I just got a new Saitek throttle quadrant to replace one that was 4 years old that had a lever that apparently had a dirty potentiometer and was spiking. The unit was out of warranty and Saitek said there was no repair path. The new TQ lacks a meaningful detent before you enter the reverser button section at the bottom of its travel. My old TQ, as well as a second one that I have which is also 4 years old, both stop the lever action on the way down with a firm detent before you enter the reverser range. With this new one, I find that I am not feeling the detent and often wind up firing up the reversers when I have no intention to do so.

 

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this situation with a recently purchased Saitek TQ, either as part of a yoke combo or as a separate unit. I am trying to determine whether this TQ is defective or whether Saitek has smoothed out the lever action so there is only a barely detectable detent. I contacted Saitek tech support and they were of little help, saying the TQ design probably changed over 4 years and this barely detectable detent is probably now the standard. I find this hard to believe because it makes no sense, to me anyway, to essentially do away with this detent.

 

While I wait for any responses, I will try and take apart my old TQ and see if's something that I can repair, admitting, however, that I often have trouble putting in a light bulb.

 

Thanks for any input.

Robert

I bought a Saitek TQ in early April and have what I consider a noticeable detent. Admittedly, as it's the first one I've owned, I don't have anything to compare it to so I'm not sure if it's change any over the years.

There's no question in my mind that my newer and older quadrant aren't built the same. There's just too much difference between them.

 

I purchased a second quadrant some time back to go with my original quadrant/yoke combo, and the two quadrants feel nothing alike. The older one always felt a bit "raspy" (for lack of a better term) but had good resistance, stayed where it was set and had a very solid detent. The new one is extremely smooth - too smooth with almost no resistance and a virtually unnoticeable detent.

 

Sample size of one, but there you go.

 

Scott

Scott, my experience exactly and much better described. Thanks for the input. It looks like there may be no reason to try another one, and I'll just have to see what I can do about fixing my old one.

 

Robert

Why not just RMA it if it has no detent? I bought mine 2 months ago, and both have a serious strong detent which is working always.

 

It is the fact that different series are different. But you might as well keep sending them back if they are broken.

Kostic, the point of my post was to ascertain if there's been a design change. If so, an RMA or an exchange with the seller will be of no use. You are indicating that your recent purchases have strong detents. Scott, who has experienced both the new and the old, says his new one does not. Another poster says his has "noticeable" detents, but has no basis for comparison with the versions of 4 years ago. Saitek tech support, FWIW, says this is probably a design change. Before taking any action, I will wait a few more days and see if anyone else chimes in, especially anyone who has experience with both the newer and older models.

 

Thanks for your input. You, at least, seem to have recent TQs that have hard detents like those of 4 years ago. That's important to know. You may have found a seller who has old stock, or had the luck of the draw. At this point, it is still not clear to me. In light of your post, I will contact Saitek again and see if I can learn something more definitive about what is going on.

 

Robert

Out of respect, you call someone either Mr. Kostic or Srdan or Word Not Allowed. But not "Kostic". I think it's apparent that my first name is Srdan.

 

I know what the point was. It is a defect nonetheless. I experienced ones of the first series, they were quite weak, but worked, the ones I got couple of months ago, have strong, I don't know about the new ones.

 

Saitek tech support, FWIW, says this is probably a design change.

 

They can claim that, but if you have no detent, then you have a case. Isn't there a return policy to the seller which you can take the advantage of, and possibly buy from another seller?

 

I bought them at Amazon.

Hey Word Not Allowed, no offense intended. I just made a mistake in my haste to reply to get on with my day.

Word Not Allowed[/color]' timestamp='1335360163' post='2350532']

I bought them at Amazon.

 

For what it's worth, I bought mine from Amazon as well.

Due to an unappropriate content, I removed your post WILDHEART3003. Think twice before posting something like that.

 

I never said that you have to call me Mr. Kostic. I only said it's a respectful thing to do, not calling someone Kostic. It's just a polite thing I learned. Maybe you didn't.

But of course, you can call me Word Not Allowed or Srdan.

 

Hey Word Not Allowed, no offense intended. I just made a mistake in my haste to reply to get on with my day.

 

Hey, no problem. Just something I really don't really look over.

Due to an unappropriate content, I removed your post WILDHEART3003. Think twice before posting something like that.

 

I never said that you have to call me Mr. Kostic. I only said it's a respectful thing to do, not calling someone Kostic. It's just a polite thing I learned. Maybe you didn't.

But of course, you can call me Word Not Allowed or Srdan.

 

 

 

Hey, no problem. Just something I really don't really look over.

 

There is no need to remove my post, I never even mention any rude word nor being sarcastic, just trying to inject little sense of humour into the topic. I treat everyone with respect. But if you find my sentence inappropriate. I apologize.

I never even mention any rude word nor being sarcastic, just trying to inject little sense of humour into the topic. I treat everyone with respect.

 

OK. No harm, no foul as they say. I'll leave it as it is, maybe you didn't get what I was aiming at, if you remember how you posted it and what "smiley" you used...

Let's just leave this here and go back OT.

If you're having trouble with the signal coming out of the pots in the Saitek Throttle Quadrant, do the following:

 

1. Unplug the USB cable.

2. Place the unit on its right side on top of a table (so the LED is at the top and T5/T6 are at the bottom).

3. Use a spray can of electrical contact cleaner with a straw on the nozzle and shoot plenty of cleaner at the base of the throttle arm. Move the arm back and forth its full length a few times.

4. Wait a few minutes for the spray to evaporate, then test.

 

The museum I volunteer at has a bunch of these. I've probably brought 30 or more units that had noisy signals back to life using this method.