SergeyPe

BTW, I've mentioned the need for adjusting the magnet position when fixing it on the rod. Looks like something has distracted me at that moment😁- you don't need to do it when fixing the magnet. As the wheel is driven by a rubber belt, this can be done after everything is in place simply by pressing down on the belt and rotating the wheel against the belt until the axis is in a correct position.

The key word here is "seems". Even if you find it (more on that later) you'll still have to find some rod replacement for putting together the wheel, the bearing and the magnet. In my opinion, the only difficulty in using the stock wheel is to drill a hole for the rod, and the plastic used is quite soft so even a hand drill will do; and it might be a good reason to get one😁. If this option is not available then it might be possible to find a suitable wheel on eBay, Amazon or Aliexpress. You'll need to count the number of teeth on the stock wheel, the pitch of the teeth (on the wheel or on the belt) and the belt width. Also the size of the mounting hole in the wheel should be equal to the rod (or screw) diameter. I'll check the e-mail exchange with Chris- seems like he told me about the belt type (pitch and width) used, but you'll have to measure the rod (bearing) diameter yourself.

OK, it looks like you've got a updated version with the digital sensors. To be sure- how does the sensor on the other side of the bearing look like? I guess it's a narrow green PCB with 6 wires, right? If so, the details of the design are shown here- I've got them from Chris. The big wheel is made (probably SLA- printed) as one part with the rod with the magnet glued (or pressed) to the end of the rod. So it looks like the rod was broken where it enters the bearing with the part opposite to the wheel still inside. In my understanding, the wheel is a custom-made part so there is no ready-made replacement. Speaking about the solution- one option that looks reasonable (I don't say simple- it depends on your skills) is to take a long stainless steel screw that will fit into the bearing (not sure about the bearing internal diameter- it has to be measured, taking out the broken part of the rod). The hole needs to be made in the wheel so that the screw is a snug fit into the wheel, replacing the rod; the thread in the wheel would be even better, making the final steps easier. The other end of the screw should be fixed in the bearing using the existing grub screws that were holding the rod. Finally the magnet has to be taken from the part of the rod and glued to the end of the screw so that the clearance with the sensor (the small black part on the PCB) is about 1 mm. This distance trimming could be done by moving the screw in the wheel and then fixing it with a dab of glue. Unfortunately this is not all- prior to gluing the magnet firmly to the rod it needs to be rotated with the yoke connected to the PC so that the original calibration is kept. Actually the screw mentioned could be replaced by any metal (preferably non-magnetic) or plastic rod of an appropriate diameter; IMHO metal would be better as fixing a plastic rod in the bearing by the metal grub screws could make it prone to breaking down, as it happened in your case...

The size is metric M6, 12 mm long, with countersunk head.

Great, Ray! You are more than welcome😀. I'm also happy to hear that Chris is active with the recovery plans; he really deserves every bit of success in that!

Unfortunately they are- if you think about if from the mass production costs perspective. If you follow the Honeycomb history from the very start of the company (not so long time ago) you'll see that the Alpha yoke prototypes were using the high- quality sensors as well as better mechanical design in general. However it turned out that with that design/ components the retail price target couldn't be met at all. I think that with the Bravo the price level was the ultimate limitation of what they were able to use in the design. BTW, with the Alpha XPC they've upgraded the sensors and the controller, but with quite a different price tag... To be a bit more cynical- if you make a perfect device that lasts forever how would you force the customer to change it for a new model after five years?😁

Please convey the same wishes and hope from me as well.

Based on the suggestion of @Ray Proudfoot I'm opening a topic with the data on various Fulcrum yoke parts that may get broken and can be replaced easily enough (some basic soldering skills will still be required). This info is based on my own experience with the yoke; I'm not affiliated with Fulcrum company in any way but with the current lack of support for the yoke owners any info on the relatively easy fixes might be helpful. The handle (here are the pics of the internals): 1. The pushbuttons are C&K 8125SHZ. The plastic caps used are 80180 series; the black ones are 801802000, the red one- 801803000. Different cap colors are available, you can check them in the datasheet that I've uploaded to the same folder (link above). There is also a cheaper Chinese clone of a good quality which is Salecom P8701. The tactile "click" feeling is slightly different, but it's quite a reasonable substitute; I've bought quite a lot of Salecom switches from this seller with no complaints so far. Using the link provided is highly recommended as there is a huge number of "clone the clone" word not allowed on Ali that looks similar but breaks down fast... 2. The trim switches are C&K 7105J61Z--22. The two dashes in the name mean that any letters/ numbers on these places are OK. Again, the possible replacement is Salecom R8016A. 3. The hat switch is ALPS RKJXM. Chris was using a kit from Leo Bodnar with a matching PCB and metal standoffs/ screws. This might be a good option as the removal of a broken switch from a 2-sided PCB may be tricky if you don't have enough experience. 4. The 5-pin connector to the yoke shaft is Lumberg SFV 50, the matching one in the shaft is KFV 50. The main body: 1. The plastic bracket holding the PTFE-lined shaft collar at in the front wall of the main body is 3D-printed and at least one of the forum colleagues had it broken. Here is the model of the replacement bracket in two versions: for M4 and M5 mounting screws (both versions were used in different Fulcrum production batches). The new one is U-shaped to allow the bracket mounting without the need to disassemble half of the yoke which is not an easy job; the upper part of the original bracket doesn't take any load from the shaft and is redundant. The design was tested by our colleague and works fine. 2. The contactless sensors used are from BI Technologies; 6127V1A360L.5FS for the pitch axis (360 degrees rotation) and 61227V1A180L.5FS for the roll axis (180 degrees). They are working from 5 Volts power supply and provide the output from 0 to 5 Volts. The alternatives are this and this sensors that offer the same performance and 1:1 physical replacement. As for the other electronic components (the shift register board in the handle and the controller)- they are custom-made for the Fulcrum and are not available as spare parts. The shift register board is highly unlikely to fail; as for the controller- there are some replacement options that unfortunately do not offer a 1:1 compatibility. I'll be happy to provide the advice on this matter but this mod is more serious than simply replacing the broken part.

I'd expect that most of the smaller British companies would be sourcing the parts from the same big guys like Mouser or Digi-Key- it's probably cheaper than investing in their own local stocks...

OK, excellent idea! I'll put it together tomorrow.

Actually there are three cap types fitting the yoke switches; they differ by the cap diameter: 70890 is 0.2 inches (5.08 mm), 75270 is 0.375 inches (9.53 mm) and 80180 is 0.310 inches (7.87 mm). 80180's are actually used on the Fulcrum. You can download the datasheet from the same Digikey link, it has all the information about the switches. And just in case someone else needs this info (hopefully not😀)- the trim switches are C&K 7105, the hat switch- ALPS RKJXM (actually Chris used the kit from Leo Bodnar).

Yes, it's the correct part; hopefully you'll get the yoke fixed fast. If any other questions pop up, don't hesitate to ask😀.

😀😀😀 I'd be very much surprised if he hasn't- these are the biggest electronic parts suppliers operating worldwide; in the UK for sure. And C&K 8020 series is widely used in various kinds of electronic equipment- shouldn't be a problem to get one. BTW, there is another option, which is Salecom P8701. It's a cheaper 8125 Chinese clone of quite a good quality, but it's tactile "click" is slightly different from C&K, so I'd advise an original one.

Don't worry, Ray, it's not the end of the world😀. First remove the top cover (two screws, one can be seen on your photo). This is what you'll see underneath. The pushbuttons are of C&K 8125SHZ type- they should be easily available from Mouser, Farnell, Digikey or similar companies. You'll have to un-screw the button, slide the heatshrink tubes from the button contacts, un-solder and re-solder the wires and then put the new button in.

WarBRD and Warthog are completely interchangeable both mechanically and electrically so any Warthog-compatible stick will work on WareBRD. To me it looks strange that flightsimprojects offers not one, but two "Virpil- compatible" sticks: one for WarBRD and another one for MongooseT-50CM2. The funny thing is that they show the same picture/ video for both Virpil bases (most probably because they never had a MoongoosT😀). So in my opinion your A320 stick will fit fine.

I wonder if anyone has the guts to update the Bravo with the contactless sensors. The way how the potentiometers are placed offers good opportunities to replace them with the excellent AS5600 sensors that are easily available. Of course some soldering skills will be required...

The issue is not with the bushing but with a pitch rail (linear guideway) used which needs a front support for the shaft. In a front bushing you have a friction pair and teflon (PTFE) is the best material for it; still the friction is there and of course when you are lifting the shaft the friction is removed. The only way to get rid of this friction is to use a different rail type which would eliminate the need for a front bushing; this is how the Yoko is designed. I know that Chris was also considering a similar mod for a Fulcrum; not sure if any units were produced before the operation stopped...

Following the discussion about a broken front support "collar" here are the STL files for printing the part. Based on my own experience I've used an "U" shape to be able to replace the part without disassembling half of the yoke; the upper part of the collar doesn't take any load so it's redundant. Our colleague Martin has tried it and it works fine; however in my part M4 screws/ nuts were used, and Martin has M5. So I've made both versions. BR, Sergey

😀😀😀

Thanks! As long as you don't feel either the dead zone or the excessive drag within your typical range of yoke movements, there's no need to bother; anyway, the Fulcrum was designed very well from the start. As for the electronics- I was not completely happy with the sensors used. Actually they are quite good: the first version is using the Hall-effect 6127 series from BL Technologies; however, they have an analog output and I prefer to have the digital- output magnetic sensors on the main axes that are completely immune to any external electrical noise. The ones that I'm typically using are TLE 5011 from Infineon; but to use them you have to re-program the controller with a special firmware which was not possible with an original Fulcrum one. So I've taken out all the stock electronics and installed the new controller based on the FreeJoy project that I'm using quite extensively for the other cockpit devices. Here are the photos of the new sensors/ controller. For sure it was a bit of an overkill, as the original Fulcrum electronics is quite good; however when I did the update and shared it with Chris he has shown me the photos of his own Fulcrum update with TLE sensors, so again we were going the same way...

Well, the need for the changes is directly related to the yoke version that you have. So you'll definitely need to open the case, which is not a big deal- 8 screws on the sides of the case cover, and you are there. First check the pitch travel translation mechanism- it can be either a plastic rack/ pulley or a toothed belt/ pulley combination. The first version is the early one; I've replaced it with a belt/ matching pulley for the following reason. With rather strong springs on the roll axis the bottom of the case is flexing a bit at the extremes of the roll travel. This leads to the carriage holding the yoke shaft to tilt a bit, either pressing the pulley against the rack or lifting it up creating a "dead zone" in pitch axis. Replacing the rack with a belt takes up these tilts, ensuring the reliable belt- pulley contact. The new parts are 3D- printed: I've added the pictures and the files for printing to this folder. I'll check the belt type later today. The second mod is much more serious. Examining the case/ rail flex I've realized that it also created an additional pitch and roll drag at the extreme roll positions as the carriage tilt explained above was leading to the end of the shaft moving sideways, strongly pressing against the bushing at the front of the case. After some consideration and a couple of discussions with Chris I've decided to replace the pitch rail with a completely different type (MGW15H with 330 mm rail). It is extremely rigid and have practically no rail-carriage play; being bolted to the bottom of the case it's perfectly stable eliminating any flex. It also eliminates the need for a front bushing which can be removed. The benefit of this particular rail model is that it has almost the same height as the stock rail/ carriage so it fits the case quite well- I've just had to enlarge the top of the hole for the shaft in the front wall by about 1 mm. I also had to remove the bottom parts of the roll bearing brackets with a dremel to fit the new carriage. Now the shaft movement is absolutely smooth and stable with any combination of roll/ pitch extreme positions. I've put the mod pictures in the same folder. The metal pulley on these pictures was an option that didn't work out because of it's high mass/ inertia; with rapid pitch movement it could slip the belt teeth, spoiling the calibration, so I moved back to the printed plastic one. I know that Chris was considering a similar modification with a different rail type/ changes to the case size but I'm not sure if any of these units were put into the production. There are some minor but important hints and tips that I can provide about this mod but please bear in mind that it requires a complete disassembly of the yoke mechanics plus some metalwork skills will be needed so you'll have to think twice (maybe more😁) before going for it.

😀😀😀 Don't hesitate to ask more questions- being a reasonably early yoke adopter, I've had a lot of talks with Chris on the design improvements (funny that in most cases he was considering or even introducing the similar changes). Finally I've seriously overhauled the yoke internals, with the substantial changes made both to the mechanical and to the electrical parts and making it a perfect product (from my point of view at least😁). So if you face any further issues, I'll be happy to help (considering that Chris is unfortunately not offering the excellent support that he used to provide). Sergey

It's being centered by the screws; there's no sideways "play". Just make sure that the plate is not rotated 120 degrees so that the connector has the correct orientation..

You are welcome😀. The connector is mounted on a thin circular steel plate which is sandwiched between the flange and the body. After the screws are removed and the flange is taken off the plate with the connector will hang on the wires running from the shift register PCB (i. e. an electronic board) to the connector. Don't worry, the wires are strong and are not prone to damage; just mark the position of the plate against the handle body to ensure the correct connector orientation. BTW, here are the pictures of my flange; the extra holes were made when experimenting with a metal B737 handle replica from Opencockpits which didn't work out as the replica was way too heavy. The one on the photos is also a 737 replica, but plastic- moulded.

A hand drill is sufficient. Of course it's better to take the flange off which is quite easy- just remove the 3 screws holding it in place. You'll also need a thread tap to cut a thread for the set screws.