Help! (Agetec Mod)

Tech Talk
#1

I know there’s plenty of information out there when it comes to putting Sanwa parts into an Agetec Dreamcast stick, but the most detailed information is all about altering the case.

My problem is with the wiring, because…I have no idea what I’m doing and search after search isn’t helping.

I want to keep the stick’s board and wiring. I did catch in another thread here that I could do the mod without soldering if I used quick disconnects and a european style terminal strip.

Okay, great. I’ve taken apart the case aand…when I get ready to wire everything up, I can probably figure out the QD’s, but how do I even use the terminal strip, and get the wires connected up to the new Sanwa stick?

Actually, for the buttons: It looks like one prong has a color going back to the board, and the other prong has a black wire that’s going from button to button. What is that?

Really, any answers would help. Or, a link to a guide that describes how to wire things up in terms the inexperienced can understand.

Thanks

NEW Hori Fighting Stick VX (360) & V3 (PS3) Thread
#2

Black wire is ground. The buttons and the stick need to be connected to it and the daisy chain method is a convenient way to do it.

#3

Check out slagcoin.com PCB and Wiring.

The black wire is a common ground. It is being daisy chained.

#4

:u: What they said.
Let’s see some pics of the mod when you’re done.
I <3 agetecs.

#5

Thanks. That info has helped some.
Still not understanding how I’m suppose to wire the stick to the PCB. I did find what pins go with which color wires, but how do I connect it all using the Agetec wiring and the terminal strip?
Or, should I get five more QD’s and use those to attach the wires to the pins?

(at least the buttons are pretty straight forward)

#6

I don’t know what else to say.

Terminal/Barrier Block/Strip has two sides.
One side you will screw in the wires from Agetec PCB.
Other side you will screw in wires that you want to match with the Agetec wires.

Those other wires will then go to the Buttons and Joystick.

Here, I make.

Do same with Buttons.

#7

1ChrisM,

Find a diagram of the Agetec PCB board and the JLF/Seimitsu wiring schemes. Not hard to figure out how to keep the stock wiring intact. I did this while I still had the stock Sega PCB in my Agetec case.

The Sanwa/Seimitsu parts definitely work well with the stock board. You have to be careful not to prune too much of the existing wiring when you retrofit the Quick Disconnects onto it. The QD refit can be tight but it’s doable. The hardest part is figuring out where the existing joystick harness intermingles with the JLF/Seimitsu joystick harness in the terminal strip but I figured that out in my first try which is unusual for me. I’ve had to redo the joystick wiring for about 1/3 of my mods! It’s usually a mismatched wire in a terminal strip or wires not connecting properly within the strip.

The main thing with joystick wiring is figuring out what color goes to which direction… Common ground isn’t the problem since with the harness there’s only one common ground wire to be worried out. JLF/Seimitsu directionals are the same regardless of the PCB you use. I know that there’s a diagram for the JLF/Seimitsu wiring hookups in the FAQ for Sanwa and Seimitsu parts somewhere.

The mod’s definitely worth it for this case.

I almost wish the Agetec case would go back into production with Sanwa parts… I like it better in some ways than even the MadCatz TE and HRAP cases. It’s more comfortably compact and the space between the joystick and main 30mm pushbuttons isn’t as cramped.

#8

Oops, reading that Buttons are Daisy-chain, it made me think that you bought Joystick without PCB.

Here is picture with Wire Harness.

Same with Sanwa.

Well, here is Sanwa.

Do same with Buttons.

#9

http://j.imagehost.org/t/0956/dcpcb1.jpg

http://j.imagehost.org/t/0308/JoystickWiringGuide.jpg

Sorry for the thumbnails, but I really don’t want to use more bandwidth than necessary!

To elaborate on what JDM is trying to get across.

First photo is of the Agetec SEGA PCB with labelling. Tells you what each wire does; hopefully you kept the plug-in wire bundle for the PCB and only snipped the connect on the joystick end!

The second thumbnail is of the wire harnesses and how each wire corresponds depending on the orientation of the PCB… You’re looking at where the 5-wire disconnect points in relation to your buttons. (The disconnect is the prong that your harness plugs into.) That sets up HOW you line up the wires coming from the joystick harness to the wires coming from the PCB; ie, how you pair off and screw in wires with your terminal strip. The strip is the easiest way to make connections without having to do soldering.

Be aware of your joystick wire harness… A lot of places will sell you/bundle the Seimitsu harness with the JLF joystick. They really shouldn’t but I think half the parts vendors don’t know the difference or go ahead and charge the same amount for the harnesses even though the Seimitsu harness is technically cheaper. The harnesses are cross-compatible but note that the ground wires are different and that the only color that is the same between the Seimitsu and Sanwa harnesses is green.

I’m pretty conservative myself as far as wiring goes… If there’s no reason to snip it off or desolder it, keep it and reuse it! As much as you can, reuse the hardware that came with the original base. It’s a pain to have to hunt down screws at Home Depot or Lowes and put in new wiring if you don’t have to!

#10

Okay. Thanks everyone.
Probably wasn’t clear enough with the question, but from what I’m seeing, I need to get the Sanwa harness, then do some cutting and just connect Sanwa wires and Agetec wires up in the terminal strip (accounting for color differences, of course), then run the Sanwa part to the stick.

For the buttons, can I just wire it up like it originally was? Use the Agetec wiring and the QD’s to connect the colors and just daisy chain the ground for the Sanwa buttons, or does that have to be different?

George C: I don’t see the thumbnails, unfortunately.

Thank you again, everyone. I’ll be posting pics once it’s actually all done.

#11

Another question (I know, I know) that I can’t find a straight answer on when I search: when I’m finally ready to mount the stick to the case, what size screws/washers/bolts should I pick up? Or, should I be using bolts instead?

For example, would these be appropriate?

#12

Those are fine. They’ll work great.