Saitek Cessna Pro Flight Yoke question?

[rwat 1]

I tok mine apart when it was brandnew, and all the grease on mine was on the gears, not the shaft itself. I'm willing to try lubing the shaft though if the engineering types think it would improve things. Im wondering what about using something like a teflon lube like triflo?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think a thin lube would work well, I've never used triflow but it appears to be similar to the thin lube I tried that is plant based and supposed to be better than petroleum lubricants (so the can says lol, all it seems to be is a wd40 equivalent that has minimal odor and is effective on plastic) but this made almost no difference, you need something thicker, but who knows maybe this triflow lube might work. And in my opinon and from what I have figured out from lubing the shaft on mine is that it should improve things, the lack for smoothness is caused by the uneven pressure on the shaft from using one hand on the yoke like you are supposed to, you will notice it is smoother if you use two hands. A thicker lube should help reduce the slight binding caused by using one hand, so I would say go for it. You could try petroleum jelly like I did, or get a proper grease. (:

[cloudswimmer 24]

 

Yeah you might have a good point there, seems a thicker hobby grade grease might be better, I have some I use on my RC cars that might work. So are you saying by lubing your yoke shaft the elevator axis is now more smooth with one handed use? What Ive done these past couple years is not grap the yoke towards the top of the horn, but grab it down towards the bottom which makes it smoother one handed. The good thing about these Cessna yokes is if you screw em up its not like your out of big bucks. I had a Precision Flight Controls yoke before the Saitek, and even it too had some micro binding in the elevator axis, so I sold it and bought their Jetliner floor mounted colum yoke which obviously got rid of that problem. But as I got more into GA simming and away from heavies it didnt feel right using a colum yoke for Cessnas and Pipers. Though the quality of the Saitek is inferior to the all metal PFC yokes, I actually enjoy the Saitek Cessna Yoke more these days for my A2A and Carenado/Alabeo, and Realair GA aircraft. To get the Saitek running even smoother would just be icing on the cake. Thanks for dialoging on the subject. I can talk this stuff all day long Im sure you can relate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think a thin lube would work well, I've never used triflow but it appears to be similar to the thin lube I tried that is plant based and supposed to be better than petroleum lubricants (so the can says lol, all it seems to be is a wd40 equivalent that has minimal odor and is effective on plastic) but this made almost no difference, you need something thicker, but who knows maybe this triflow lube might work. And in my opinon and from what I have figured out from lubing the shaft on mine is that it should improve things, the lack for smoothness is caused by the uneven pressure on the shaft from using one hand on the yoke like you are supposed to, you will notice it is smoother if you use two hands. A thicker lube should help reduce the slight binding caused by using one hand, so I would say go for it. You could try petroleum jelly like I did, or get a proper grease. (:

[rwat 1]

Haha, ya I can relate, Yes it is more smooth, but it can still bind a little, if I am in a situation where I am not as relaxed, I tend to create a slight leftward on the yoke causing binding, but when I keep a slight inward (rightward) pressure or no pressure on the yoke in a lateral direction, it won't bind, though it still isn't as smooth as I would like, of course it is only 3 days old, I'm sure it will break in some with use. I would try that hobby grease for your cars, another thing to try would be finding the heaviest wt silicone shock oil you have lying around for your cars and trying that to if you have some really thick shock oil, it could potentially work to. also I had never heard of PFC before, I just went on there website and the prices made my wallet attempt suicide....  They have a cessna yoke but its 2 grand!!!

Also a note to everyone, I used fsuipc for my control axis and I adjusted the control curves and now the roll axis responds almost directly with the sim, the yoke is great now, I defiantly can fly with a lot more confidence now.

 

Thanks for the help guys, 

 

Ryan

[LHookins 3,102]

I had a binding problem with my older CH Products Flight Sim yoke and a bit of spray-on silicone lubricant from Wal-Mart on the shaft cleared it right up.  Other people reported trying things like Vaseline but it didn't work very well.  I only had to apply it once.

 

When I got a newer yoke of the same model I intended to lube the shaft but forgot, and it turned out that by the time I remembered I didn't need it at all.  They apparently figured out that shaving a couple of thousandths off the inside of the hole where the shaft went through fixed the problem. 

 

Hook

[rwat 1]

I had a binding problem with my older CH Products Flight Sim yoke and a bit of spray-on silicone lubricant from Wal-Mart on the shaft cleared it right up.  Other people reported trying things like Vaseline but it didn't work very well.  I only had to apply it once.

 

When I got a newer yoke of the same model I intended to lube the shaft but forgot, and it turned out that by the time I remembered I didn't need it at all.  They apparently figured out that shaving a couple of thousandths off the inside of the hole where the shaft went through fixed the problem. 

 

Hook

I may have to try a silicone lube then, it can be found pretty thick if you get the kind for hobby grade r/c car shocks, which I would think would work well in this instance.

[White Hawk 1]

Got to be careful with some lubricates as they can damage plastics, my father flys RC planes, I'll have to ask him he has anything that would work.

[LHookins 3,102]

Oil based lubricants such as Vaseline are not recommended.  Silicone lubricant should be OK with plastic.  This was the consensus on the CH Products forum.

 

For what it's worth, if you're using it on the shaft to free up the binding, a thinner version might work better than a thicker one.  You can also use it on binding keys on your keyboard, but you'll have to reapply it periodically.  I use a cotton swab for this purpose.

 

Hook

[rwat 1]

Oil based lubricants such as Vaseline are not recommended.  Silicone lubricant should be OK with plastic.  This was the consensus on the CH Products forum.

 

For what it's worth, if you're using it on the shaft to free up the binding, a thinner version might work better than a thicker one.  You can also use it on binding keys on your keyboard, but you'll have to reapply it periodically.  I use a cotton swab for this purpose.

 

Hook

A thin lube wont do as good of a job keeping the surfaces from contacting, which causes the binding, also what is wrong with oil based lubes? how would they hurt plastic? (though I would prefer silicone I am working with what I've got)

[Dave Morgan 68]

A thin lube wont do as good of a job keeping the surfaces from contacting, which causes the binding, also what is wrong with oil based lubes? how would they hurt plastic? (though I would prefer silicone I am working with what I've got)

 

 

Hi again.

 

Glad you got the calibration sorted.

 

Petroleum-based lubricants often have a very light fraction mixed in with thicker hydrocarbons to make them a bit thinner so they are easier to apply, spread more evenly and penetrate better when components move against each other. The problem is that the lighter HCs tend to soak into the plastic, softening it and so making it much more susceptible to deformation and wear. (If you have a bicycle and use one of those bike-chain cleaner brush things, don't fill it with petrol...).

 

As I understand it, greases made for plastic consist only of the mid-weight fractions so don't need any thinning. Tri-flow make (synthetic) greases as well as runny lube and they are ideal for the yoke.

 

Cheers,

D

[rwat 1]

Hi again.

 

Glad you got the calibration sorted.

 

Petroleum-based lubricants often have a very light fraction mixed in with thicker hydrocarbons to make them a bit thinner so they are easier to apply, spread more evenly and penetrate better when components move against each other. The problem is that the lighter HCs tend to soak into the plastic, softening it and so making it much more susceptible to deformation and wear. (If you have a bicycle and use one of those bike-chain cleaner brush things, don't fill it with petrol...).

 

As I understand it, greases made for plastic consist only of the mid-weight fractions so don't need any thinning. Tri-flow make (synthetic) greases as well as runny lube and they are ideal for the yoke.

 

Cheers,

D

Hmm, I used a thin lube and it didn't work as well, it was not synthetic but not petroleum based either, its made with plant based oils and I am not sure if that would be better for plastic or not, judging from what they say on there website it behaves more like petroleum lube, here is a link to the: product:http://www.ultralube.com/HomeLinks/4xMoreLubrication

 

What do you think of this stuff?

[Dave Morgan 68]

Hmm, I used a thin lube and it didn't work as well, it was not synthetic but not petroleum based either, its made with plant based oils and I am not sure if that would be better for plastic or not, judging from what they say on there website it behaves more like petroleum lube, here is a link to the: product:http://www.ultralube.com/HomeLinks/4xMoreLubrication

 

What do you think of this stuff?

 

 

Hi.

 

Without actually trying it, my only real thought is that grease would be better than a runny lube. On the other hand, the blurb on their website suggestes it's good for plastic & metal interfaces so maybe it will be ok though I expect you'll need to reapply it once in a while.

 

My experience of vegetable-based lube is limited but I have a small suspicion that it may polymerize after a while and turn into a sticky brown goo, like the splashes from your deep fryer or (if you have any wooden sport equipment) like the linseed oil spilt down the side of the can. I suppose if you clean all the old residue off the mechanism before reapplying it there shouldn't be a problem.

 

regards,

D

[rwat 1]

Hi.

 

Without actually trying it, my only real thought is that grease would be better than a runny lube. On the other hand, the blurb on their website suggestes it's good for plastic & metal interfaces so maybe it will be ok though I expect you'll need to reapply it once in a while.

 

My experience of vegetable-based lube is limited but I have a small suspicion that it may polymerize after a while and turn into a sticky brown goo, like the splashes from your deep fryer or (if you have any wooden sport equipment) like the linseed oil spilt down the side of the can. I suppose if you clean all the old residue off the mechanism before reapplying it there shouldn't be a problem.

 

regards,

D

I actually ended up combining the 4x lube with Vaseline and that seems to work the best out of what I've got, but I probably will still get some sort of grease eventually. Also from my experience in using it I haven't seen polymerize.