Dreamcast Agetec Stick - Sticking!

[bobbynewmarkiii]

I have two, one which has seen a lot of action, and a more recent ebay purchase intended as a replacement. It is in good condition, with no signs of abuse and very light wear, however the stick sticks. What I mean is that it locks in one position I.e. you are pressing right and take your hand away and the stick is still on full right. There's a little click when you return it to neutral, which takes a little force, as if it's catching on something - also I'm not aware that it only happens in one direction - I think it has happened to left, right and up. It's a problem, obviously. I've tried putting vaseline lubricant around the base of the stick to no avail. I've opened the case and had a closer look and can't see what might be causing the malfunction. Does anyone have any sugestions? failing that, does anyone know what the part name / model number is for the actual stick mechanism and where I can buy a replacement?

[nickfil]

I have two, one which has seen a lot of action, and a more recent ebay purchase intended as a replacement. It is in good condition, with no signs of abuse and very light wear, however the stick sticks. What I mean is that it locks in one position I.e. you are pressing right and take your hand away and the stick is still on full right. There's a little click when you return it to neutral, which takes a little force, as if it's catching on something - also I'm not aware that it only happens in one direction - I think it has happened to left, right and up. It's a problem, obviously. I've tried putting vaseline lubricant around the base of the stick to no avail. I've opened the case and had a closer look and can't see what might be causing the malfunction. Does anyone have any sugestions? failing that, does anyone know what the part name / model number is for the actual stick mechanism and where I can buy a replacement?

i would just open it up and clean/lubricate with wd40 as much as you can. Baring that you might just need a new stick. A lot of people mod the dreamcast stick from the start to get a tighter one in there complaining that it is loose and sloppy. I've seen SANWA sticks mostly dropped into the agetec. There are a couple how to guides on the web. Here are a few i found...

http://tychom.org/stick/
http://forums.shoryuken.com/archive/ind ... 07309.html
http://www.neoempire.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1317

Hope that helps. Could be a bigger project than you thought.

[bobbynewmarkiii]

Thanks - I'll look into the links. I already opened, cleaned and 'lubed' it up - the stick seems to be in almost new condition - very little sign of wear... will keep the board posted.

[bobbynewmarkiii]

So, having been re-energised in this regard following nicfill's post, and having been really pissed off when I lost a real high score in MARS MATRIX due to this f***ing stick, I took the stick apart a bit further - I'd previously took off the back panel, and detached the stick assembly, cleaned it up and put it back together. This time I took the joystick assembly apart and dismantled the shaft, cleaned it up and put it back together, and it seems to have made a bit of a difference. Interestingly enough, after doing this to the stick that was 'sticking', I did the same for my other stick, just for a spring clean. I took apart the shaft and put it back together and then, before I put the whole thing back together and while I was just wiggling the stick around - it started 'sticking' just like the other stick had - (i was like, wtf!) anyway, I took the shaft apart and put it back together again - carefully - and everything is fine. So - I would recommend the above for anyone with similar problems, it's a very easy job, just don't loose the screws!

[bobbynewmarkiii]

Ok, let me make this clear - that last post was Absolute Bollocks. (Sry for triple posting and all) - it's not fixed at all, but this time I got a photo of the bugger - i'll be uploading it (no doubt in a quadruple post) in due course when I can work out how to get it down to 256k through linux.. Never do things the easy way, that's my motto.