This is for the benefit of anyone who bought an SE.
Mine came in the mail today. Sweet packaging, looked all shiny and pretty, but I knew all about the problems. In fact, I gave the stick a couple throws for giggles, and I heard a grinding noise! Swear to god, first throw. So, instead of plugging it in to my 360 or PC to play a few rounds and see how it goes, I busted the thing open.
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/9243/dcp02672di8.th.jpg
I removed the screws and feet on the back, popped of the back panel, and was greeted by the stringy, gooey liquid plastic, practically dripping over everything. I peeled as much off as possible (note, this crap is so MadKatz knows for sure who voided their warranty, plus it makes the screws harder to get out).
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6155/dcp02673vn5.th.jpghttp://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9821/dcp02676jp1.th.jpg(what the hell is this burnt crap)
I went straight for the stick, I popped off the plate just for convenience, being careful not to strip the screws. The two screws on the bottom can be problematic, as they’re in an awkward position, right below the main PCB and wires, so careful with those.
Ah… the restrictor plate. Took me 20 good minutes of sticking a flathead in between the black prongs and the plate, working it back and forth before I could even get the damn thing off. Didn’t damage anything, just pushed the plastic back a bit. Goes on and comes off much better now.
The PCB w/ microswitches lifts right off. As you can see, through only a couple nudges of the stick and whatever bumps I gave it opening it up, my PCB was already scratched. Not 15 minutes after opening the box. Hoho.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8225/dcp02675fs9.th.jpg
So I took out the assembly and messed around with the stick a little to see what was causing the problem. Thanks to Ultima and whoever else, I knew the washer underneath the bit of plastic that houses the spring is meant to be cemented down, or stuck into place or something. Well, it’s not. Give the stick a couple nudges and you’ll see the washers size and placement makes it impossible to stay still…
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8994/dcp02677zh1.th.jpg
Best solution? Rip the damn thing out. I say don’t cement it back down, there’s too high a chance of it coming up again. I thought it was possible to get to it by removing the plate - it’s not. The plate is not meant to come off, so leave it alone. If you’re replacing the stick, you need a stick with a mounting plate.
Check out Thirteens image here for a picture of the clip.
Look at this post by Byteblock for a little more info regarding the clip.
I grabbed a pair of snips and tried to cut through it, to no avail, but since the washer is relatively thin/malleable, after getting a grip and working it back and forth, I managed to break it. After another agonizing and awkward 20 minutes, I had the washer out. Apparently, that’s the hard way. As Buhbuhj says, if you pry out the e-clip, you can disassemble the whole thing.
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/97/dcp02680qo4.th.jpghttp://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9235/dcp02681wa3.th.jpg
There’s something some people haven’t mentioned. Here’s a picture of the upper part of the stick assembly. It’s blurry, but you can see a worn part at the bottom of the stick shaft. That bit of plastic juts up over the plate sometimes, which causes the stick to… “stick”, sometimes, not returning to neutral. I just rammed the stick around for a few minutes to wear that plastic down. That combined with the restrictor plate should be enough to prevent stickage.
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2474/dcp02678nt6.th.jpg
Conclusion? Don’t buy one of these controllers unless you’re going to perform a similar fix or you’re swapping out the stick anyway. Now that I fixed it, to be honest, I think it’s a great stick, and probably doesn’t even NEED the Sanwa upgrade I’m giving it. But if you buy one expecting MadKatz’ latest to work right out of the box, congratulations, they have made you a shmuck. MarkMan, you designed a great stick. MadKatz, you fucked up yet again, to my chagrin and with no surprise to everyone.
As a side note, plugged it up to my PC and its working like a champ. Definitely 2x the controller the EX2 is.