanging loose when they've got to constantly move around, as they do inside a throttle.
That way, each individual wire can flex along it's entire free length and there are no particular points of stress.

By taping all those wires together, like that, you prevent the wires flexing individually and force them to all move as one "lump" instead.
Trouble is that the wires won't all be equally taught. One will be slightly shorter than all the rest.
And now, that one wire will be taking ALL the stress from that whole bundle of wires moving.
And it'll snap. Probably at the point where it's soldered to something.

Ideally, what you'd want to do is fit a length of spiral-wrap over the bundle of wires but then try to find a way to solidly anchor both ends of the wiring loom to something inside the joystick.
That way, the fragile individual wires will never move at all and will have minimal stress on them and the only part that moves will be the part of the cable protected by the spiral-wrap.

 

[SMcA]

Glad the fix was simple, but WD-40 isn't good for use on electrical contacts. In time, it will turn gummy and attract all sorts of dirt and dust making it non-conductive. That may also lead to corrosion of the metal and another potential failure.

Denatured alcohol or contact cleaner (that's literally what it does) should be used for anything electrical.

You beat me to it. WD40 catches dust and turns it into grinding paste.

I took the skin of my X52 Pro off to see if I could sort a couple of buttons that were double bouncing and a top hat switch that had stopped working. After squirting things with IPA and putting it back together. It is working like a dream, for the moment.
But well done OP.

 

[Dsign]

Logitech baught the Saitek product line so the new batches should be much more durable.
A friend of mine working at Logitech told me that I could easily get a new product if the old one was damaged, apparently they're well aware of this issue and won't argue too much when you ask their support.

 

[CMDR Ofan]

Nice job there. I up to now was lucky: my X-55 broke down within warranty time. As that one was out of supply, i got a X-56 instead. That one again broke down within warranty time, so i was able to replace it on that.
.
I consider it likely that i'll even get one more replacement during warranty time and only then at some time have to dig out my soldering iron. But i fully agree: the one big problem of this device is its quality. The layout is awesome, wouldn't it have quality issues, it would be the best HOTAs you could get. In the current state, i have to warn people from buying it.
.

.......I'm on my 8th.

Good luck

Logitech baught the Saitek product line so the new batches should be much more durable.

A friend of mine working at Logitech told me that I could easily get a new product if the old one was damaged, apparently they're well aware of this issue and won't argue too much when you ask their support.

I dunno, I have had to prove I am not lying, been accused of as much by Logitech and had to send them videos, model numbers and even destroy and film the destruction of the old kit. The guys I deal with at their Europe branch don't even send reply emails in the same language as my messages. :S lol

 

[Ravvin]

I had the same issue as the OP. They use small gauge solid wires that work-harden with the normal movement of the throttles.
I bought some flat ribbon cable, similar to the old floppy drive cables, and replaced all the wires from the switches right down to the plugs.
I thought covering them in a length of heatshrink tubing would help, but after about 5 months, they are starting to break again, as I am getting some issues, like distributor settings changing when I am flying, or worse, having it switch to external camera mode as I am coming out of Glide when approaching a planetary base. Fun.
Mine is well out of warranty, so I think I will just forget aesthetics and drill a hole in the back of each throttle and run a heavier section of round data cable out of the throttle bodies and around the back and into the base through another hole. It won't look pretty, but it should last longer.
I also have to replace the two micro switches on the up/down switch on the back of the left throttle. All the rest are still good.

The only issue I have had with the main stick is that it started to slowly drift left, as if I was twisting the stick. That was an easy fix though. All it needed was the stick to be opened up and some electrical switch cleaner/lubricant sprayed on the potentiometer that sits under the palm of your hand. Couple of twists and all drifting stopped. It's been good for over a year now.

 

[Necronaught]

I and I suspect hundreds of ED players will buy an X56 in a heartbeat when Logitech manufacture the sticks. I wonder when that will be?

 

[Insomnia]

Nice work!
My X55 started to have issues after I moved to my new place. Stick is still working, although the castle hat switch has started to feel "loose". It's the throttle where the issues resides. Boost button works if the throttle is lower than 100 but higher than 10. Same goes for both the thumb sticks. I'll be forced to take it apart some day as well. But since I'm light years from being an electrician I'll wait until it's completely useless.

 

[DD_Crash]

Dont count too much that Logitech will improve things. Their G940 FFB Hotas should/could have been a major winner. Ist fault was using very cheap pots and then masking the output with software. If you moved the throttle slightly no response was detected a bit more movement and it jumped. Then back a bit and it jumped again. Also wires being 10mm too short causing stress on the wires didnt help matters. Worst of all was that Logitech wouldnt admit any faults. Eventually they binned the production. If they had got it right it would have been a must have controller.

 

[Dsign]

.......I'm on my 8th.

Good luck



I dunno, I have had to prove I am not lying, been accused of as much by Logitech and had to send them videos, model numbers and even destroy and film the destruction of the old kit. The guys I deal with at their Europe branch don't even send reply emails in the same language as my messages. :S lol

Maybe my contact over at Logitech was talking about the privilege I could get as a friend
I'm mainly speaking with their french branch and until now they have always been very helpful.. I guess it depends on the person on the other side of the screen when you contact them

 

[JetsonRING]

This is a known, common failure of the Saitek product, along with the failure of the "Z-axis" return spring (on my X-56) which CANNOT be repaired. The commonly accepted way of preventing/repairing this is basically what you did, wrapping the wires into a less break-able bundle. Good work CMDR. o7

PSA: While the Saitek HOTAS devices are unbeatable for buttons/switches they are delicate and prone to breaking. Be aware that in the USA Saitek/Logitech only offers a 3-MONTH WARRANTY!