Quality is excellent (8 years now and going strong.)The 3 tiny throttles on top are great if you don't own a throttle quadrant, and even if you do (some examples: Tiller, pitch trim, spoilers, flaps, turbo, etc.)Cheers,- jahman.

My CH yoke quite literally fell apart after about 2 1/2 years use.It's not really about age I guess - it's about usage.

 

It's not really about age I guess - it's about usage.

So you know how many sim hours I have?Cheers,- jahman.

So you know how many sim hours I have?Cheers,- jahman.

No need to 'snap' sir. It was a COMMENT, no more, no less.I spend anything up to 12-16 hrs per day at my sim, so I'm GUESSING that counts as above average usage.Zack, many thanks my friend, it worked a treat! I now just have to re solder a very delicate broken joint.

I spend anything up to 12-16 hrs per day

With the AP on or off?Cheers,- jahman.

No need to 'snap' sir. It was a COMMENT, no more, no less.I spend anything up to 12-16 hrs per day at my sim, so I'm GUESSING that counts as above average usage.Zack, many thanks my friend, it worked a treat! I now just have to re solder a very delicate broken joint.

Yikes. Hopefully you have the iron and solder close at hand! Keep us posted!

With the AP on or off?Cheers,- jahman.

Well you're in rare form.

Edited January 6, 201214 yr by ZachLW

I think thats just a question...not a snappy reply, ..coz if the AP is on, the controls arnt being used/worn out....just how i saw it..Jahman's usually a happy chappy :)

I think thats just a question...not a snappy reply, ..coz if the AP is on, the controls arnt being used/worn out....just how i saw it..Jahman's usually a happy chappy :)

No doubt! I just wonder how it pertains to repairing the Saitek quadrant.

Well you're in rare form.

:LMAO:

Hey Zach, many thanks to you!All done and sorted! Considering the medical condition I have causes mild to severe tremors depending on the day, I'm actually pretty amazed to have made the soldering work :Shocked:What a pity the yoke is just too complicated to get back to A1 condition. Still, at least I can fly again now!Cheers mate!

Hey Zach, many thanks to you!All done and sorted! Considering the medical condition I have causes mild to severe tremors depending on the day, I'm actually pretty amazed to have made the soldering work :Shocked:What a pity the yoke is just too complicated to get back to A1 condition. Still, at least I can fly again now!Cheers mate!

I'm glad it's sorted! I was relieved when I fixed my spiking on Christmas Eve and got to re-shelf my newer USB set.So DISCLAIMER to those wanting to crack open the throttles. The wire crimpings are a little fragile. Don't break them! Have a soldering iron and solder nearby if you plan on fixing the pots. I will say: I had no such problems, but could see where the thin wires could cause issues if the loose pieces were dropped, twisted, or yanked.

Edited January 7, 201214 yr by ZachLW

I'm glad it's sorted! I was relieved when I fixed my spiking on Christmas Eve and got to re-shelf my newer USB set.So DISCLAIMER to those wanting to crack open the throttles. The wire crimpings are a little fragile. Don't break them! Have a soldering iron and solder nearby if you plan on fixing the pots. I will say: I had no such problems, but could see where the thin wires could cause issues if the loose pieces were dropped, twisted, or yanked.

it's probably worth making use of a hot glue gun BEFORE moving anything too much, just to keep the soldered joints in place.

My thoughts on the "Saitek Repair Question"?I purchased my Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System in December of 2009 with a additional/add-on USB Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant (as I fly mostly piston twins, turbo-props, and occasionally a Lear 35) and used it less than a 100hrs. Last year I got back into flight-simming and added both a Saitek Pro Flight Radio Panel and a Pro Flight Multi-Panel to my set-up and have since logged about 300 more hours .For the most part the Yoke System has been a GREAT addition to my flight-sim immersion/experience, the only issue being that since new the yoke has always had a very slight tendency to roll ("spike") to the right (which I corrected by adjusting the null zone within FS and will fix by adjusting the yoke internally and implementing Ken Wier's rubber-band mod).Now the Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant/s are another story.3-months ago one the levers began spiking, as it was assigned as a "mixture" control; though annoying; I pretty much lived with it, that was until the lever next to it (assigned as a prop control began spiking as well). I went through "the dance" of calibrating the system, adding a powered USB hub in the event that my PC wasn't handling the demands of the additional hardware, and finally came to the conclusion that the pots in the quadrant needed cleaning or replacing.Here comes the "fun part".While researching the Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant potentiometer issue on-line (BTW: this IS a common issue) I was able to find quite a bit of information about disassembling a quadrant, cleaning the pots with alcohol, and re-assembling it (which I did and the spiking issue went away only to resurfaced a few weeks later). I also found that when the pots used in the quadrant do die; they are pretty much non-replaceable/unobtainable (Saitek proprietary(?)) which will facilitate either purchasing new Saitek quadrants at about $65.00 each (that will eventually succumb to the “pot issue” too), purchasing a CH Throttle Quadrant (which IMHO in fugly), or modding the dead Saitek unit to replace the original pots with more reliable components (which I am currently in the process of researching/engineering).This post is not meant to bash Saitek, as mentioned above the Saitek Pro Flight "yoke" is GREAT ('looks good, feels good, and all the buttons are in all the right places (‘has a built-in chrono too!)), and I'm VERY satisfied with the functionality and build quality of both the Radio Panel and Multi-Panel. As for the throttle quadrants: Saitek should have spent a few more cents/sense on the quality of the components (both the pots and the wiring/solder connections to the PCB) and charged a few dollars more for a product that not only looks great, but would perform equally as well.Bimmerpilot

Edited February 2, 201214 yr by Bimmerpilot

While researching the Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant potentiometer issue on-line (BTW: this IS a common issue) I was able to find quite a bit of information about disassembling a quadrant, cleaning the pots with alcohol, and re-assembling it (which I did and the spiking issue went away only to resurfaced a few weeks later).

If you clean the pots with isopropanol and then reassemble without lubricating the surfaces, the dry pot wiper is moving across a dry resistive trace, and the increased friction will wear out what's left of the wiper and/or resistive trace in no time flat. Rather than straight alcohol, use a tuner cleaner with a persistent nonconductive lubricant, such as this product available at Radio Shack:http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103700The pots in those Saitek quads look to be an adaptation of a cheap trimmer pot, which is designed to be set once or twice in the device's lifetime, not rotated through hundreds of thousands of cycles in normal use.

If you clean the pots with isopropanol and then reassemble without lubricating the surfaces, the dry pot wiper is moving across a dry resistive trace, and the increased friction will wear out what's left of the wiper and/or resistive trace in no time flat. Rather than straight alcohol, use a tuner cleaner with a persistent nonconductive lubricant, such as this product available at Radio Shack:http://www.radioshac...oductId=2103700The pots in those Saitek quads look to be an adaptation of a cheap trimmer pot, which is designed to be set once or twice in the device's lifetime, not rotated through hundreds of thousands of cycles in normal use.

Thanks for the response and really good tech info on cleaning the pots WK6KD!I also read a post regarding Saitek's use of "trim" pots in their TQ's.. Whether or not they actually are one time "set it and forget it" ("trim") pots I'm not sure, though I have researched the heck out of replacement pots (with a higher-cyclic life) that could "pot-entialy" (no pun intended) be used to "directly" replace the ones that Saitek uses. I did find a supplier in China that manufactures a pot that looks exactly like and has the same specs (size, resistance, linear taper, etc.) that "might" replace the ones used in the Saitek TQ, though in the end it would still be just another "cheap" pot with a very limited cyclic life that you would have to replace (which is NOT a fun job) every week, month, year or two depending on how many hours you fly (TBO on TQ?! ;) ).As much as I like my Saitek yoke and panels; I feel that the TQ "pot" issue will not be addressed (fixed) until Saitek decides to address it; and as long as the average "Joe-consumer" continues to buy the product and it works/lasts as long as the warranty is good for (or not) Saitek really has no motivation to improve (fix) it.BP

Well, I just got a money-back on my TQ from Amazon after some 20months. Still in 2 year warranty. Now I'm just gonna buy new ones. I "hope" that problems appear again after the same time - I guess this is a typical throw-away-product. We have many of those in our electronic store, but not selling Saitek.For those throw-away products, a procedure is simple: our system tells us "exchange on complaint", and I just need to know what's wrong. Nothing more. I exchange the product.I heard that when those products come in with the dealer, it's a simple thing of checking if the product is there and that's it... no checking, no testing... just OK, throw away...Those products are produced so that they have no or minimal loss when some portion of products is returned... cheap production, money back when making problems, calculating the return loss... and voila. Financial success. It's all they care.You do know how many parents bought the system for their kids to play with, in comparison to us simmers. And how long does an average user use it. Or a kid.I suggest that you just return it when warranty almost up, thoroughly examining it and reporting if anything faulty. With a bit of luck, something is gonna be broken and you get a free replacement. At least, that's how it worked here. Now I have another 2 year warranty, since I bought the product again, but got the money for the old one back.